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America's Melting Pot
Brown Bread hero image coming soon
1800s-present - Irish immigrants and Irish American bakers adapting wholemeal soda bread
Irish brown bread is a daily table bread rather than a sweet holiday loaf. Irish immigrants and Irish American families carried versions of wholemeal soda bread into American kitchens, where buttermilk and baking soda made a quick, sturdy loaf possible without yeast.
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Difficulty
Easy
Prep time
15 minutes
Cook time
45 minutes
Total time
1 hour
Servings
1 loaf
Region
Irish American kitchens and New England
Era introduced
1800s-present
Introduced by
Irish immigrants and Irish American bakers adapting wholemeal soda bread
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This brown bread is not Boston brown bread, which is steamed and molasses-rich. Irish brown bread is a wholemeal soda bread: quick, rough, wholesome, and best eaten fresh with butter. Irish flour differs from many American whole wheat flours, so an American kitchen often blends whole wheat and all-purpose flour for a loaf that is hearty but not heavy.
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