Irish Brown Bread: A Traditional Favorite
My mother’s traditional recipe for Irish brown bread that I grew up eating. This simple soda bread recipe is made with buttermilk for the authentic Irish taste of home.
Traditional Irish Brown Soda Bread
I have lived in the United States for over 13 years now – and love almost everything about being here… EXCEPT the bread! I have a wheat intolerance to begin with (no white bread for me!) but the amount of preservatives and sweeteners and other junk that is added to bread over here completely puts my body over the edge.
I am a breadivore (yes, I just coined that term!). I would eat bread for every meal if I could, so cutting it out of my diet was a no-no.
Instead, I turned to the recipe for Irish brown soda bread that my mom has baked since I was a little girl. It’s simple, requires few ingredients and you can whip it together in just a few minutes.
It’s also really healthy! Oh, and because it’s yeast-free, it tends to be better for keeping my tummy flat too!
Don’t Skip This Ingredient When Making Irish Brown Bread…
For an authentic Irish brown bread, you cannot skip the buttermilk. It adds a certain richness to the flavor, and the texture won’t be as good without it. If you’re really stuck, you can use plain yogurt or sour cream instead…or even one of these other buttermilk replacements.
In Ireland, my favorite way to eat this bread is with a warm bowl of homemade vegetable soup. Slathered in butter, then dunked into the soup, the bread absorbs all the flavors. I also enjoy it with butter and jam and I’m not picky about whether it’s for breakfast, lunch or a snack! It seems that butter and jam is go-to combo, since I also eat my Irish Scones and Irish Soda Bread that way, too!
This Irish brown bread is delicious served warm so that the butter soaks right in but it’s equally good cold. The bread will keep for several days as long as it’s stored in an airtight container or covered with foil, but don’t refrigerate it as it will dry the bread out.
Irish Brown Bread Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups Stoneground Whole Wheat Flour sifted
- 1 cup all Purpose Flour sifted
- 1 ¾ cups Buttermilk
- 1 large Egg
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1 tablespoon Oats optional to sprinkle on top
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk the egg and set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients.
- Make a well in the middle and add the buttermilk and egg. Mix well with a wooden spoon until a soft, slightly wet dough is formed.
- Pour the mixture into a greased loaf tin.
- Run a knife along the top of the bread in the shape of a cross (lengthwise then widthwise). Sprinkle the top with oats if desired.
- Bake at 400° F for 35-40 minutes. You’ll know it’s cooked when you tap the bottom of the bread and it sounds hollow.
- Store in an airtight container or wrapped in foil. The bread will stay fresh for several days. Do not refrigerate as it will dry it out. Serve with butter and jam or whatever tickles your fancy!
Perfect recipe! I made 2 loaves today, for one of them I substituted the flours with oat flour and gluten free all purpose flour. Both loaves were perfect! Thank you for sharing!
Hi! Did this recipe change recently? I don’t remember the wheat germ being in it originally. I should have written it down previously, but is there a chance I could get the recipe originally posted (I could be totally wrong and getting recipes mixed up!).
Hi! I reverted it back to the original recipe since I’ve received this comment several times!
Hello! I made this recipe in the past but it didn’t include the wheat germ, butter, etc. do you still have the former recipe saved somewhere? Thanks!
Just reverted the changes!
Did this recipe get updated by chance? I have made it several times and my dad absolutely loves it! He requests it for his birthday! I didn’t save the older version of it and was hoping I would be able to get that!
I just reverted the changes!
Thank you so much! On my it’s still showing the revised recipe.
I am on a quest to find the best brown recipe. This may be it! To confirm, there is only 1 tablespoon butter? From which part of Ireland does it originate?
Correct. It’s just a general Irish recipe that’s used throughout. Brown bread is not region specific :-)
Great recipe and so easy to make. Taste is just like what we enjoyed in Ireland last week. Will be making again!
We just spent 10 days in Ireland last month and we had Irish Brown Bread everyday and loved it. This is the first recipe I tried and it’s a keeper! We lightly toasted it and slathered it with Kerrygold butter and had it alongside Guinness Beef Stew. We will definitely be making this on the regular. Thanks for the recipe! ;-)
May I ask what brand of stone ground whole wheat flour you used? I’m pretty new to bread making and haven’t used any stone ground flours yet so, I figure I might as well use whatever you used since I’m going to try your recipe.
I use King Arthur brand usually.
I made it today as per recipe. Perfect! It was gone between lunch and supper. I didn’t need extra buttermilk or salt but I weighed my flours for accuracy. This is a keeper.
I would suggest a little more salt than in this recipe. Even with butter this still wasn’t enough for me. (I lived in Ireland and am very familiar with brown bread.) I also had to double the buttermilk… depending on your flour you may need a lot more than called for.
Just made this and WOW – made me feel like I was back in Ireland. Been missing this bread since our trip there a month and a half ago and happy to say this is taking care of my craving :)
This looks great and I can’t wait to try it, but can I use regular wheat flour if I can’t find stone ground wheat?
Absolutely!
Is there 327 cals in the whole bread
Hi Julie! It wasn’t calculating correctly for some reason. It’s updated now and shows calories per serving
Hi, thank you for the recipe! Can you please tell me what size loaf pan you used?
Hi! I think mine is about 4.5inches x 8.5inches.
I made it the first time with no issue but upon the second two attempts, it is super dry (not a wet, pourable dough). Any suggestions on what I could be doing wrong?
Hmmm. I make it at least once a month and I’ve never had that issue! Did you use a different flour maybe?
This sounds so yummy :) I’ll have to try it! And, it’s perfect for St. Patty’s Day! Thanks for sharing… Sending you PIN love from our #PinUP Pin Party :)
Thanks Dawn! It’s my favorite! :-)
That bread looks so yummy, especially with the butter and raspberry jam spread on it. Recently, our neighbors had a bit of a party where they had beer bread–it was delicious, but, the way it was made, I’m not sure that it was the most healthy. I’ll have to give this recipe a shot and see if my hubby likes it.
I hope your husband likes it, Julie! Mine is very fussy about bread and devours it every time I bake it!