Irish Brown Bread Recipe with Honey Butter | {FULL VIDEO}

A traditional Irish Brown Bread Recipe that is perfect served with honey butter for tea, with Shepherd’s Pie or Cottage Pie, or a hot bowl of soup.

Irish Brown Bread is similar to Irish Soda Bread but is made with part whole wheat flour, which was historically less expensive and more readily available in Ireland.

This hearty brown bread recipe is easy enough to have on the table for every dinner or tea time!

Ingredients in this Irish Brown Bread Recipe

• All-purpose flour – Using all-purpose flour in combination with whole wheat flour keeps the bread light.
• Whole Wheat Flour – Whole wheat flour is an obvious ingredient in Brown Bread but if you use only whole wheat flour, the bread would be heavy and dense. A mixture of two flours provides the perfect texture.
• Small amount of granulated sugar – Just a bit of sugar provides a hint of sweetness and helps the top to brown and the bread to retain moisture.
• Baking powder and Baking Soda – Since this is a quick bread, no yeast is used. Instead, we use baking powder and baking soda to leaven, or raise, or brown bread. The baking powder reacts first when it comes into contact with liquid and then again with heat. The baking soda reacts with the acid in the sour cream or yogurt to provide additional lift.
• Salt – Salt accentuates the other flavors in the bread and should never be skipped!
• Butter – Butter is added for flavor and also a bit of leavening. By leaving the butter in small pea-sized chunks, the butter evaporates from the heat of the oven and leaves slight layers within the bread.
• Oats – Oats are a common ingredient in Irish cooking. They are hardy, filling, and sustaining. Oats also add numerous health benefits. Feel free to sprinkle the top of the loaf prior to cutting for a bit of a decorative finish.
• Sour Cream or Plain Greek Yogurt – Adds moisture and flavor to the bread. Some bread recipes use buttermilk for this but sour cream or Greek yogurt is more commonly on hand and makes this recipe more accessible.
• Milk – The milk will help this dough to hold together and provide additional moisture.

The Distinctive Look of Irish Brown Bread

The Irish will tell you to always cut an ‘X’ in the top of your Irish Brown Bread as a way to bless the bread and keep the bad spirits away.

The Irish will also tell you to poke a hole in each corner to allow the Fairies to escape before they can curse your bread.

I always think of these superstitions when making my Brown Bread but, obviously, they are just stories from years long passed.

The real reason that an ‘X’ is cut in to the top of the bread is to give the bread a place to expand. The ‘X’ controls the rise instead of the dough deciding for itself where it should split as it rises.

As for the holes for the Fairies to escape? There is no real technical reason for this – but I do it any way! No need to upset the Fairies…you know, just in case!

What to serve with Irish Brown Bread

This bread is delicious as is but is even better when slathered with honey butter or butter and jam.

Brown bread is so fast and easy to make that you can serve it with any dinner. It is especially delicious with Cottage Pie or Shepherd’s Pie, Bangers and Mash, Creamy Potato Soup, Steak and Ale Pie or Chicken Pot Pie.

Watch my FULL VIDEO and make this Irish Brown Bread Recipe along with me!

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Items used in this recipe that I recommend:

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