Many people make Irish Brown bread with beer, molasses, and honey - all great ingredients, but I prefer not to get too complicated with this simple bread recipe.

Irish soda bread and Irish brown bread, both quick breads that rely on baking soda for rising are quite similar in process, but have different textures. This Irish Brown Bread recipe is not as sweet as the Irish Soda Bread made with currants.

I’ve never been a fan of Soda Bread until I came across this recipe and just fell in love with it. Most of the Soda Bread I’ve had in the past is grocery store bread that’s been wrapped in shamrock decorated plastic and has the texture of a brick. This Soda Bread however was simple to make and is scrumptious - especially with a bit of jam on top!

According to Wikipedia, the flour classically used for Soda Bread in Ireland is made from soft wheat, so when making Soda Bread here in the US it’s often recommended to use a cake or pastry flour which has lower levels of gluten than an all-purpose or bread flour. Having said that, I used organic All-Purpose Flour and it turned out wonderfully.

Also note that due to the fact that the leavening action starts immediately you should practice a minimum amount of mixing of the ingredients before baking; and definitely don’t knead the dough.