The Best Brown Bread Ever!

I have an Irish Granny who is an extraordinary home cook and baker. Growing up (and still today), I spent a lot of time with her and it was in her kitchen (where my family always ended up hanging out) that I learned the basics of how to cook.

She makes this brown Irish soda bread that is fantastic. Over the years, her simple recipe has morphed into one of the most delicious fibre dense breads you can imagine, featuring up to 7 separate grain/grain parts/seeds.

This recipe is not that one. I’ve been trying for years to get her to commit to specific measurable units that can be passed from one human to another in a coherent way but she keeps whining about “blah blah blah just put a fistful of this in blah blah blah then a few coffee cups of that, but don’t use a mug, it has to be an old cup…”. Do you get the picture?

This, however, is the closest thing I’ve come across/adapted that has the same taste, consistency and fibre content that my Granny’s bread does.

This recipe is fast, easy and delicious. My 5 year old son will mix up all the dry ingredients for me and happily eat slice after slice with some margarine or jam. The baby also loves this bread. We even eat a few slices for breakfast, or with tomatoes, cheese and pickles for lunch.

I highly recommend adding this bread to your usual eats. You will see it in my future photos as I always make it to accompany soup. It will give you a big fibre boost, providing both soluble and insoluble fibre. The only downside: it’s not vegan. If you are vegan and want to try the recipe with plant based analogues for the egg and dairy, please let me know your recipe and thoughts on the results.

Best Brown Bread

1 3/4 C whole wheat flour *
3/4 C oats **
2 TBSP wheat germ
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
2 TBSP brown sugar ***
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
1 cup + 2 TBSP soured milk or buttermilk ****

Measure and mix all dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients into dry and mix. Pour into an oiled and floured loaf pan. Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes.

*I recommend a coarse whole wheat flour like NoName yellow label.
** One minute oats are what I use, but steel cut or rolled would be fine.
***You could use Splenda Baker’s Blend or reduce this to 1 tsp if you are diabetic.
**** Sour milk by adding a TBSP or two of lemon juice or vinegar to the milk and let it stand while you measure the other ingredients.

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