The Best Brown Soda Bread Recipe (traditional, Irish brown bread)
With a name like Reiley I ought to know how to make a loaf of traditional Irish soda bread. And luckily, I was taught how to make this homemade brown soda bread with buttermilk by the owner of a sweet little pub in southwest Ireland. This recipe is as authentic as it gets and it couldn’t be easier. Best of all, it produces a crusty loaf of warm, homemade bread in under an hour.
Why you’re going to love this 5-ingredient bread recipe
You don’t need any special equipment to make this homemade brown bread. There are no dough hooks or loaf pans; you don’t need to kneed or proof. This is truly one of the easiest bread recipes you’ll ever make–and one of the more nutritious, too.
I was surprised to learn just how easy it is to make a hearty, satisfying loaf of soda bread. The recipe calls for just five ingredients. Once you get the process down, you can get a loaf of made-from-scratch soda bread ready to bake faster than your oven can preheat.
What is whole wheat Irish soda bread?
According to The Society for the Preservation of Irish Soda Bread, this type of bread wasn’t invented by the Irish but embraced on the Emerald Isle at a time when yeast could be scarce.
If you’ve never made soda bread before, you might be surprised to learn that this Irish brown bread is a yeast-free, no-knead bread. And because this style of bread is so tasty, not to mention simple, the tradition stuck.
The Soda Bread Society’s website says that historically the most desirable soda bread flour was a highly processed, fluffy flour like the all-purpose flour we use today.
Yet early recipes for the Irish bread published on the site call for “good wheaten meal,” not white flour. And since the easy recipe for soda bread I was taught in Ireland called for stunningly rich whole wheat flour, I’m inclined to think that this heartier, whole wheat soda bread is truly authentic Irish soda bread.
Ingredients
What do you need to make a crusty loaf of wholemeal Irish soda bread? It just takes 5 inexpensive ingredients:
- Stone ground whole wheat flour (scroll down for tips on sourcing the best stone ground flour)
- All purpose flour
- Salt
- Baking soda
- Buttermilk
What is stone ground wheat flour?
Stone ground basically refers to how the flour is milled. The Kitchn has a good article on stone ground flour, if you want to take a deep dive. You can find this type of flour at many health food and specialty grocers, see my notes on sourcing in the next paragraph.
Sourcing stone ground wheat flour
Irish whole wheat flour is generally a very different product than what you’ll purchase sold as whole wheat flour in an American grocery store. It took me a few tries to figure out the right soda bread ingredient to replicate the flavorful and nutrition-dense bread I studied in Ireland.
The key is finding high-quality, stone ground wheat flour. It’s common in Irish grocery stores. It’s a little harder to come by in other parts of the world. But the results are worth the effort. Best of all, the addition of this high-quality flour increases the nutrition of your bread. (Whole wheat flour is a source of fiber, folate, manganese and selenium.) One of the best I’ve found is Bob’s Red Mill stone ground whole wheat. The Bob’s Red Mill flour is available on Amazon if your local store doesn’t carry it.
TO TRY: Whole Wheat Biscuits with Yogurt & Chia Seeds
Why you need to add all purpose flour
You’ll notice that the soda bread recipe incorporates one cup of all purpose flour with the stone ground flour. I have experimented with making the loaf using only stone ground whole wheat flour but I found the final texture both heavy and dry.
The addition of one-quarter white flour to the soda bread ingredients along with the 3 cups whole wheat flour gives the final loaf a dense but moist consistency. And it still has plenty of earthy, slightly sweet, wholemeal flavor.
Buttermilk substitutions
If you don’t have fresh buttermilk on hand, you have two choices. Keep buttermilk powder on hand for moments like this. (Powdered buttermilk is buttermilk that’s been dehydrated to a fine powder. You add it to water and use it just like the liquid kind.) If you don’t have this either, put 1 tablespoon of white vinegar into a glass measuring cup then fill the cup to the one cup line with regular cow milk. Stir and let the mixture sit for about five minutes before using as you would buttermilk.
How to make soda bread from scratch
There’s little more to making this bread than assembling the right ingredients. Honestly, the trickiest part is finding the right flour.
