Irish Brown Bread

Ingredients

  • 2 cups (10oz, 285g) whole wheat flour
  • 1 cup (5oz, 145g) all purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon (1/2 oz, 14g) granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 tablespoons (1 oz, 30g) unsalted butter at room temp
  • 1 egg
  • 1 1/2 cups (360ml) buttermilk, plus more for brushing

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a 1/2 sheet pan with parchment paper.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the whole wheat flour, all purpose flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Add the butter and work in with your fingers until fully incorporated and there are no lumps larger than a pea.
  3. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Combine the egg and buttermilk and pour into the well. Mix gently with a wooden spoon until most of the buttermilk is incorporated. If the dough is very, very dry you can add a little more buttermilk.
  4. Turn onto a floured surface and knead about 15-20 times until combined. Form the dough into a large round ball. Place the dough onto the parchment lined sheet pan and flatten the top a bit.
  5. Using a sharp knife or a single edge razor blade cut a 1/2-3/4″ deep X shape across the top of the loaf. Brush the top of the loaf with buttermilk. Bake for 40-50 minutes until it is golden brown.
  6. To check if it’s done, turn the loaf over and tap the bottom. It should have a hollow sound. You can also use a probe thermometer to check for an internal temperature of about 190°F.

Notes

I use King Arthur whole wheat flour and unbleached all purpose flour.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.