This moist Guinness wheaten bread, or brown bread, is a typical Irish bread with a hearty texture made with whole-meal flour, oats, and Guinness stout.
This is a flavorful, savory, and fully satisfying Irish Guinness wheaten bread to celebrate St.Patrick's Day! It is an easy-to-make loaf of whole-wheat bread that your whole family will love.
Serve it with other Irish dishes, such as Irish Chicken or Bacon, Potato and Leek Soup.
Featured comment:
Krissi: Just made this, and it turned out amazing! The bread is so flavorful, with a nice crispy crust and a soft, hearty inside. Had a warm slice with butter, and it was perfect. Definitely making this again!
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What is Irish wheaten bread?
A traditional Irish brown bread, leavened with baking soda instead of yeast, made with whole wheat flour, oats, and treacle.
Wheaten bread gets its name from the use of whole wheat flour, unlike traditional soda bread made with white flour, giving it a heartier texture and nutty flavor.
Using stout beer, like Guinness, instead of buttermilk to make Guinness wheaten bread has become a popular alternative. This hearty, slightly sweet bread is perfect for breakfast or pairing with Irish Lamb and Potato Stew.
Check out more delicious Irish loaves of bread: our popular Sweet Irish Soda Bread or this Easy Irish Soda Bread with Yogurt.
Recipe ingredients
Wholemeal flour: For the most genuine results, use coarse whole meal flour or stoneground whole wheat flour in the US. This Chive Bread is also made with whole wheat flour.
Oats: In Ireland, you would use porridge oats, which are similar to old-fashioned oats, also called rolled oats. Donโt use steel-cut oats for this recipe; they take longer to cook and absorb less water, affecting the loaf's consistency.
- You will need oats for the dough, ยฝ tablespoon for sprinkling the bottom of the baking pan, and ยฝ tablespoon for spreading over the dough before baking.
Guinness or another stout beer (See Tips). Itโs used instead of regular buttermilk and has the same effect on the dough. Of course, you can replace it with buttermilk, but the bread's flavor and color will be slightly different.
Treacle: You can use molasses instead. Check out Harry Potter's Treacle Tart, too.
Other ingredients: Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) is used as the leavening agent. You will also need brown sugar, butter, and salt.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How to make Guinness wheaten bread?
Preparations: Preheat the oven; grease a loaf pan and sprinkle its bottom with oats.
- Step #1: Melt butter and treacle in a small pan. Set aside.
- Step #2: Combine the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl: flour, oats, brown sugar, salt, and baking soda.
- Step #3: Combine wet ingredients: Stir stout beer into the melted butter mixture.
- Step #4: Make the dough: Pour the liquid ingredients over the flour mixture and stir well to combine. Use a wooden spoon.
- Step #5: Transfer the mixture to the prepared loaf pan and sprinkle the top of the bread with the remaining oats.
- Step #6: Bake the Irish brown bread for 50 minutes. Then, remove it from the pan and bake it on the baking rack for another 5 to 10 minutes. When done, it should sound hollow when tapped on the underside.
- Step #7: Wrap the Guinness wheaten bread in a clean tea towel and let it cool on a wire rack before slicing.
Tips
The most important tip: Always use a digital kitchen scale in baking; it guarantees for best results (the Amazon affiliate link opens in a new tab).
Guinness: You will need 400 ml/ 13.5 oz/ 400 ml of stout beer for this recipe. A regular-sized bottle contains 11 oz beer/ 330 ml; one can usually contains 350ml/ 12 oz/ 350 ml. If you donโt want to open a second container (and drink the rest), replace the missing amount with buttermilk or yogurt.
- 1 small bottle of stout (330 ml) + 2.4 fl. oz/ โ cup/ 70 ml buttermilk or yogurt
- 1 can of stout (350 ml) + 1.7 fl. oz/ ยผ cup/ 50 ml buttermilk or yogurt
- If you do open a second can or bottle to use for the dough, check out more recipes containing Guinness: Dutch Oven Irish Stew and The Best Braised Pork Cheek Recipe.
Donโt overmix the batter, and donโt leave it waiting after stirring. Stir it quickly; you should be ready in about 30 seconds or less. The baking soda will start reacting immediately, and if you leave the dough waiting, the bread will not rise properly.
How to store and freeze?
At room temperature, the brown bread will be ok for 4-5 days in an airtight container or bread box. Refrigerate it if you want to keep it for longer, but refrigerated bread is never as nice as one kept at room temperature; it tends to get a bit stodgy.
Freeze the slices of brown bread for 5-6 months. Itโs preferable to freeze the slices, but you can also freeze the whole loaf or half of it.
What to serve with Irish Guinness bread?
We love it for breakfast, smeared with butter. You can top it with cheese, honey, blueberry rhubarb jam, a drizzle of treacle, or sprinkle it with a bit of salt.
Itโs perfect with soup, stew, or any saucy dish. Try it for St. Patrickโs Day with Irish Potato Soup.
More bread recipes
Recipe
Irish Guinness Wheaten Recipe
Equipment
- 1 loaf pan 10 inches/ 25 cm
Ingredients
- 50 g butter 2 oz + some to butter the pan
- 1 tablespoon treacle or molasses, Note 2
- 450 g wholemeal flour preferably coarse, 1 lb, Note 3
- 30 g oats old-fashioned, rolled oats or porridge oats โ cup + 1 extra Tbsp, divided, Note 4
- 4 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- ยฝ teaspoon fine sea salt or Kosher salt
- 400 ml Guinness 13.5 oz Notes 5, 6
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400ยฐF/200ยฐC. Butter the loaf pan generously and sprinkle its bottom with ยฝ tablespoon oats.
- Melt butter and treacle (molasses) in a small pan. Set aside until you combine the rest of the ingredients.50 g butter + 1 tablespoon treacle
- Dry ingredients: Combine flour, oats, brown sugar, salt, and baking soda in a large bowl.450 g wholemeal flour + 30 g oats + 4 tablespoons brown sugar + 2 teaspoons baking soda + ยฝ teaspoon fine sea salt
- Combine dough: Stir stout beer into the butter and pour this mixture over the flour mixture. Mix well with a spoon to combine.400 ml Guinness
- Transfer the dough to the prepared loaf pan. Sprinkle it with ยฝ tablespoon oats.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 50 minutes. Carefully remove the brown bread from the loaf pan. Place it again in the oven, this time directly on the rack. Bake it for another 5 to 10 minutes. Check if itโs cooked through; it should sound hollow when tapped on the underside.
- Cool: Wrap it in a clean tea towel, place it on a wire rack, and let it cool before slicing.
Notes
- Measurements: Always use a digital kitchen scale in baking; it guarantees the best results (Amazon affiliate link).
- Treacle or molasses are both fine for this recipe. If you live in Germany, use Zuckerrรผbersirup.
- Flour: Use coarse whole meal flour or stoneground whole wheat flour in the US for the most genuine results.
- Oats: You need porridge oats, old-fashioned or rolled oats. Steel-cut oats are not suitable for making this bread.
- Guinness: This recipe requires 400 ml/ 13.5 oz stout beer. However, a regular stout bottle contains 330ml/ 11 oz beer; one can usually contains 350 ml/ 12 oz. If you donโt want to open a second container (and drink the rest), replace the missing amount with buttermilk or yogurt (See Tips).
- You can substitute Guinness with another stout beer.
Krissi says
Just made this, and it turned out amazing! The bread is so flavorful, with a nice crispy crust and a soft, hearty inside. Had a warm slice with butter, and it was perfect. Definitely making this again!
Adina says
I am so happy to hear it, Krissi. Thank you for the feedback!
Elena says
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