Irish Brown Bread
If Irish Soda Bread had a healthy offspring, it would be Irish Brown Bread. It's not as well known in the United States, but it is extremely popular in Ireland. It's a hearty nut filled whole wheat bread that is easy to make. This dense crusty bread will hold up to any stew or soup and will taste great toasted with a little jam on it for breakfast. I like to serve it with a compound butter made with a fruit jam and softened butter.
In Ireland, during the Famine, prior to 1848, brown bread was handed out to the poor. In England, brown bread was made from brown meal. Around and prior to the year 1845, brown meal was considered a less desirable grain product, and was priced accordingly. However, by 1865, due to recently discovered health benefits of bran, brown meal's London price had increased to a point often greater than that of fine flour. (Source: Wikipedia-Ireland)
This recipe is a combination of a few that I saw and wanted to put my own twist on it. My challenge was to see if I could make this brown bread a little more nutritionally sound. With the addition of Baidia: Whole Trilogy Health Seeds (flax, chia and hemp), this bread becomes an Omega 3 enriched bread that supports cardiovascular health.
If you purchase 1.5oz packages of these seeds, you can add them to your favorite recipe, over yogurt or on top of your favorite salad dressing for texture. It's best to keep the opened package in the freezer to ensure freshness.
Let's get baking, you'll need: Bake: 375 degrees 35 mins.
3 cups sifted whole wheat flour
1 cup flour
10 oz buttermilk (reserve a little more if needed)
2 tbsp. dark molasses
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3 heaping tbsp. wheatgerm
1 package Badia Whole Trilogy Health Seeds
Mix the flours in a large bowl and add the baking soda and salt. Add the seeds and wheatgerm, making sure that all seeds are covered in flour. This will stop them from sinking down to the bottom of the dough and not distribute evenly throughout.
Pictured here, the four is on the outside, the whole trilogy seeds is spread into an inner circle and center is the wheatgerm. I did this so you can see the color difference in the seeds and reminder to stir them until well floured.
Stir in the molasses and 3/4 of the buttermilk. Your goal is a moist dough but not loose. If it's still very dry (flour on the bottom of the bowl still) add the remainder of the buttermilk.
Flip the dough onto a floured board and bring it together just until the dough holds it's shape. If you overwork the dough, the bread will be chewy and not desirable.
Cut slits into the top of the bread allowing the heat from the oven to penetrate the dense dough. This will ensure that the middle is cooked and tender. The outside of the bread will be crusty and crispy.
Bake on 375 degrees for 35 minutes. Use a shallow dish or pie plate to bake the bread off so it maintains it's beautiful round shape.
Irish Brown Bread toasted, is delicious for breakfast or with an afternoon "cuppa" (a cup of tea). I made mine with raspberry butter quenelle (soft butter with 2 tbsp of raspberry preserves added, molded into football shapes) and a peppermint white bark (white chocolate melted, a swirl of green food coloring and a drop of peppermint extract).
This brown bread is better the next day and you can slice it and put in a ziptop bag and take one slice at a time out or as needed.
No yeast, no rise time and easy to make is a perfect way to make bread. You'll impress your guest when you tell them, "I made homemade Irish Brown Brown for you" - it's our secret that it took less then an hour to make and it's healthy!
Sláinte chuga - Good health to you! (A Gaelic Blessing)