Irish Brown Soda Bread
Updated Aug. 16, 2022
- Total Time
- About 1 hour
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 1¾cups/288 grams whole wheat flour
- 1¾cups/224 grams all-purpose flour, more as needed
- 1teaspoon salt
- 1teaspoon baking soda
- 2tablespoons/28 grams unsalted butter, softened
- 1egg
- 1⅔cups/395 milliliters buttermilk
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)
278 calories; 5 grams fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 1 gram monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 50 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams dietary fiber; 3 grams sugars; 10 grams protein; 290 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Heat oven to 425 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, sift together the whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, salt and baking soda. Use your fingertips to work the butter into the flour mixture.
- Step 2
In a small bowl, beat the egg and buttermilk together. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and stir to combine with a wooden spoon. Dough should be soft but not sticky; add a bit more all-purpose flour if necessary.
- Step 3
Put dough on a lightly floured board and knead together gently, just enough to form a round loaf. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet and cut a deep cross on top.
- Step 4
Bake for 15 minutes, then turn heat to 400 degrees and bake for 30 minutes more, until nicely browned. To tell whether it's done, thump the bottom of the loaf with your fingertips; it should sound hollow. Remove from baking sheet and cool on a rack. Let cool to room temperature before slicing, if possible.
Private Notes
Comments
Traditional Irish brown soda bread is made with wheat meal, not wheat flour. Wheat meal is coarser than flour and cannot be sifted. The texture bread made with wheat meal is more like that of cornbread than of American wheat bread. Unfortunately, the only way that I've found to get wheatmeal in the US is to order it online. It's worth doing so, I think.
I've been making soda bread for 20 years! Helen is correct that the texture should be more like cornbread but finding coarse wheat flour is tricky. So I substitute 1 cup of oatbran for a cup of the flour. And I don't use any butter or egg. The oat bran makes for a very moist loaf (unlike wheat bran, oatbran absorbs water). And I use 2 tsp of soda since the oatbran needs a bit more umph to rise. Sometimes I throw in sunflower, flax or pumpkin seeds. Sometimes a handful of oatmeal.
One cup equals 240 ml so one and two thirds are 240+160=400
I cook a lot, although I’m not a huge baker. Every St. Patrick’s Day, I make soda bread. For the last few years. I’ve done a tasting with a variety of soda breads with friends. I’m not sure why, but I included this recipe again this year, even though my notes say “dough runny need to add more flour”. This year it was way too runny. There is something wrong with the proportions of flour and buttermilk. I will not try this recipe again and I don’t recommend it. I understand that it’s the most authentic of the ones I found but again I think there’s something wrong with the proportions.
Different buttermilks probably weigh and measure differently. For me this ingredient generosity measured by volume was 17 milliliters, or about two tablespoons, less than the 395 milliliters the recipe calls for. I used the larger amount, which worked fine. Also to note, my result was much larger than the picture above suggests--maybe twice as big.
Can I substitute plain yogurt for the buttermilk?
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