Irish Brown Bread

Irish brown bread takes me back to my childhood growing up in an Irish neighborhood in the Bronx. Skipping home from our local Catholic school and walking into our brownstone smelling something amazing baking in the oven. A few daily staples were Irish Soda Bread, Irish Brown Bread, Scones (not the sweet ones you are familiar with today) and little corn muffins. The little corn muffins would be toasted on a cast iron pan and served with jam as our nighttime snack. This brown bread was a favorite with my boys when they visited their grandparents and Ryan recently asked for the recipe. I could not find my Mom’s so I reached out to the daughter of my Mom’s best friend from County Galway and she shared the recipe! Merci Breege!!! Once I started making the dough a few of my Mom’s touches came to memory.

This is fantastic to store once chilled, sliced, and place in a glass storage container in freezer…warm a slice when in the mood 🍀 with a little butter & jam. I always warm in the oven on a cast iron pan.  We never had a microwave….

Preheat oven 350 degrees
Ingredients:
2 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
3/4 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup *toasted wheat germ (hard to find locally online is best)
1/2 cup molasses
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 tblspns melted butter
1 cup buttermilk or Oat Milk

Add dry ingredients to a mixing bowl: the flours, wheat germ, baking soda, salt and blend with a whisk.
Make a well in the dry flour mix and pour in the molasses, buttermilk and melted butter.
Stir together with a spatula until all the ingredients are well mixed. Do not over mix.
Spread the dough into lightly buttered loaf pan. Cut a line down the middle of the dough with a spatula to give the bread a vent to
expand.
Garnish the top with a sprinkle of rolled oats.
Bake in preheated oven until well browned(about 50 minutes)
Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Let cool before slicing and serving with a dab of Irish butter.

🍀 bon appétit 🧡