Hearty brown bread is a staple in Ireland, and one you should make to enjoy with afternoon tea, a hot bowl of soup, or toasted and buttered for breakfast.
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My family and I discovered brown bread: a heartier, wholemeal version of Irish soda bread, on a recent trip to Ireland. We found it offered everywhere we stopped, and we loved it.
Once home, we really missed those rustic slices, and I decided it was time to make some brown bread in my own kitchen.
In my Delectable Destinations posts about our trip to Ireland, you will find many mentions of "brown bread". When we arrived we saw this on menus everywhere: in cafés, restaurants, and with breakfasts at our B&Bs. And we weren't sure at first what that was - maybe a plain slice of regular wheat bread?
What is Irish Brown Bread?
When researching authentic Irish foods for a round-up of recipes for St. Patrick's Day, I found plenty of entries for white soda bread - usually studded with raisins and caraway seed like my Great-Great Aunt Lizzie Reilly's recipe. Though brown bread is also a soda bread, it's a much different loaf!
Because Irish brown bread is a soda bread it's leavened with baking soda instead of yeast. Buttermilk in the mixture adds flavor and moisture.
The deep brown color and nutty flavor of brown bread comes from wholemeal flour, which is a coarse wheat flour with visible specks of bran. It's not as finely ground as a typical whole wheat flour we're used to seeing.
The brown bread slices we found throughout Ireland were cut from small, soft homemade loaves. They were a deep, wheaty brown with a rustic texture.
Irish brown bread is hearty, simple, and quite flavorful especially when spread thickly with fresh butter. It was perfect with breakfast, as a mid-afternoon snack or to whet our appetites for dinner.
Brown bread all over Ireland
I found Irish brown bread everywhere on our travels. We had it with tea at E.J.King's in Clifden, and with our breakfast at Rossmore Manor in Donegal. It was on the breakfast table at Murphy's Farmhouse B&B in Castlemaine.
On the stark island of Inishmore we had brown bread with veggie soup at Tigh Nan Phaidi Café. We purchased slices at Caífé na Trá, a little cafe perched on a sloping hillside above the sea in Dingle, to bring with us on our scenic drive around Slea Head.
It's no wonder that once home we really missed this brown bread!
How to make Irish Brown Bread
Step 1: Get your oven and workspace ready
Preheat the oven. Get out an enameled Dutch oven (like a Le Creuset) and line it with a piece of parchment paper. Or, use a baking sheet lined with parchment. Have a floured spot ready to quickly knead the dough.
Step 2: Mix the dry ingredients
Stir up the two flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.
Step 3: Add in the buttermilk
Add in most to all of the buttermilk and stir it into the dry mixture.
Step 4: Give it a quick knead
Pour out the bread mixture onto the floured surface. Give the dough a few quick kneads to just pull it together. Shape it into a ball and place it it the pot or on the baking sheet.
Step 5: Slash and bake
Use a sharp knife to slash the top of the dough ball. Bake the bread for a total of about 55 minutes, reducing the heat after 10 minutes. Let the loaf cool on a wire rack, then slice it up. It's delicious slathered with butter or jam.
Notes
- You can get authentic Irish wholemeal flour like Odlums brand online, or if you're coming home from Ireland bring some with you! Another option that is readily available is King Arthur Flour's Irish Style Flour - get it at their website or at the Baking Store in Norwich, VT.
- This brown bread recipe uses a combination of wholemeal and white flours, to get a loaf that's soft with a great texture and a decent rise.
- I baked my bread in a round enameled Dutch oven, which keeps the loaf compact and nicely shaped. You can just as easily bake the loaf on a baking sheet if you'd prefer.
Don't forget to slather the slices with butter, Irish butter preferably!
The recipe is below, and here are more recipes inspired by travels to Ireland:
>> How do you like this Irish Brown Bread? Scroll down to leave a comment for me, and give the recipe a star rating. Sláinte!
Irish Brown Bread
Ingredients
- 2 cups Irish Style (wholemeal) flour
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, unbleached
- 4 ½ tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ 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 for a quick knead on the dough, and a bench scraper if you have one.
- Stir together in a large bowl the Irish whole meal 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 pot or on the baking sheet. Use a sharp knife to slash the top of the dough.
- 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.
Notes
- You can get authentic Irish wholemeal flour like Odlums online, or if you're coming home from Ireland bring some with you! Another option that is readily available is King Arthur Flour's Irish Style Flour - get it at their website or at the Baking Store in Norwich, VT.
- This brown bread recipes uses a combination of wholemeal and white flours, to get a loaf that's soft with a great texture and a decent rise.
- I baked my bread in a round enameled Dutch oven, which keeps the loaf compact and nicely shaped. You can just as easily bake the loaf on a baking sheet if you'd prefer.
Nutrition
Post originally published in March 2019. Post and recipe updated February 2020.
Just like mom used to bake . I could never make her bread but now you shared the recipe I can. And I can’t stop baking it delicious. Mom has passed on and so happy I can make for my family thanks so much
Hi Maura, this is so sweet. I’m touched that you’re making my brown bread in honor of your mom, your family is very lucky. Thank you for sharing this with me and for giving my recipe a try!
I double this recipe, and half the Suger, and add 2 tbsp of Golden Syrup, and bake twice a week, so wholesome and full of fiber.
