Irish Guinness Brown Soda Bread is perfect for St. Patrick’s Day or whenever you crave a taste of Ireland at home. This easy-to-make recipe combines the goodness of oats, whole wheat flour, and buttermilk with the distinct taste of Guinness stout. Serve this delicious bread for breakfast or as a side with traditional Irish dishes like Irish stew for a truly memorable meal.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Flavorful and Unique: The addition of Guinness gives this traditional bread a deep, malty, unique, and delicious flavor. The bread is also slightly sweet with a hint of bitterness from the Guinness.
- Easy to Make: This is a quick bread as opposed to a yeast bread, which means it doesn’t require any rising time. It’s perfect for busy weeknights or when you’re craving fresh bread without a lot of fuss.
- Versatile: This bread can be enjoyed on its own with butter or jam, or it can be used to make sandwiches, toast, or croutons. It’s also delicious served with soups and stews.
- Perfect for St. Patrick’s Day: This classic Irish dish is perfect to serve with your St. Patrick’s Day fare. It’s also delicious any time of year.
Ingredients – Here’s What You’ll Need
- The Dry Ingredients: The dry ingredients include old-fashioned oats, whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, dark brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and Kosher salt.
- The Wet Ingredients: For the wet ingredients, you’ll need a bottle of Guinness Extra-Stout, buttermilk, melted butter, and vanilla extract.
Here’s How I Made This Amazing Recipe
I had planned to make this bread in a loaf pan. However, Susan suggested that I make individual portions using her 12-Cavity Bar Baking Pan. I’m glad that I followed her advice!
Here are the step-by-step directions
- I started by spraying the cavities of the baking pan with nonstick spray. Then, I sprinkled old-fashioned oats in the bottom of the pan and set it aside.
- Next, I whisked together the oats, whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, dark brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.
- After that, I whisked together the Guinness, buttermilk, melted butter, and vanilla extract in a separate bowl using a 4-cup measuring cup.
- Next, I made a well in the middle of the bowl of dry ingredients and added the wet ingredients. I gently stirred them to combine the ingredients, making sure not to overmix the batter.
- I used a large cookie scoop to fill the pan’s cavities ¾ full with the bread batter. This was more like a cake batter than bread dough, so it was easy to fill the cavities.
- Before baking the bread, I sprinkled the top of the bread with some old-fashioned oats.
- I baked the bread in a preheated 400°F oven for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, the individual breads were perfectly done, so I removed them from the oven.
- I didn’t want the bread to become soggy. Therefore, as soon as I removed the pan from the oven, I transferred the bread to a wire rack to cool.
I ended up with 12 individual portions of amazing Irish Guinness Brown Soda Bread. It was perfectly moist and perfectly delicious.
When you serve this delicious bread, watch your friends and family do a little jig for this special time of year. Yum!
Frequently Asked Questions
You can substitute the Guinness with any dark stout beer. For a less alcoholic option, use strong black coffee.
You can definitely make this recipe in a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan. You’ll need to bake it for 45 minutes.
Either quick-cooking oats or old-fashioned oats can be used in this recipe. Do not, however, use instant oats.
The initial higher heat helps the bread rise quickly before the gluten sets, resulting in a lighter crumb.
Feel free to use a regular-size muffin pan with this recipe.
This irish guinness brown bread is similar to a traditional irish soda bread. However, because of the guinness and the brown sugar in the bread batter, it is much more flavorful.
Recipe Tips and Tricks
- Measure Accurately: Baking is all about precision. Use a scale for the flour and other dry ingredients for the best results.
- Don’t Overmix: Overmixing develops gluten, resulting in dense, tough bread. Gently combine the wet and dry ingredients until just incorporated. A few lumps are okay!
- Use Room Temperature Ingredients: Cold ingredients won’t mix as well and can affect the rise. The buttermilk and Guinness should be at room temperature for best results.
Serve with These Irish Dishes
Irish Guinness Brown Soda Bread is perfect when served with these amazing Irish dishes.
This recipe is an adaptation of the recipe by Ina Garten.
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Irish Guinness Brown Soda Bread
Equipment
- 12-cavity bar baking pan (See Tip 1)
Ingredients
- 1 cup (3.5 ounces, 100 grams) old-fashioned oats, plus 2 tablespoons for sprinkling (See Tip 1)
- 2 ¼ cups (11.25 ounces, 319 grams) whole wheat flour
- ¼ cup (1.25 ounces, 35 grams) all-purpose flour
- ½ cup (3.75 ounces, 106 grams) dark brown sugar, packed
- 2 ¼ teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoons Kosher salt
- 1 bottle (11.2 ounces, 331 ml) Guinness extra stout beer, room temperature
- 1 cup (8 ounces, 237 ml) buttermilk, room temperature
- 5 Tablespoons (2.5 ounces, 71 grams) unsalted butter, melted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F. Spray the baking pan with nonstick spray. Sprinkle one tablespoon of the oats in the bottom of the pan cavities. Set aside.
- Whisk together the oats, whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, dark brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and Kosher salt in a large bowl. (See Tip 2)
- Whisk together the Guinness beer, buttermilk, melted butter, and vanilla extract in a large measuring cup. (See Tip 3)
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Gently stir to combine the ingredients. Do not overmix.
- Divide the bread batter evenly among the 12 pan cavities. Sprinkle the remaining tablespoon of oats on the top.
- Reduce the oven heat to 400°F and bake for 20 minutes or until the top of the bread bounces back when lightly pressed.
- Remove from the oven and immediately transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Yield: 12 servings. (See Tip 4)
Video
Tips/Notes
- This recipe can be made in a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan and baked for 45 minutes.
- Quick oats may be substituted for old-fashioned oats. However, do not use instant oats.
- I used my hands to combine the dry ingredients further because my brown sugar was lumpy.
- I used a 4-cup measuring cup with the liquid ingredients to make pouring onto the dry ingredients easier.
- Store the bread in an airtight container for up to three days, or freeze in an airtight container for up to three months.
Sue says
Yummy recipe! I have been trying different brown soda bread recipes and this is my favorite so far!
Chula King says
So pleased that the recipe worked for you Sue!
Chula