I went to Ireland (County Kerry) on holiday this year and must have consumed the same amount of Wheaten Bread in a week than anyone living there could eat in a month! But I just LOVE it! I have made soda bread many times before in the past (follow the links below to check out some of my recipes) but proper Irish Wheaten Bread is slightly different to what I usually make. Wheaten bread is made from predominantly wholemeal flour (as opposed to white) and has a very distinctive flavour. When I got back I wanted to try and recreate the bread as best I could myself, so here is my recipe for Traditional Irish Wheaten Bread that is as close to the original I could manage!
How does Wheaten Bread differ from Soda Bread?
As briefly mentioned above, Irish Wheaten Bread is slightly different to a soda bread that you might find in shops in the UK. The main difference is that wheaten bread is made from predominantly wholemeal flour, however, it is also richer as it contains egg and a little sugar.
The most crucial element to give this bread its rise is the reaction between the bicarbonate of soda and the acid in the buttermilk to produce carbon dioxide. Buttermilk can be tricky to find in the UK (I loved how it Kerry we could buy it in large cartons just like normal milk!), I have only found it in Morrisons so far. However, not all is lost if you can’t find buttermilk. For the below recipe, mix together 300mL of milk with about 2 tbsp of lemon juice and leave it to stand for 10-15 minutes while you prepare the other ingredients. This will allow the milk to curdle and thicken slightly, and provide the acidity you need for the bread to rise!
More Delicious Bread Recipes
Bread is one of my most favourite things to bake and I have a large variety of different bread recipes on my blog that you could give a go! I have recipes that require hardly any work at all, while other more work-intensive recipes result in delicious results that were well worth the effort! Check out some of my favourite recipes linked below!
- Crusty Sourdough Loaf
- Wholemeal Sourdough Baton
- Seeded Sourdough Bread
- Rye Sourdough Loaf
- German “Laugenbrezeln” (Pretzels) | German Baking Classic
- “Muntermacher” | Mixed Seed and Carrot Bread
- 3-day Crusty French Baguettes (totally worth it!)
- Italian Rosemary Focaccia Bread
- Pesto Star Bread
- German “Bauernbrot” | German Baking Classic
- Cheddar Cheese and Chive Soda Bread
- Twist Bread – 3 Ways (plain/seeded, black olive, rosemary & sundried tomato)
- Pumpkin Seed Sourdough
- Olive Ciabatta Bread Sticks (with homemade Tzatziki) | Bake Off Technical Challenge
Traditional Irish Wheaten Bread
Recipe
Ingredients
- 60g oats
- 250g wholemeal bread flour
- 150g strong white bread flour
- 10g fine sea salt
- 10g bicarbonate of soda
- 30g butter, melted
- 300ml buttermilk
- 100ml water
- 1 L egg
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- Some whole oats for sprinkling
Method
- Preheat the oven to 220°C. Lightly grease and line a loaf tin with a strip of baking paper so that it overhangs the short edges on either side (this will make it easier to remove the loaf at the end).
- Put the oats into the bowl of a food processor and blitz for 30-60 seconds. You are aiming for a mostly flour-like consistency with a few larger bits of oats still left.
- Place the oats, wholemeal flour, white flour, salt and bicarbonate of soda into a large bowl and mix to combine.
- Add the buttermilk, melted butter, water, brown sugar and egg into a measuring jug and whisk until everything is well combined.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and use a large spoon or spatula to mix everything together. The mix will be slightly wetter than a normal bread dough but should not be sloppy. Add some extra flour or water to adjust the texture if you need to.
- Transfer the bread mixture into the prepared loaf tin and level the surface as best you can. Then sprinkle some whole oats over the bread.
- Bake the wheaten bread in the pre-heated over for 40-45 minutes until well risen and golden brown. You can insert a skewer to see if it comes out (as good as) clean.
- Leave the bread to cool in the tin for about 30 minutes before using the strips of baking paper at either end to carefully remove it. Remove the baking paper and leave the bread to cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.
