Soda bread is a really easy and quick way to make a Low FODMAP loaf of bread. Much cheaper than ready made gluten free bread and no “surprise” ingredients – which is often the case with bought gluten free breads and makes many of them unsuitable on the low FODMAP diet. I have a friend who has coeliac disease and instead of using gluten free flour for baking she buys gluten free oats and grinds them to make oat flour. It gives a much nicer flavour to gluten free baking and a lovely nutty texture. That’s where the inspiration for this recipe came from. You don’t need to buy gluten free oats to make this (unless you have coeliac disease) normal oats should be fine. However you do need a food processor (or a grinder) to make the oats into a flour. If you can find ready made oat flour then by all means use that but I’ve never seen any for sale in my local shops. It’s worth noting that larger quantities of oats i.e. more than 47g can be high in fructans and GOS (both fermentable carbohydrates) so keep the serving size to 1/5 of the soda bread per meal.
For more baking and bread ideas, have a look through my low FODMAP baking section.
- 200g rolled oats
- 100g gluten free plain flour (I use Doves Farm plain flour mix)
- 1 tablespoon linseeds
- 2 teaspoons xantham gum
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 desert spoon soft brown sugar
- 250ml lactose free milk
- 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
- 1 medium egg
- Preheat the oven to 200 degrees (fan oven) and put a baking tray in to warm
- Place the oats into a food processor and switch it onto a high speed setting for about a minute until the oats resemble a fine flour
- Mix the dry ingredients, including the oat flour, together in a large bowl and make a well in the centre
- Using a fork, lightly whisk the egg into the milk and add the vinegar
- Mix the liquid into the dry ingredients, it should form a soft sticky dough
- Take the heated baking tray out of the oven and lightly grease with a little oil
- Place the dough onto the baking tray and roughly shape into a slightly flattened ball, then use a knife to score the top with a cross shape
- Bake in the oven for 35 minutes until it is golden brown
- Place the bread onto a wire rack to cool before cutting
Do you think oatmeal would be suitable for this recipe instead of the rolled oats? I am having a great time working my way through your excellent website?
I am now starting on the reintroduction phase of the diet.
Patricia
Hi Patricia, I’ve not tried it with oatmeal before. I’m not sure if it would work texture wise but I guess the only way to find out is to try it! I might give it a go on Wednesday. Glad to hear you’ve been enjoying the website and hope the reintroduction is going well. Best wishes, Louisa
Hi there with regard to the oat flour soda bread,
Is it ok to use rice flour as the plain gluten free flour?
Thanks in advance!
I think I’ve tried it with rice flour (although it was brown rather than plain) and it worked out fine. It’s quite similar to the wheat free rolls recipe. Hope you enjoy!
Thanks for the reply. I’ve just made my bread although it is as flat as a pancake, are you suppose to just wet the dry ingredients instead of mixing it all in together? Thanks!
Hi Carrie, you add the wet ingredients to the dry ones and mix it just enough to combine them, shape the dough then get it straight into the hot oven. Hope that helps!
Are you using Doves Farm plain gluten free flour, or their plain gluten free bread flour?
The Doves Farm Plain flour is the one I use. If you use the bread flour then you could reduce the xantham gum as it has some already added.
Can you just use oats and not flour…..
Hi Reena, it doesn’t work with normal oats, it needs to be oat flour. Best wishes, Louisa
Is there a substitute for xanthum gum? My grandson doesn’t tolerate this well?
You could try an extra spoon of linseeds as they form a sticky gel a bit like xantham gum when soaked in water for about 10 minutes. Hope that helps!
Love the tast of your oat flour soda bread but mine was flat as a pancake. I did not use Xanthum gum but added chai seeds. Could this be the reason why it did not rise?
Hi Hilda, it could be the reason, xantham gum does make quite a difference to some of the recipes. Soda bread is normally quite a dense loaf so when I make it I always shape it fairly round like a large scone. Best wishes, Louisa