My family fell in love with traditional Irish Brown Bread in Ireland! So, I just had to create my own, easy, from-scratch recipe for this homey soda bread, for our New England home.
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My family and I discovered traditional Irish Brown Bread on our trip to Ireland. Everywhere we stopped, we found slices and loaves, and we quickly fell in love with this hearty, brown soda bread.
Once we were back home, we really missed those rustic slices. We'd grown accustomed to having a slice with afternoon coffee, with big Irish breakfasts, and for dunking in soup.
I wasted no time in creating my own homemade Irish Brown Bread recipe so my family and I can treat ourselves to slices any morning.
In a nutshell... 🐿️
- What this is: A hearty, rustic brown soda bread, just like the kind my family and I fell in love with in Ireland. I developed my own recipe for simple Irish brown bread to have it anytime the craving strikes.
- You'll love this part: It's an incredibly easy bread to pull together, with no yeast or rising time. Enjoy slices spread with Irish butter with breakfast or as a side with homey New England suppers.
- How it's made: Stir coarse wholemeal and white flours together with buttermilk, sugar, and baking soda. Shape and slash the dough, then bake until browned.
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Notes from fellow cooks:
"I just returned from my first trip in Ireland... I would buy a ticket back just to go have the brown bread. I have been searching for the best brown bread recipe since my return. — Pamela C.
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What is Irish Brown Bread?
In my posts about our trip to Ireland, I share that we enjoyed Irish Brown Bread everywhere: in cafés, restaurants, and with breakfasts at our B&Bs.
But the first time we saw the brown bread listed on a menu, we weren't sure what it was—just a kind of wheat bread? Something similar to Boston brown bread?
What we learned is that old fashioned Irish Brown Bread is a type of soda bread, so it requires no yeast at all. It's made with a coarse, wholemeal wheat flour that gives loaves their color and the nutty, toasty flavor.
Unlike Boston brown bread, Irish brown soda bread has no molasses, treacle, cornmeal, or rye flour, so the flavor is much different, and the texture is lighter as well.
The Irish brown bread flour I use is Odlum's Coarse Wholemeal. Bring some home from Ireland or order it here.
Irish Brown Bread vs. Irish Soda Bread
White Irish soda bread, like my Great-Great Aunt Lizzie Reilly's recipe, is studded with raisins and often caraway seeds as well. It also goes by the name Spotted Dog. This loaf gets a lot of attention around St. Patrick's Day!
Though Irish brown bread is also a soda bread, it's a much different loaf. The deep color and nutty flavor come from wholemeal flour: a coarse-textured wheat flour with visible specks of bran. It's not as finely ground as standard whole wheat flour.
What both white and brown soda breads have in common is that they're leavened with baking soda and baking powder. They work with the acidic buttermilk to help the bread rise.
We never found raisins in brown bread in Ireland, but we did discover that each home cook had their own favorite add-ins, such as oats, wheat germ, seeds, and nuts.
Irish brown bread history
For the working class and poor in Ireland in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, soda breads were an inexpensive and nutritious food that households could rely upon to help feed their families. The simplest of soda breads contained only flour, salt, bicarbonate of soda, and buttermilk.
The type of wheat grown in Ireland at this time, a soft wheat with low protein content, was also a factor in the reliance upon soda bread. Breads made with this type of wheat flour don't rise well with yeast, but work very well with baking soda as a leavener.
Coarse and less refined wheat flours were the most affordable and were used to make rustic, brown soda breads like this recipe.
You can find Brown Bread all over Ireland
If you're planning a trip to Ireland, I'm certain that, like us, you'll be able to enjoy Irish farmhouse Brown Bread everywhere you go.
We had it with tea at E.J. King's Restaurant in Clifden, and with our breakfast at the Rossmore Manor B&B in Donegal.
The bread was also on the breakfast table at Murphy's Farmhouse B&B in Castlemaine. Before we took the long walk to Dún Aonghasa Fort we had brown bread and soup at Tigh Nan Phaidi Café on Inishmore.
The slices we enjoyed were cut from small, soft homemade loaves, and they were fragrant with a rustic texture.
It's no wonder that, once back home, we really missed this Irish bread!
Why you'll love my homemade Irish Brown Bread
Trust me when I say that you will quickly fall in love with this delicious, hearty, and homey bread. The best thing about having a loaf of Irish Brown Bread on your counter is that it's a natural accompaniment with literally every meal.
This moist Irish brown bread is so easy to pull together—probably why so many Irish kitchens bake a loaf up fresh every day. Just blend your dry ingredients, then pull everything together with a splash of buttermilk.
