Date & Oat Soda Bread with Salted Date Butter | Yotam Ottolenghi

Lately there are several soda bread recipes that catch my attention, this is one of them. Soda bread has a key role to play for bakers and home cooks. Yotam Ottolenghi articulates it better than I could. He says: “There are lots of great things to say about soda bread, one of which is that it comes together in less than an hour, so it’s doable on Mother’s Day morning, ready for brunch.” I didn’t get the soda bread ready for Mother’s Day, but I’m not letting it slip past Father’s Day. Making the soda bread, I’m providing equal opportunities for both Mother’s and Father’s Day.

The sweetness of the dates in the soda bread provides the element of surprise. The extra bite of sweetness is welcome to balance the rustic nature of soda bread as well as the oats in the dough. The date butter is echoing the dry dates, which get a special treatment from macerating in buttermilk and a touch (one tablespoon) of date syrup. It may take some extra steps — but they are very effective. You don’t mind the work as the flavor is amplified in both the bread dough and the butter. That adds so much character to the soda bread.

The date butter requires a quick blitz in the food processor combining the butter and buttermilk until it attains a pale and puffy consistency. Then swirl in another tablespoon of date syrup to the butter mix.

Every time I make compound butter, I remind myself I should get into the habit of doing it more frequently in savory and sweet applications. And every time I do it, it positively reinforces habit forming, in a good way. I won’t want to do less in the manner I’ve been coached by both of my parents….

This soda bread has character with macerated dates in the dough and date butter to smear on

Print Recipe

Date and Oat Soda Bread with Salted Date Butter

By Yotam Ottolenghi – Serves: 4

Lots of great things to say about soda bread, one of which is that it comes together in less than an hour — doable for special-occasion brunches. The dates and the date butter add sweetness, refinement and character to the rustic bread.

Ingredients

• 140g strong bread flour, plus extra for dusting
• 140g wholemeal flour
• 1½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• ½ tsp baking powder
• 60g jumbo oats
• 50g Medjool dates, pitted and cut into ½cm dice
• 150ml buttermilk
• 2 tbsp date syrup
• 120g salted butter, cut into 1cm cubes, then softened at room temperature

Instructions

1

Heat the oven to 220C (200C fan)/425F/gas 7, and dust a 30cm x 20cm baking tray liberally with bread flour.

2

MAKE THE DOUGH: Put the two flours, salt, bicarb, baking powder and oats in a large bowl and mix to combine. In a small bowl, mix the dates, 125ml buttermilk, 150ml cold tap water and a tablespoon of date syrup. Make a well in the dry mix, then pour in the wet ingredients and gently knead with your hands until everything is fully integrated and the dough just comes together – do not overwork it.

3

SHAPE & BAKE: Form the dough into a round loaf shape that’s roughly 15cm in diameter and lift it gently on to the floured baking tray. Using a sharp knife, score a 5cm-deep cross into the top of the dough (don’t worry if it’s not perfect), then bake for 35 minutes, or until nicely browned and cooked through. Lift the loaf on to a rack and leave to cool for at least 15 minutes.

4

MAKE THE DATE BUTTER: In a food processor, blitz the butter for 60 seconds, until pale and fluffy, add the remaining 25ml buttermilk and blitz for another 10 seconds, just to incorporate (don’t blitz it for much longer or it will split). Transfer to a bowl, add the remaining tablespoon of date syrup and gently swirl it through the butter mix; you don’t want to incorporate it fully.

5

Serve the bread warm or toasted with some of the date butter smeared on top.

Notes

https://www.theguardian.com/food/2022/mar/26/mothers-day-brunch-recipes-poached-eggs-avocado-yoghurt-soda-bread-strawberry-spritz-yotam-ottolenghi