Irish Brown Bread

A recipe for Irish Brown Bread! A blend of whole wheat and all-purpose flour is combined with baking soda and buttermilk for an easy and delicious quick bread.

Irish Brown Bread (also known as Wheaten Bread) is a delicious, no-yeast quick bread made with a combination of whole wheat and white flour. It comes together with only a handful of ingredients and the longest part is baking in the oven!

This bread is a great option for those uncomfortable with yeast or if you don’t want to wait around all day for the bread to rise. The crusty exterior gives way to a moist and crumbly interior, perfect for serving with stews or eating by the slice with Irish butter or a favorite jam.

I especially like to pair the Irish Brown Bread with a Guinness Reduction Dipping Sauce.

A Few Tips

If possible, use a coarse Irish whole wheat flour to get the right texture in the bread. Substitute with a stone-ground whole wheat flour if not available.

Mix the bread just until the streaks of flour disappear. Over-mixing will cause a more dense texture.

Right before baking, cut a 1/2 inch (1.25 centimeter) deep “X” into the top of the bread to keep it from splitting while in the oven and allow the center to bake completely.

Form the bread and place in the oven immediately after mixing.

Some recipes add a few oats over the top of the bread before baking.

I baked the bread on a lightly greased baking sheet. You can also use an 8-10 inch (20-25 centimeter) Dutch oven. The smaller sizes will create a thicker bread.

Don’t open the oven door until towards the end of cooking. This will help develop a nice, crisp crust around the exterior of the bread.

Bake the bread until golden brown and makes a hollow sound when tapped. Don’t overcook or it will lose some of the tender texture.

This bread is much easier to cut after it has cooled on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes and up to a couple of hours. Good luck waiting that long though! If you cut into the loaf immediately after it comes out of the oven (I may or may not have done this), it is more likely to crumble and fall apart.

The Irish Brown Bread is best served the day it is baked, but will last in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.

Looking for more Irish recipes?

Try my:

• Irish Potato Cakes
• Dublin Coddle (Irish Sausage and Potato Stew)
• Irish Soda Farls

Irish Brown Bread Recipe

Adapted from Chowhound

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5 from 1 vote

Irish Brown Bread

A recipe for Irish Brown Bread! A blend of whole wheat and all-purpose flour is combined with baking soda and buttermilk for an easy and delicious quick bread.

Course Bread

Cuisine Irish

Keyword bread, buttermilk, Ireland, irish

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 35 minutes minutes

Resting Time: 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 20 minutes minutes

Servings 1 Loaf

Ingredients

• 2 cups (250 grams) coarse whole wheat flour
• 2 cups (250 grams) all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons (60 grams) unsalted butter cold and diced
• 1 3/4 cups (414 milliliters) buttermilk plus more for brushing

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 400˚F (200˚C). Lightly grease or line a baking sheet with parchment.
• In a large bowl, combine the whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking soda, and salt.
• Add the diced butter and cut into the flour mixture using a dough blender, two forks, or your fingers until blended and no pieces are larger than a pea.
• Make a well in the center and pour in the buttermilk. Mix together using your hands just until dough comes together and no streaks of flour remain. If still too dry and crumbly, add a little more buttermilk. If too wet and sticky to handle, add a little more whole-wheat flour.
• Lightly press the dough down into a circle on the prepared baking sheet until 7 inches (18 centimeters) wide and 2 inches (5 centimeters) thick.
• Brush the top of the round with buttermilk.
• Use a sharp knife to cut an "X" across the top of the bread, about 1/2 inch (1.25 centimeters) deep.
• Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown and the bread makes a hollow sound when tapped, 35-40 minutes.
• Place on wire rack for at least 30 minutes and up to 2 hours to cool before slicing.
• This bread is best served the day it is baked. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.