I like to bake my Irish Brown Bread in a cast-iron Dutch oven because it gives it a taller, rounder shape. You can also just bake it on a flat baking sheet.
In her book "Irish Traditional Cooking" the famous co-founder of the Ballymaloe Cookery School, Darina Allen, says it's traditional, and important, to slash your dough across the top as well as to poke holes in each corner of the dough. This "lets the fairies out" during baking!
Don't forget to slather the baked slices with butter, Irish butter preferably!
🔪 How to make Irish Brown Bread
Brown Bread Ingredients:
- Coarse Wholemeal Flour: The brand I order online is Odlums Coarse Wholemeal. If you have stores in your area that sell authentic Irish products, ask if they carry it.
- All-Purpose Flour: Blended with the wholemeal, it creates a lighter texture in the bread. My go-to brand is King Arthur Baking.
- Sugar: I add just enough for a mild sweetness that enhances the nutty, wheat flavor. You can also reduce or omit the sugar.
- Baking Soda: That's why this is a soda bread! Check your baking soda expiration date to make sure it's fresh.
- Baking Powder: It works together with the baking soda to leaven this bread without the need for yeast.
- Salt: Just a pinch enhances the flavor of the entire loaf.
- Buttermilk: I love making this bread with buttermilk. It adds moisture, activates the leaveners, and adds flavor.
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Mix the dry ingredients
Stir together the two flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.
Add in the buttermilk
Add most of the buttermilk and stir it into the dry mixture. Add more buttermilk as needed.
Give it a very quick knead
Give the dough a few quick kneads to just pull it together.
Shape and slash
Shape it into a ball and place it in the pot or on the baking sheet. Slash the top of the dough and poke a hole in each corner to let the fairies out.
Bake
Bake the bread for a total of about 55 minutes, reducing the heat after 10 minutes. Let the loaf cool, then slice it up. It's delicious when slathered with butter or blackberry jam.
Irish Brown Bread FAQs
Plan to eat your Irish brown bread within 3 to 4 days of baking for the best flavor and texture.
Seal Irish brown bread inside a plastic bread bag or beeswax-coated food wrap. Keep it stored at room temperature.
While the sugar included in the recipe makes the bread only very mildly sweet, the answer is yes: you can absolutely reduce the amount of sugar in your Irish brown bread, or skip the sugar altogether if you prefer.
Tips:
- Get authentic Irish wholemeal flour like Odlums brand online, or if you're coming home from Ireland, bring some with you. Another option is King Arthur Flour's Irish Style Flour. Get it seasonally on their website or at the Baking Store in Norwich, VT.
- This recipe uses a combination of wholemeal and white flours, for a loaf that's soft with great texture and a good rise.
- I baked my bread in a round enameled Dutch oven, which keeps the loaf compact and nicely shaped. You can also bake the loaf on a baking sheet if you'd prefer.
Don't just take my word for it...
"This recipe is the best! I've wandered to others for a comparison and keep coming back to yours. My family is from Galway (Connemara) and it's very close to what we have in that region of Ireland." — Kathleen
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The best Irish Brown Bread is hearty, simple, and flavorful, especially when spread thickly with fresh butter or with blackberry jam.
It's perfect with breakfast, as a mid-afternoon snack, or to sop up the gravy in from your big Sunday roast dinner.
The recipe for my Irish Brown Bread with buttermilk is below! And here are more recipes inspired by travels to Ireland:
💬 How do you like this brown bread? Leave a comment below. Sláinte!
📖 Recipe
Irish Brown Bread Recipe
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Ingredients
- 2 cups Irish Style (wholemeal) flour
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, unbleached
- 4½ tablespoons granulated sugar (see note below)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1½ teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1½ cups buttermilk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400° F. Have ready an enameled cast-iron Dutch oven or a baking sheet. Line the pot or the baking sheet with parchment paper. Have a floured surface ready to quickly knead the dough, and a bench scraper if you have one.
Make the dough:
- Stir together in a large bowl the Irish wholemeal flour, all-purpose flour, sugar baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Pour in most of the buttermilk and stir it into the dry ingredients. If the mixture still seems very dry, stir in the rest of the buttermilk.
- Turn out the contents of the bowl onto the floured surface—the dough will still have some dry flour visible.
- Give the dough just a few quick squeezes to pull it together. (You don't want to over-knead this bread as it will make it tough once baked.)
- Quickly shape it into a ball and place the dough into the lined pot or on the baking sheet. Use a sharp knife to slash a cross in the top of the dough, and poke a hole in each corner of the dough (to let the fairies out!)
