Best 5 Whole Grain Irish Soda Bread Recipes

100% WHOLE WHEAT IRISH SODA BREAD

Steps:

• In a big mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, soda, and salt.
• Cut in butter until it reaches a coarse meal consistency. (I started with two knives, then finished the process with my fingers.).
• Add raisins.
• Combine liquids separately. Add liquids to dry ingredients.
• Mix until a soft dough forms. At some point it will become hard to stir it, and it will be better to use your hands. Kneading the dough is the best way to combine all the ingredients completely -- knead it gently until it is smooth (about 3 minutes). You can knead it right there in the mixing bowl.
• Shape the dough into two balls, and place them on a greased cookie sheet. Flatten each ball slightly and cut an X about 1/4" deep in the top of each loaf.
• Bake at 375 for 35 minutes.

WHOLE GRAIN IRISH SODA BREAD

Steps:

• In a big bowl combine flour, baking soda and salt. Make a well in the center.
• Add buttermilk and stir to combine. Knead into a smooth, shaggy dough. If the dough is too wet, add more flour, if it is too dry, add a tad more buttermilk.
• On a lightly floured surface roll into a ball. Place on a paper-lined baking sheet and slightly pat down.
• Make a cross on top using a sharp knife. Sprinkle some flour on top.
• Bake in the preheated oven at 200°C/400°F for about 25 minutes checking in near the end to prevent overbrowning. If a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean, it is ready. Alternatively you can tap it on the bottom and if it sounds hollow, it is ready.
• Remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
• This is best eaten the day it is made, but will keep wrapped in a clean tea towel for a few days.

FOOLPROOF IRISH SODA BREAD

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment. Mix milk and vinegar in a small bowl, and let stand until thickened, about 5 minutes.
• Whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a large bowl. Cut in unsalted butter with a pastry cutter or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add bran, caraway seeds, and raisins; stir to distribute.
• Pour milk mixture into flour mixture; stir until dough just holds together but is still sticky. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface. Pat and press the dough gently into a round, dome-shaped loaf, about 7 inches in diameter. Transfer to prepared sheet.
• Lightly dust top of loaf with flour. With a sharp knife, cut an X into the top, 3/4 inch deep. Bake, rotating halfway through, until loaf is golden brown and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 1 hour, 10 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack. Soda bread is best eaten the day it is made; serve with salted butter.

IRISH WHOLE WHEAT SODA BREAD

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a cookie sheet or an 8- or 9-inch cake pan with cooking spray.
• Sift whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder together until well combined. Add enough buttermilk to make a soft dough that's firm enough to hold its shape.
• Knead on a lightly floured surface until dough is smooth and velvety, 2 to 3 minutes. It will seem very crumbly for a while until everything gets incorporated.
• Form into a round loaf and place on the prepared cookie sheet. Cut a cross on the top of the loaf with a very sharp, floured knife. (The cross is a characteristic of soda bread.)
• Bake in the preheated oven until loaf is browned and sounds hollow when you tap on it, 35 to 40 minutes. Remove to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

WHOLE WHEAT SODA BREAD WITH RAISINS (SPOTTED DOG)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a sheet pan with parchment. In a large bowl, mix together flours, soda, salt and brown sugar. Swish mixture around with your hands to distribute salt and soda through the bread. Add raisins and toss mixture together to coat raisins with flour.
• Beat egg and place in a measuring cup. Add buttermilk; the liquid in the cup should measure about 1 3/4 cups.
• Make a well in the middle of the flour mixture. Pour egg/buttermilk mixture into the well. Working from the center of the bowl in concentric clockwise circles, with fingers outstretched, stir buttermilk mixture into flour mixture. (You can use a rubber spatula instead if you don't like getting dough on your hands.) This should take about a half a minute at most. Dough will be sticky and ragged.
• Dust your work surface with flour, clean and dry your hands and dust with flour. Scrape out dough and very quickly and gently pat it into a 1 1/2- to 2-inch-high round and tuck the bottom edges under. (Alternatively, place in a lightly buttered 10-inch round cake pan.) Place on parchment-covered baking sheet. Moisten a knife and cut a deep cross across top of bread.
• Place in oven and immediately turn the heat down to 400 degrees. Bake 40 minutes, until the loaf is dark brown and makes a hollow sound when tapped. Remove from oven, wrap loosely in a kitchen towel (to soften the crust) and place on a rack to cool.