Golden crust, delicate crumb, served with a pat of butter, and it all comes together in less than an hour. Fit this recipe perfectly into your weekday morning routine, or as the Irish do, serve it anytime!
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This recipe is on repeat in our house, and comes straight from The New Ballymaloe Bread Book that we purchased from Hodges Figgis in Dublin. Named after the Ballymaloe Cookery School in Shanagarry, County Cork, Ireland, this book is filled with hundreds of pages of bread and pastry recipes. Ron repeatedly refers to this bread as, "one of the most authentic [he's] ever had."
This bread recipe couldn't be simpler: whisk the dry ingredients in one bowl, the wet ingredients in another bowl, combine, and bake.
While the loaf bakes away, why not whip up a homemade cappuccino, or if you're feeling really adventurous, squeeze in the rest of the ingredients to make a Full Irish Breakfast!
Ingredients
Wholemeal Flour -- "whole wheat flour," in the United States. Using wholemeal flour gives this bread its brown coloring.
All-purpose flour -- helps lighten the overall texture of the dough, providing a nice contrast between the thick, crisp outer crust and an airy, crumbly texture of the dough.
Baking Soda -- acts as a leavener while the dough bakes.
Salt -- enhances the bread's overall flavor.
Sunflower Oil -- a derivative of vegetable oil, sunflower oil is used in many Irish recipes.
Egg -- using only one egg provides enough structure to the dough without making it too dense.
Honey -- for some added natural sweetness and flavor.
Buttermilk -- buttermilk provides the acid needed to react with the baking soda to leaven the bread as it bakes.
Tips for Success
- Use a whisk to stir both the wet and dry ingredients so that everything is dispersed more evenly.
- When mixing the dough, it might seem like there is too much flour. Keep folding the flour in, and it WILL eventually combine. If, even after a lot of folding, the mixture doesn't come together, you can add a splash more buttermilk
- Similarly, it will seem like there isn't nearly enough dough to fill half of the loaf pan. Keep using the spatula or use your fingers to evenly spread it across the bottom of the pan.
Detailed Preparation Instructions
Preheat the oven to 400 F. Combine the wholemeal flour, all-purpose flour, bicarbonate of soda, and salt in a bowl and whisk thoroughly. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, combine the buttermilk, egg, honey, and sunflower oil and whisk until smooth.
Form a well in the dry ingredients with your fingers and pour the wet ingredients in the center.
Switch to a rubber spatula to thoroughly combine wet and dry ingredients together to form a dough. The dough will be VERY wet, but it will eventually come together.
Grease the inside of the loaf pan with a few drops of sunflower oil. Pour the dough into the pan, spreading it evenly across the pan. Use a butter knife to score down the entire center of the loaf.
Bake for 40 minutes, until the bread has risen and is golden brown all over. Let stand for 10 minutes to cool, then turn out and place on a wire cooling rack.
Storage and Reheating Instructions
Typically, this entire loaf of bread is meant to be consumed all in one sitting. However, once completely cooled, you can enclose the loaf in a brown paper bag and store in a cool, dark, place.
To reheat, just pop individual slices into the toaster -- easy!
Ballymaloe's Irish Brown Bread
Equipment
- 2 medium-sized mixing bowls
- 1 whisk
- 1 rubber spatula
- 1 9" x 5" loaf pan
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 400 grams wholemeal or whole wheat flour
- 75 grams all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
Wet Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon sunflower oil, plus a few drops for greasing the tin
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1 pint buttermilk
Instructions
- Combine all of the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl and whisk to combine.
- Combine all of the wet ingredients in the other mixing bowl and whisk until smooth.
- Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into the center.
- With a rubber spatula, stir in small circles to incorporate the flour into the wet ingredients. Then, switch to folding in the remaining flour into the wet dough until no loose flour remains on the bottom of the bowl.
- Grease the loaf pan with a few drops of sunflower oil, then scoop the batter into the pan. Spread and flatten the dough with the spatula.
- Score the top of the dough down the middle with a butter knife.
- Bake at 400 F for 40 minutes. Let stand in the pan for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a cooling rack for another 5 minutes.
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