Irish Brown Soda Bread
With a rich, malty flavor and a dense crumb, Irish Brown Soda Bread is a no-knead bread made with dulse flakes (seaweed); ready in a jiffy!
With a rich, malty flavor and a dense crumb, Irish Brown Soda Bread is a no-knead bread that’s ready an hour! It smells so amazing cooking, and there’s nothing better than a slice of just-out-of-the-oven Irish soda bread with butter.
Irish Brown Soda Bread
This is a famous no-yeast bread recipe that comes from Ireland. The dough comes together quickly in your stand mixer, and then you just pop it into loaf pans and bake it.
What is Irish Brown Soda Bread?
Instead of yeast, this bread uses baking soda to rise, and the distinctive flavor is what makes this bread so special. We love to serve this bread on St. Patrick’s Day, because it’s unique and so tasty!
This is also a healthy bread recipe. It uses whole wheat flour and a mixture of protein and nutrient-rich seeds to give it texture and more flavor. Plus, quick oats give it more fiber, so not only is this Irish Brown Soda Bread recipe hearty and delish, but it’s also good for you. The secret ingredient is dulse flakes, an all-natural product that’s made in Ireland.
A bit of a story
I fell in love with this bread when I visited the iconic Winding Stair Restaurant in Dublin. This charming restaurant crafts homemade Irish food and everything on the menu is delish. The restaurant is located above a historic bookshop and features a winding staircase to get to the top. We discovered this gem during a quick 3-day stay in the city, but the bread recipe is one I make again and again.
Why I love this recipe
- There’s such incredible flavor from such an easy bread recipe.
- It makes 3 loaves, so freeze some for later!
- There’s nothing in the world better than a slice of this bread still hot from the oven with a bit of butter.
Gather these ingredients
- Whole wheat flour
- All-purpose flour
- Mixed seeds – Like chia, flax seeds, hemp.
- Quick oats
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Dulse flakes – See below to learn what this is.
- Brown sugar
- Molasses
- Buttermilk
- Milk
- Egg
- Cooking oil
- Sesame seeds – As a garnish.
- Butter – For spreading.
What are dulse flakes?
Dulse flakes are the secret ingredient in this authentic Irish Soda Bread recipe. This natural product is made from red seaweed that grows wild in the North Atlantic Ocean. It’s an edible seaweed with a unique flavor that lends so much to this bread. It’s also packed with nutrition. You can buy it online or from specialty shops.
How to make Irish Brown Soda Bread
-
- Preheat your oven to 400-F degrees and oil 3 loaf pans.
- Mix the whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, mixed seeds, quick oats, baking soda, salt, and dried dulse in a large bowl. Set aside.
- Beat the brown sugar, molasses, buttermilk, milk, egg, and oil in the bowl of a stand mixer until it is well-mixed.
- Add the dry ingredients into the bowl of the stand mixer with the mixer fitted with the dough hook on low speed. Add the dry ingredients slowly until well-mixed.
- Transfer the dough to the oiled loaf pans. The dough will be sticky so you can oil your hands to keep it from sticking.
- Bake the loaves at 400-F until risen and browned on top.
- Remove from the oven and let cool in the loaf pans for a few minutes, then turn them out onto a wire rack to finish cooling.
- Enjoy!
Tips & substitutions
- You can use yogurt instead of buttermilk, just thin it with some milk, then swap it measure for measure.
- If you can’t find dulse flakes, you can omit them.
- To keep the crust soft, wrap the cooling loaves in a clean dish towel.
Serving suggestions
This hearty and wholesome Irish bread recipe is perfect on its own with a bit of butter. But I also love it alongside a hearty bowl of soup or Irish stew. I’ll also put out some slices of this bread with breakfast – it’s so good toasted!
Storage
Wrap any leftovers in foil and store them in the fridge for up to a week. You can also freeze this bread. Wrap it in plastic wrap and then pop the loaves into a freezer-safe zipper-top bag for up to a month. Slice it before freezing, and then you can just pop off a slice or two and warm those up.
Check out these awesome bread recipes while you’re here
Get the Recipe:
Irish Brown Soda Bread
Ingredients
- 5 ½ cups whole wheat flour
- 2 cups sifted plain all-purpose flour
- 1 ¼ cups mixed seeds, chia, flaxseed, hemp
- 1 ½ cups quick oats
- 4 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp salt
- 3 tsp dried flakes Dulse, baby seaweed
- 2 Tbsp brown sugar
- 2 Tbsp molasses
- 4 cups buttermilk
- ¼ cup milk
- 1 egg, beaten
- 4 Tbsp oil
- 2 Tbsp sesame seeds to spread on top
- Butter for spreading
Instructions
- Preheat oven 400 degrees.
- Oil 3 tin loaf pans or 2 loaf pans and one small cake pan (we just use olive oil with a paper towel). You make the dough into loaf sizes or round to fix into a loaf pan. Set aside.
- Mix all dry ingredients together: whole wheat flour, all purpose flour, mixed seeds, quick oats, baking soda, salt, and flaked Dulse. Set aside.
- Using a stand mixer, in a large mixing bowl, beat the brown sugar, molasses, buttermilk, milk, egg, and oil.
- Slowly add in the dry ingredients into the wet, and mix. (Make sure you are using your dough beater). The dough will be sticky, so you can butter, oil, or spray your hands. Divide the dough into the 3 pans.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes.
- Remove from the oven, and allow to sit for 5 minutes. Remove the bread loaves from the pans.
- Cool and wrap in foil.
Hello and welcome to my home and table!
I’m Sandy—lover of food, family, cooking, THE BIG BOARD, travel, and bringing people together. Through great recipes and connection around the table, we become better, stronger, and more courageous people. Feasting on Life is real, and every time we do it, we grow a little more. Read more...
I couldn’t get the Dulse, so I added some nutritional yeast. The bread turned out perfectly and delicious!
Awesome! Thanks for letting us know :)
Could I use rolled oats?
Yes!