For the best Irish soda bread, you need Irish-style flour (2024)
In my pantry there are superheroes. You know them: high-powered bread flour, versatile all-purpose, aromatic rye ... they deserve the capes, headlines, and accolades they receive. But there is an unsung hero, too. One that swoops in at just the right moment with bran-flecked beauty for biscuits, a soft touch for scones, and whole grain depth for soda bread. I’m talking about my favorite flour that nobody knows: Irish wholemeal.
Photography by Danielle Sykes; Food styling by Liz Neily
What is Irish-style flour?
Our Irish-style flour, also known as Irish wholemeal, is a US-grown, bran-flecked, soft whole wheat flour, perfect for traditional Irish baked goods (and much, much more). Similar to whole wheat pastry flour, Irish wholemeal contains all of the bran, endosperm, and germ of the wheat berry. But it’s more coarsely ground, with large flecks of bran that bring texture, beauty, and flavor to everything it touches.
Irish wholemeal flour is milled from lower protein soft winter wheat and contains less of the strength-forming elasticity found in all-purpose flour, bread flour, and other wheat flours (which are made with higher protein hard winter wheat). Elasticity — the rubber band strength in dough that enables kneading, helps pizza stretch thinly, and keeps our pita popping — is key for some things (achieving the open structure of hearth breads, for one). But we don’t need much of it for the tender, cakey qualities we want in scones, biscuits, and soda bread — which, of course, are the baked goods where Irish wholemeal really shines.
John Sherman
How to bake with Irish-style flour
If you’re experimenting with Irish-style flour for the first time, our Irish Soda Bread is a great place to start. Soda bread — with its fine-textured crumb, crispy, biscuity crust, and wheat-y flavor — showcases the wonderful characteristics of Irish-style flour, leveraging every bit of its yielding crumb and flavorful flecks of bran. In our recipe we’ve added a little bread flour for a slightly taller and lighter version of soda bread; sliced and slathered with plenty of butter, it might be the cheapest ticket you can find to the Emerald Isle. Or, to mix things up, we have heartier versions of the classic: our Rye Soda Breadadds whole rye flour and maple syrup or, for a loaf with sourdough starter, our Seeded Sourdough Soda Bread will keep you energized well beyond breakfast.
But Irish wholemeal isn’t only good for soda bread — our Tea Brack is also a great bake. With brewed black tea for moisture and a blend of dried fruits for natural sweetness and complexity, the tea brack, a dark whole grain breakfast cake, is perfect when prepared with Irish wholemeal flour. With its signature softness and depth of flavor, the flour brings just enough body to match the dark flavors of this loaf.
Or maybe something sweeter is your pot of gold — our Irish Cream Scones with butterscotch chips and Irish cream liqueur glaze are sure to sweeten even the grayest early spring afternoon. Here, as with the tea brack, we’re leveraging the soft texture and nuanced flavor of whole grains. And you can keep the Irish party going well into the evening with a side of Whole Grain Dinner Rolls joining a pot of potato soup. The Irish-style flour, when paired with a little all-purpose flour for strength, is the perfect ingredient for richly flavored rolls.
Martin Philip
And what about recipes that don’t specifically call for Irish wholemeal? From banana bread to burger buns and even baguettes, you can swap in a portion of Irish-style flour to bring depth of flavor and color to more neutral recipes. For a good starting point, look for recipes that already include some whole wheat flour and start there. Then, branching out, look for places where the tenderness and flavor of some whole grain would be a good match. Knowing that wholemeal is a “soft” flour, it’s a good idea to keep the quantities low (swapping out about 20% to 25% of the recipe’s flour for the Irish-style flour, by weight) to ensure that yeasted breads still have the strength they need to rise and quick breads don’t sink while baking.
Whether you’re making a classic Irish Soda Bread, looking for new favorites like Tea Brack, or improvising with exciting substitutions, give this Irish wholemeal a shot. You may find yourself with a new hero in the pantry.
Cover photo (Irish Soda Bread)and food styling by Liz Neily.
What is Irish-style flour? Our Irish-style flour, also known as Irish wholemeal, is a US-grown, bran-flecked, soft whole wheat flour, perfect for traditional Irish baked goods (and much, much more). Similar to whole wheat pastry flour, Irish wholemeal contains all of the bran, endosperm, and germ of the wheat berry.
*If you don't have access to KA's whole meal Irish-style flour, you can substitute Whole wheat pastry flour. It will be finer, and the loaf a be a bit moister, but it is an adequate substitute.
Irish soda bread was first created in the 1830s, when baking soda was first introduced to the UK. At the time, Ireland was facing financial hardship and lack of resources, so they turned to soda bread out of neccessity, it was inexpensive and required few ingredients.
However, the two loaves differ pretty significantly from there. Irish brown bread has a deep, nutty flavor because of its wheat flour and wheat bran while soda bread uses only white flour. Soda bread is slightly sweet and more scone-like while Irish brown bread is more savory with a tender interior.
Strong flour is also commonly known as bread flour, and contains more gluten than the other types of flour. The gluten in the flour gives dough elasticity and allows it to rise with a good structure. Strong flour is best used for yeasted bakes and enriched doughs.
Chances are good that the bread you ate suffered from one of three common problems: improper amount of baking soda (a gross, salty-bitter taste), over cooking (a dry, chalky texture), or undercooking (a soggy, doughy center).
And finally, don't immediately cut into the Fast Irish Soda bread when you pull it out of the oven. Although this bread is best served warm, cutting into it too quickly will turn the bread gummy.
The baking soda does the job of yeast and makes the bread rise. Since it's not as powerful as yeast, the bread is dense rather than fluffy. It's beautiful and delicious!
By the time you get it in the oven, there is no spring left and it will be flat. Avoid a flat soda bread with a couple simple moves. Keep your mix time quick. Pour in the liquid ingredient, mix it enough to moisten the dry ingredients, shape it, and quickly get it in the oven.
Irish Soda Bread is a dense bread, similar to a scone, but can easily become dry if overmixed. Quickly add the wet ingredients to a well you've made in the dry ingredients, and mix with your hands or a dough hook until it just comes together.
I was always told that the cross on the top of Irish Soda Bread was to symbolize the Catholic faith of Ireland, and the Gaelic Cross. Some say it kept the Devil out, but that is what a cross is supposed to do also. Turns out that is true but more importantly, it helps in the baking of the bread.
You could always order Irish flour online, but a simpler solution is substituting part of the whole wheat flour with additional bran and germ. According to Thrive Cuisine, you will likely find wheat germ and bran in the cereal or bulk ingredients aisles in the grocery store.
Make sure you are using the correct amount of baking soda in the recipe. Too much or too little can result in a crumbly loaf. It's also possible that your oven wasn't hot enough when you baked the bread. Make sure to preheat your oven before baking Irish soda bread and don't open it frequently during the baking time.
Cream Plain Flour, also known as All-Purpose Flour, typically has no raising agent {athough, Odlum's has a low level of raising agent}. It is a good choice for making biscuits {cookies}, muffins, soda breads, cakes, pastry, pancakes, crumbles, fried foods, gravy, soups, and sauces.
Stoneground flour is a richer style flour containing more of the nutrient's wheat has to offer. It is extremely versatile and is commonly used in baking. It's perfect for use in making biscuits, pastries, pancakes, and cake and much more!
You might see it listed as Wheatflour (Wheat, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Thiamin, Niacin). Finally, it is really important to know that in the UK and EU, it is illegal to bleach flour, so the whiteness you see is totally natural.
Introduction: My name is Clemencia Bogisich Ret, I am a super, outstanding, graceful, friendly, vast, comfortable, agreeable person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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