Irish Brown Bread

My nephew and his wife traveled to Ireland and returned raving about the delicious brown bread they enjoyed while there.  My sister, never one to shy away from a baking challenge, researched and found this recipe from the Wall Street Journal.  I am so glad she did!  It is easy to make and so crunchy good!  It is great warm out of the oven with some butter. I love it for breakfast toasted with a bit of cream cheese or almond butter and jam.  Also good with smoked salmon.  A keeper recipe for sure!

Ingredients:

• 3 1/2 cups (19.25 oz.) King Arthur Irish Style Flour or stone-ground whole wheat flour
• 1 3/4 cups (7 oz.) all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups (3 oz.) natural wheat bran
• 1 1/4 cups (6 oz.) steel-cut oats
• 1/2 cup (1.30 oz.) wheat germ
• 4 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 4 teaspoons dark brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon Kosher salt
• 1 quart plus 1/2 cup buttermilk at room temperature (I use one quart, and rinse out the bottle/carton with about 1/3 cup water to get the extra 1/2 cup.  It seems silly to me to buy more buttermilk for just the 1/2 cup!)
  

Directions:

1.  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and spray two 9 X 5 inch loaf pans with non-stick spray.

2.  Mix all the dry ingredients until well combined.

3.  Add the buttermilk and mix until all the dry ingredients are evenly moist.

4.  Divide dough equally among the prepared pans.

5.  Bake until golden and crusty, about 50 minutes.  Unmold and cool and a wire rack.