Whole Wheat Irish Soda Bread Recipe
This whole wheat Irish soda bread is a fabulous bread that is easy to make with minimal steps or ingredients. It’s a great bread recipe for all you non-bread bakers out there.
My mom recently went on a trip to Ireland. She has never really gone anywhere, so this was the trip of a lifetime for her. She loved every second of it and is now talking about buying a vacation house over there.
To say she came back inspired by Irish cooking is an understatement.
The other night, she made me some Irish Soda Bread using a recipe from an Irish website she found, and I was hooked. It was straight out of the oven, and she had put a little bit of Irish butter on it to boot. Kerry butter, anyone?
The History Of Irish Soda Bread
Irish Soda Bread actually has an interesting history.
This type of bread was first create by the Native American Indians.
“They were the first to be documented using pearl ash, a natural form of soda formed from the ashes of wood, to leaven their bread without yeast.
The Irish later discovered and replicated the process. While it seems like an ancient recipe, Irish soda bread history began in the 1830’s, when baking soda, or bicarbonate soda, was first introduced to the country.“
Trafalgar.com
Whole Wheat Irish Soda Bread Ingredients
3 cups whole wheat pastry flour – If you can’t find this type of flour, the next best option (and far more widely available) is white whole wheat flour. Not regular white flour. Don’t confuse the two.
1 tsp. baking soda – Make sure this is new or newer baking soda. Old soda won’t do as good of a job.
½ tsp. sea salt – I used pink Himalayan salt, but use whatever fine salt you have. The only salt to avoid is a coarse salt.
1 ½ cups butter milk (plus a little extras reserved) – This is just regular buttermilk. Not low fat or flavored.
How Do You Make Irish Soda Bread From Scratch?
Preheat your oven to 450 degrees F.
Put the flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl and mix well with a whisk.
Make a “well” in the middle of the flour.
Pour your buttermilk into the well.
Combine slightly with a wooden spoon until it get’s too thick to continue mixing with the spoon.
Then you’ve got to get in there with your hands. Go ahead… kneading dough is the fun part of making bread!
Knead until you have a nice firm dough. If your dough is very dry and doesn’t form a nice ball, add a little extra buttermilk, 1 tablespoon at a time. Knead well before adding your next tbsp. to be sure you don’t overdo it.
Form your dough into a round disk that is approximately 1 ½ inches in thickness. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet or pizza pan.
Score your bread with a sharp knife. I cut mine a little deep which is why the bread separated as much as it did in the top photo. But no matter how deep you do or don’t cut it, it will bake well. The idea is to cut it so that you can easily break it into quarters when it’s done.
Bake it in the oven at 450 F. for 15 minute, then reduce the heat to 400 degrees F. and continue baking for 25-30 minutes. If your bread starts to look to brown, loosely place a piece of aluminum foil over the top of it.
Once it’s cooled, store it in a plastic bag. But ya… um… it just didn’t last long enough around here for me to store it. In fact, I cut into it immediately and burned my finger. But man… was that burn worth it!
How To Store Irish Soda Bread
Irish Soda Bread dries out quickly. So always keep it wrapped with plastic wrap, in zipper top bag or in some other type of air-tight container. Fresh soda bread will last about 3-4 days. Keep it in the fridge to be safe.
Can You Freeze Irish Soda Bread?
If you wrap it very well, you can freeze Irish soda bread for up to 3 months.
How To Serve Irish Soda Bread
If it’s been frozen, let it sit on the counter overnight to thaw. Beyond that, slice and serve as:
- Breakfast toast
- Sandwich bread
- As a side to soup
- Cut for a french toast casserole
- Make french toast
- Cut and turn into croutons
- Make and Irish Goody for dessert
More Whole Grain Bread Recipes
Whole Wheat Irish Soda Bread Recipe
Whole Wheat Irish Soda Bread Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 cups whole wheat pastry flour
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- ½ tsp. sea salt
- 1 ½ cups butter milk (plus a little extras reserved)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 450 degrees F.
- Put the flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl and mix well with a whisk.
- Make a “well” in the middle of the flour.
- Pour your buttermilk into the well.
- Combine slightly with a wooden spoon until it get’s too thick to continue mixing with the spoon.
- Then you’ve got to get in there with your hands. Go ahead… kneading dough is the fun part of making bread!
- Knead until you have a nice firm dough. If your dough is very dry and doesn’t form a nice ball, add a little extra buttermilk, 1 tablespoon at a time. Knead well before adding your next tbsp. to be sure you don’t overdo it.
- Form your dough into a round disk that is approximately 1 ½ inches in thickness. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet or pizza pan.
