Irish Brown Bread

As I mentioned before in my Irish soda bread post, brown soda bread is actually much more common in Ireland, both today and historically.  It's essentially the same recipe as white soda bread, only made with  whole grain flour, which was traditionally cheaper than white flour.  I've seen other recipes for brown soda bread including things like oats and molasses, but as usual, I've started with the simplest version of the recipe, though I may try and post one of the molasses ones later.



Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• approximately 2 cups buttermilk*

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 450F.  Mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.  Make a well in the center and pour in the milk.  Stir briefly, and add a little more milk if needed, but the dough should be quite dry.  Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and form into a ball.  Place the dough on a lightly floured baking sheet, cut a deep cross in the top of the bread, at least half way through, and prick each of the four sections with a sharp knife.  Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, then turn the oven down to 400 and continue baking for 20 minutes.  Turn the bread upside down and continue baking approximately 15 minutes, until the bottom makes a hollow sound when tapped.  Allow to cool slightly before serving.



This bread is best within 24 hours of baking.  It's great toasted with breakfast, topped with smoked salmon, or alongside a soup. Or just by itself with lots of butter, for that matter.  If you're looking for an authentic addition to your St Patrick's Day feast, look no further!

* Thrifty Scotswoman's Tip: if you don't have buttermilk in the house and don't want to buy some for just one recipe, you can use regular milk with an acid like lemon juice or vinegar added.  I used 2% milk with about a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar per cup, and it worked really well.