Bake:
- Place the pot or baking sheet in the oven and bake for 10 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 375° F and bake the bread for another 40-45 minutes. The bread should be risen and browned, and sound hollow when tapped on the bottom.
- Remove the bread to a cooling rack and let it cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing it.
- Serve slices of the bread with butter and jam. Tightly wrap leftover bread and use it within 2-3 days.
Other ways to bake:
- You can also bake the bread as a freeform loaf on a baking sheet, instead of in a Dutch oven.
- To make Brown Bread in a loaf pan, grease the bottom and sides of a 9x5-inch loaf pan. Shape the dough into an oblong shape and add it to the pan—slash it and poke holes for the fairies to get out. Bake the bread as directed above.
Notes
A Note on the Sugar
My Irish Brown Bread recipe is made with 4-½ tablespoons of sugar, for a very light sweetness that nicely complements the wheat flavor. If you prefer, you can reduce the amount of sugar used or even omit it.Tips:
- Get Irish wholemeal flour like Odlums online. Another option is King Arthur Baking Company's Irish Style Flour - get it online or at the Baking Store in Norwich, VT.
- This recipe uses a combination of wholemeal and white flour.
Nutrition
A dedication
Gregory Perkins says
I haven't tried your recipe but wanted to give you a tip on the wholemeal flour. I bought a bag in Ireland and brought it home with me because it had a recipe on the bag, it was only 2 Euro or so for 2 kilos. When I tried to make it back in the states the first time I went the results were not good, too stiff. The Irish flour was great, but hard to get and expensive.
I found whole wheat pastry flour at my local bake shop (Niblack) and bought a bag. The other alternative here is buying pastry flour and turning it back into whole meal. The ratio is 80g pf, 17g bran and 3g germ. I think that works better than the fine grind Also, I don't add any all purpose flour.
Also, I use high quality full fat buttermilk that we get locally.
Cheers, Greg
Nancy Mock says
Hi Greg, I encourage you to try my recipe the next time you have a bag of Irish wholemeal flour in hand. (It can be ordered online.) You'll find that the ratios of wholemeal flour, all-purpose flour, and buttermilk turn out a delicious loaf of Irish brown bread, and not too stiff. Other readers have shared their tips for combining whole wheat flour and wheat bran and germ to get a wholemeal-like texture when Irish wholemeal isn't available; you can find those in the comments below. Use regular whole wheat flour though; pastry flour is milled to a finer grind and puts you further away from the texture of a wholemeal. When you do try my recipe, let me know how it turns out for you. Thanks!
Barbara Kozlowski says
I only could find reduced buttermilk at two stores I looked out. How will reduced fat buttermilk impact the recipe?
Nancy Mock says
Hi Barbara, That's too bad no one had full-fat buttermilk, and your question is a good one. Reduced-fat buttermilk can be used in Irish Brown Bread. It's still acidic, which is what will activate the baking soda to help the bread rise. The fat in the buttermilk helps give this bread a tender crumb; reduced-fat buttermilk is still very rich, so I suspect that there won't be a noticeable difference in texture.
For future loaves, if you can't find regular buttermilk, try this substitution: stir 1-1/2 tablespoons of lemon juice or white vinegar into 1-1/2 cups of whole milk. Let it sit for five minutes, then use it in the recipe. The lemon juice or vinegar will sour the milk, and it's an effective replacement for buttermilk.
I really appreciate you checking in on this. Please let me know how the Brown Bread turns out!
Teresa Loughlin says
As an Irish woman, I'm so glad to see a proper Irish soda bread recipe. I've come across so many with all sorts of stuff added in, most of which wouldn't have been available in Ireland back in the day! so well done you!!! Also I've never heard the 4 hole tradition before, we also just put the cross on it to bless the bread and keep the fairies away, I found this new info very interesting. thanks
Nancy Mock says
Teresa, thank you so much for that, it really means a lot! The best versions of brown bread we enjoyed across Ireland were simple and hearty, and that's what I strived to recreate with my recipe. We actually just enjoyed a loaf of it this past weekend. I'm so happy you found my recipe, and hope to hear from you again!
Christian says
Just finished eating a slice! Perfect every time!
Nancy Mock says
A favorite in Ireland and in our house, too! 🙂
Hazel says
I used your EXACT measurements and it wouldn't even form I had to add an additional Cup and a bit extra buttermilk. I'm not sure if there's a typo or what but I've tried this 2 different times not realizing it was same recipe
Nancy Mock says
The ingredient quantities listed in the recipe ARE correct. At most, an additional teaspoon or two of buttermilk would be all that's needed to bring the bread together. I just sent you an email as well. Thanks Hazel.