- Score your bread with a sharp knife. I cut mine a little deep which is why the bread separated as much as it did in the top photo. But no matter how deep you do or don’t cut it, it will bake well. The idea is to cut it so that you can easily break it into quarters when it’s done.
- Bake it in the oven at 450 F. for 15 minute, then reduce the heat to 400 degrees F. and continue baking for 25-30 minutes. If your bread starts to look to brown, loosely place a piece of aluminum foil over the top of it.
- Once it's cooled, store it in a plastic bag. But ya… um… it just didn't last long enough around here for me to store it.
Notes
Nutrition
This recipe from the Gracious Pantry archives, originally posted 6/14/10.
i might have to try that this week!
Carrie,
Let me know how it turns out for you!
No raisins? I’m going to try your recipe though and resist the urge to add raisins.
Ashlye,
Sorry, no raisins. According to my sources, true Irish Soda Bread contains nothing but the ingredients listed. People have added stuff to the recipes over time.
If you like it with raisins, go ahead and add them. I can’t imagine it would hurt the recipe at all.
I must try this, it sounds fabulous! And so easy to make!
Megan,
Ya, it’s so yummy and so easy to make! Let me know how you like it!
Yum!!!
This is on my “To Do” list for the weekend. Thank you for always sharing such awesome recipes!!!
Let me know how you like it Jane. It’s soooo yummy! Just be sure to put it in a ziploc bag as soon as it’s cool. It turns rock hard in a few hours if it’s left out. I learned that the hard way! lol
I’ve been looking for a n irish soda bread recipe that calls for whole wheat flour! Thanks!
I went to Ireland a couple years ago and fell in love with their soda bread. I even bought a whole loaf and took it home with me, haha!
Karen – My mother was just there a couple of months ago. She felt the same way. LOVED the food over there. Especially the soda bread!
This recipe is pretty authentic, so hopefully, it’ll take you back.
Enjoy!
I just made this. It’s good stuff! One question though….is it supposed to be really “crisp” on the outside?
Jill, the longer it’s exposed to air, the crisper the outside gets. Try putting it into a ziploc bag as soon as it cools completely.
I saw a cooking show on the cooking network that showed people making irish soda bread with all sorts of herbs and/or berries in it too… I have always wanted to make bread and this seems like a great and easy recipe! I am researching clean eating and getting ready to make the switch so I wanted to thank you for your blog it is great and very informative!
Andrea – Thank you! I’m so happy to have you as a reader! Irish soda bread is fantastic stuff! The classic version has nothing in it, but you could certainly add all kinds of things! Such a fun experiment!
I think I’ll be making this with some kind of cabbage and potatos for dinner tonight ( maybe bubble and squeek?) Thanks for the recipe Tiffany, it looks wonderful
Trude – Oh that should be good! Let me know how you like it!
Would you happen to have the recipe for the Irish butter??? HaHa…Thank you
Kristi – Ha! Oh, how I wish!
Lawoman – Awwww, I hope you both have fun. Soda bread is different than most bread we’re used to here in the states, but I just adore it. I hope you do too!
DBBuckley – Okay. #1, I’m totally jealous. I would LOVE to go there! #2, brown bread ice cream? I don’t even know what brown bread is, aside from whole wheat bread. Do you have a recipe to share? Sounds incredible!
Aawelton – I’ve heard of that. But I was under the impression that that is called something else. That it’s not the traditional version. Sounds wonderful though!
Kara – That sounds wonderful!
Thanks for this website, I just recently decided to eat clean and am learning tons of things from your blog. The only problem is that I live in Germany and can’t find whole wheat pastry flour. It just doesn’t exist here. Should I use whole wheat gluten free flour instead? I really don’t know what else I could use. Thanks in advance!
Marina – You can use regular whole wheat flour, just know that you will get a more dense and “bready” result.
Can you make this gluten free?
No idea. I’ve never tried. Sorry! You might try Elana’s Pantry or the Gluten Free Goddess. They might have that information.
A friend just reminded me of Irish Soda Bread – tis the season! A weakness! So I immediately came here and lo and behold! Trying this ASAP!
Haha! Hope you enjoy it!
Is there a substition for buttermilk?
You can use a different milk and add a bit of vinegar to it. You’ll want to google the exact amounts though. I’ve never done it myself.
Mmmm I love soda bread, who would think that something so simple would be so delicious!
Would white whole wheat flour work? Or something you can add to regular whole wheat flour that will get the same consistency (not so dense)?
Yes, white WWF should work.
Thanks a ton for the help you are giving all of us clean-eating newbies! I need a little more of that help with this recipe….
I used exactly the same ingredients and amounts and ended up with a really sticky dough and a super-dense bread. What could I have done wrong?
What type of flour did you use?