You simply add the dry ingredients to a large mixing bowl. Add the buttermilk slowly and stir until it’s combined. You’ll knead it lightly before turning it out onto your baking sheet and shaping it into a round loaf. Don’t worry about making a perfect sphere. A misshapen loaf offers a deliciously homemade look. Just make sure that you’ve greased the baking sheet so the bread doesn’t stick when you try to remove it.
Don’t forget to score the top of the bread before you put the loaf in the oven. The Irish tradition is to cut a cross into the bread. Although there is plenty of lore around this particular marking, the true reason for making this x is scientific. The shape helps the bread to bake evenly.
Here’s what it should look like when properly scored and ready for the oven:
The loaf bakes for about 40 minutes but oven temperatures can vary. Be sure to check it early for doneness to avoid overbaking. When it is fully cooked, the bread should be golden on top and make a hollow sound when tapped.
Serving suggestions
It is a fantastic treat on its own but soda bread makes a great side for soups and salads. Or serve it on the side with a traditional corned beef dinner. It’s a little difficult to cut evenly for sandwiches but a slice or two with a hunk of cheese makes a handy snack or meal on the run. This loaf tastes best served warm with hunks of golden, Irish butter.
In case you aren’t familiar with Irish butter, it’s a European butter with a high butterfat content. It typically has a vibrant, golden tone. This coloring comes from the beta-carotene-rich Irish grasses on which the cows are feeding. I recommend Irish butter specifically for this Irish bread because the creamy smoothness of Irish butter makes an exciting contrast with the bread’s grainy texture.
How to use it for a romantic meal or snack
Normally we feature recipes with aphrodisiac ingredients or ones that work their way obviously into a romantic meal. So you might be wondering why we’re featuring a loaf of wheat bread. None of the ingredients in this bread are historically noted as aphrodisiacs. But a good wheat flour, like the one from Bob’s Redmill, contains several nutrients important to a great sex life.
Whole wheat is a source of fiber, which doesn’t sound remotely sexy. Eating a diet rich in fiber can help with maintaining sex hormone levels. It might surprise you to learn that this cereal grain is also a source of protein, which you need for the energy to perform sexually. In addition, this nutrition-rich flour contains several minerals that help maintain sexual health including iron, potassium, magnesium and phosphorus.
So it’s clear how this bread will fit into the mix of foods that support your sex life but can it be used for romance? It can if you serve it in bed!
Make a loaf earlier in the day and let it cool on the counter or use leftovers from dinner and make a sexy midnight snack. You can also serve it to your lover with a mug of steaming coffee for a post-coital breakfast in bed. Slice and toast the bread and smear it with butter and jam or aphrodisiac honey.
How to store leftovers
If you like this bread as much as I do, you may never find yourself with leftovers. But just in case you do, here’s how to store it. Just wrap what’s left of the loaf in plastic wrap and store it on the counter for up to 3 days.
You can freeze soda bread but I don’t recommend it as the bread develops a crumbly texture.
More aphrodisiac quick breads
If you love making breads at home – particularly no-knead breads – be sure to check out this recipe for Breakfast in Bed Triple Gingerbread. This fun and tasty quick bread recipe is from my first cookbook, Fork Me, Spoon Me. And don’t miss this Easy, Vegan Banana Bread recipe.
Traditional Irish Brown Soda Bread
Ingredients
- 3 cup stone ground whole wheat flour
- 1 cup white flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 2 cup buttermilk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- Combine dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Slowly add the buttermilk, stirring to combine, until you have a sticky dough.
- Knead the dough lightly before transferring to a lightly greased baking sheet.
- Shape the dough into a flattened round. Cut a cross into the top to release the fairies. (I was not aware that fairies live in bread dough but since I was instructed on this key step by an Irish baker, I'm sticking to it!)
- Bake for approximately 40-45 minutes. Bread will be golden on top and offer a hollow sound when tapped when it is fully cooked.
Notes
A note on the provided nutrition information
The nutrition information provided has been estimated by an online nutrition calculator and is not a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.Nutrition
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Made this last night. It was a hit!. Yep, it was that good!