Hi Norah, I love hearing that you bake brown bread so frequently! That's an interesting variation, to use some syrup in place of some sugar. I've never used Golden Syrup - how does that change the flavor or sweetness? Maybe I'll have to give that a try.
I don’t usually comment on recipes but this was 10/10 delicious. I rushed back here to save the recipe. It was so easy to make and tastes like Ireland 😍
Kelly, I am so happy to read this! Thank you very much not only for trying my brown bread, but for saving the recipe to make again. Eating it takes me back to our time in Ireland, too. Your feedback made my day. Slainte!
Hi Nancy,
I live in Connemara in the West of Ireland and I bake regularly. Today I tried your recipe for brown soda bread and my family and I have not stopped eating it since it came out of the oven. It's sensational. The crispy crust and the melt in the mouth middle. I don't normally add sugar or baking powder when I make soda bread but I must hand it to you, it makes a huge difference. We ate the bread with salted butter, butter and homemade rasberry jam and I had some with a slice of boiled bacon. Devine. Thank you Nancy for your fabulous recipe. I'm looking forward to baking Aunt Lizzie's soda bread next. Thank you again for a wonderful recipe.
Hi Carol! I am delighted to hear that you and your family like my Brown Bread, and it means so much to me that you gave it a try. When we traveled to Ireland we had many versions of Brown Bread (including in Clifden!) - each made by hand in home kitchens, and I liked the subtle differences that each baker gave this traditional bread to make it their own. Do you make Brown Bread often for your family? Reading your comment made me realize I'm getting low on Odlums - I'll have to order more today and get more bread in the oven! Thank you for trying my recipe, and if you have time I'd love to hear more about the baking you do. ♥
I’m from Dublin and have been baking brown bread foe 30+ years, eating it for 50+ and have never heard of anyone putting sugar in it. It should not be sweet. I will certainly try it with some baking powder for a little variation but I will skip the sugar. I live in America and do not buy bread ever because of the American propensity for adding sugar.
Hi Grainne, I appreciate this perspective and I have heard from one or two others who grew up eating Brown Bread that sugar is not traditionally added. When I started experimenting with a Brown Bread recipe after visiting Ireland, I added sugar since it's normally included in quick breads. (Americans and their sugar, like you said!) The amount of sugar in this loaf is on the low side at least. I do think it nicely enhances the flavor of the bread without making it sickly sweet. In any case, I appreciate that you're willing to try my recipe with our without the sugar - I hope you will write again and let me know what you think of it!
I lived in Ireland when I was younger and this is the closest tasting recipe I've found.
Since King Arthur is out of it's Irish Style flour - I used a mixture of 100% extracted stone meal wheat flour and this I used my spice grinder to grind down some Red hard wheat grain I purchased at Whole Foods. I used 1/4 of a cup. It gave the bread the same texture as the coarsely ground whealmeal flour.
Hi Carla! I am thrilled that you find my recipe to be so much like the brown bread you remember from Ireland, thank you! Grinding the hard wheat grain is a very clever workaround to get the texture of wholemeal. Odlums is another good wholemeal flour to use when King Arthur Flour is out of their Irish flour. I can usually find Odlums online. Thank you so much for trying my recipe!!
I just made irish brown bread using 2 1/2 c King Arthur's Irish style flour. I lost my favorite recipe but managed being a little creative and it came out 😋 delicious.
I added 1/2.c. Quick cooking rolled oats, 1/2 wheat bran, 3 TBSP wheat germ, and instead of sugar 2 TBSP. molasses. Same baking soda, salt, and buttermilk.
I also feel in love with brown bread (and Ireland) on several trips there and had it with seafood chowder often.
Slainte!
Hi Denise, I hope you liked my posts about our visits to Donegal, Inishmore, Clifden, Dublin, and Castlemaine. After tasting Brown Bread on our first day in Ireland we were so happy to find it everywhere we stopped, and each version just a little different with the individual baker's own take on the recipe. Slainte to you 🙂
This looks delish!
Why thank you!
Hi
I live in Cork Ireland and your recipe is excellent. Where I live we would never add sugar to brown bread, but I know it differs throughout the country. Most important is, of course, the butter thickly spread on top😉
Hi Hanna, Wow - when someone from Ireland says my brown bread is excellent, I consider that truly high praise! Thank you for making my recipe, and for this comment which really made my day. And I agree - don’t forget that butter!
Hi! Can we make this bread in a loaf tin?
Hi Anam! Yes, you can definitely bake this in a loaf pan. Grease the inside of the pan then pat in the dough, leaving the long center a little higher than the sides. When I tested this in a 9-inch by 5-inch glass pan, I baked it following the same directions above: 10 minutes at 400 F then 40 minutes more at 375 F. The internal temp of the finished loaf should be about 180 F. Thanks for the great question - let me know how it turns out!
It was a great time. Love you too.
❤️❤️❤️
Wow! I came across this recipe while searching for Irish brown bread. This was the only one I had seen that used course whole wheat. I added the Irish flour to my order and have to say this is one of the best whole grain breads I've had. So easy to make I'll be passing this recipe on to my friends,
Hi Bill, I agree, the coarse wholemeal flour makes all the difference. Thank you for trying (and sharing) my recipe - I'm so happy to hear you like it! Cheers!