Soda bread has been around since the 1840’s; Whole-Wheat Soda Bread not so much. Some will say this is not an authentic soda bread recipe because it has more than four ingredients. Traditional Soda Bread consists of flour baking soda, salt, and sour or buttermilk. For me, it didn’t matter how many ingredients it had, it had to look and taste good.
To make this recipe work, I had to adjust the kinds of ingredients to give it the lift and the crumb that everyone enjoys about Soda Bread. This resulting Whole-Wheat Soda Bread has an amazing taste, especially when slathered with my homemade butter.
Whole-Wheat Soda Bread
Ingredients: Makes 1 loaf
- 3 ½ cups white whole wheat
- ½ Wheat germ
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 3 tablespoon sugar
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400° F.
Grease a large cast iron skillet, bread cloche, or a baking sheet. In a large bowl, mix the flour, wheat germ, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar, until well blended. In a separate bowl combine the buttermilk, cream, and melted butter. Add the buttermilk mixture to the flour and mix until combined and it comes together into a soft dough.
Sprinkle a bit of whole-wheat flour on a clean surface. Transfer the dough onto the surface and knead it until it comes together to form a ball ( don’t over knead the dough). Shape the dough into a flattened 7-inch round and place the smooth side up on the prepared baking surface. Using a sharp knife cut a ¼ inch deep cross on the top of the dough round.
Place it in the center of the oven and bake it for 50 to 55 minutes or until the bread reaches an internal temperature of 195° F or until the bread loaf sounds hollow when rapped on the bottom. Cool on the cooking surface for 5 minutes then transfer it to a cooling rack. Allow the Whole-Wheat Soda Bread to cool until it reaches room temperature. Wrap the loaf and store it in a cool dry place until ready to serve.
Notes: Generally speaking, using all whole-wheat flour can be a bit of a challenge; that’s not the case with this recipe if you use White Whole-Wheat flour. I usually bake my Whole-Wheat Soda Bread in a bread cloche. It’s a fantastic tool that does wonders when baking any homemade bread. Why the cuts on the top of the bread; it allows the steam to vent as the bread is rising. If you don’t, it will create its own venting holes, not giving the bread a very nice appearance. Sometimes I’ll brush a bit of butter over the surface of the bread when it’s just out of the oven. Either way, it tastes scrumptious.
My Whole-Wheat Soda Bread is simple to combine and bake. I’ll make it a day ahead of time. Doing this saves time and gives me a luscious, rich bread to serve with breakfast, lunch or dinner along with my homemade butter..
Time to eat…
P.S. Take a moment to check out my recipe booklet’s for sale on this site and purchase some of the tools I used for this “Whole-Wheat Soda Bread” below. 🙂