Whole Wheat Irish Soda Bread. A more wholesome version of classic Irish Soda Bread. The perfect accompaniment to our St. John’s Stout Irish Stew recipe.

Whole Wheat Irish Soda Bread
A quick look online for an authentic recipe for Irish soda bread is all it takes to see that people are quite passionate about the subject.
Purists are not shy about expressing their opinion that you simply must stick to the 4 basic ingredient recipe. It’s something that would have been made almost daily in Irish households for many decades.
The use of added sugar, butter, caraway seeds or raisins is frowned upon. As an accompaniment to dishes like hearty stews to sop up the gravy and stretch an economical meal even further, I am in full agreement.
Here, in many parts of Newfoundland, where our Irish roots run very deep indeed, we often see a similar use in what we sometimes just call “pastry” or “crust”, baked on top of a pot roast or oven stew.

Whole Wheat Irish Soda Bread
Quick breads like this are meant to use soft flour and not hard flour more suited to yeast raised breads.
Since I wanted to make a whole wheat version of this classic quick bread I was lucky enough to find some soft whole wheat flour at a local bulk store. I then cut it with part white cake flour which worked quite well for me. You can use all soft flour for a white version.
The beautiful dish in the background is our amazingly delicious St. John’s Stout Stew.
Recipe updated March 2021. Happy St. Patrick’s Day.
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Whole Wheat Irish Soda Bread. The perfect thing to serve with our Irish Stew recipe.
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Whole Wheat Irish Soda Bread
Whole Wheat Irish Soda Bread - a more wholesome version of classic Irish Soda Bread. The perfect accompaniment to our St. John's Stout Irish Stew recipe.
Ingredients
- 3 cups soft whole wheat flour
- 1 cup soft white flour, cake flour works well
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 3/4 cups buttermilk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
- Sift together the 2 flours,and baking soda.
- Form a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour in the buttermilk.
- Mix together with a wooden spoon only until a soft dough forms and the flour is fully incorporated. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and form into a 10 inch round.
- Place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Using a sharp knife cut an x into the surface of the dough about a half inch deep and reaching to about an inch from the edge of the dough.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes until golden brown and crusty and sounds hollow when tapped.
Notes
For plain Irish Soda Bread simply replace the whole wheat flour with the same amount of all-purpose white flour.
As a substitute for the buttermilk, add a 2 tablespoons of lemon juice or plain vinegar to plain whole milk. Stir and let stand a minute to curdle. The acidity in buttermilk or soured milk is meant to boost the rising action of the baking soda.
Nutrition Information
Yield
10Serving Size
1 sliceAmount Per Serving Unsaturated Fat 0g
Whole Wheat Irish Soda Bread - Easy Recipes
Tuesday 24th of January 2023
[…] Read More […]
Katie
Saturday 12th of March 2022
Can I make scones with this recipe ?
Margo Saunders
Thursday 18th of March 2021
Can you make this in a breadmaker? My hands do not operate well enough for kneading.
Crystal
Thursday 18th of March 2021
Thanks Barry. I used all purpose organic whole wheat flour and cake flour per the recipe, baked beautifully! My preference would be to add a little salt next time. It was an excellent loaf with my St. Patrick's Day corned beef & cabbage.
Glen Lenchuk
Tuesday 16th of March 2021
I am a bit confused by your recommendation of using soft flour. A Google search gave me this: "We’ve touched on this in our guide to gluten, but the most crucial factor in selecting a wheat is its "hardness," or protein content. Hard wheat has a higher protein content (11-15%) than soft wheat (5-9%), meaning the former has more capacity for gluten development than the latter. For this reason, hard wheat is best suited for doughs that require a strong gluten network and produce an open, chewy crumb, while soft wheat is typically used for more delicate pastries and cakes." That being said it would seem hard wheat would be better for loaves. Have you tried this recipe using regular flour and/or hard whole wheat flour like Red Fife which is my go-to whole wheat flour here in Winnipeg? How would they compare?
Thanks, Barry. Always look forward each day to your recipes in my email.
Glen