Homemade Brown Bread
A loaf of fresh-out-of-the-oven homemade soda bread is possibly one of my favourite foods to enjoy. There is just something very comforting and homey about it.
However, creating a good recipe for brown bread that doesn't have lots of butter and sugar has been a challenge! I think it took me 15 attempts to finally get this recipe right but now that I have, it will be a recipe I come back to time and time again. It's both tasty and healthy (no excess sugar, or saturated fat) so I know it will be a staple recipe for my kitchen for years to come.
Ingredients:
Dry ingredients:
210g wholemeal flour
120g plain flour
20g chopped nuts, + extra for sprinkling on top (walnuts work well)
20g pumpkin seeds, + extra for sprinkling on top
15g oat bran
15g wheat germ
1 tsp bread soda
1/2 tsp salt
Wet ingredients:
1 egg
320mls buttermilk
30mls vegetable oil (the oil makes the bread light and spongy)
1 tbsp honey
Method:
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius or gas mark 4.
Lightly oil a loaf tin or use a tin liner.
Sieve the plain flour, bread soda and salt into a bowl. Sifting introduces air making the bread more spongy. If you can, also sieve in the wholemeal flour. However, if the wholemeal flour is coarse it won't fit through the sieve (don't worry just add it in then).
Add the oat bran, wheat germ, nuts and seeds. These ingredients give the bread more texture and nutrition.
In another bowl whisk together the wet ingredients (oil, honey, buttermilk, egg).
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Avoid over-mixing.
Pour into the prepared loaf tin.
Sprinkle with more pumpkin seeds, walnuts and a drizzle of honey.
Bake for 45 minutes until golden brown and well risen.
When it comes out of the oven, wrap the bread in a clean tea towel to cool. This keeps the crust nice and soft.
And enjoy!!
Let me know if you make this recipe. I put a lot of time and effort into this one so I really hope you enjoy it.