While we’ve been in Ireland, my morning meal of choice is a scone or some kind of bread. For a while now I’ve been picking up a four-pack of fruit scones from the Tesco in Dundalk, and it’s quick and easy when paired with a cup of coffee or tea.

It often happens that I run out of scones long before we need to make a trip to Tesco. The fallback is a protein bar or a piece of sourdough toast. But last week I decided to try baking my own Irish Brown Bread instead of getting scones.

I had to visit the local Woodies for some painting supplies, and hit up the housewares aisle while I was there. They had a very nice loaf tin (pan) on sale, so I added to the trolley. I stopped at the Dunnes just down the road to pick up the rest of the supplies - wholemeal flour, AP flour, bicarbonate of soda (baking soda), salt flakes, whole milk and the lemon juice needed to make it into buttermilk, and runny honey.

I’ve made two loaves so far, with results exceeding expectations. It’s always best hot out of the oven, slathered with Kerrygold butter. For the next few days you can get great results by toasting a slice. It takes just a few minutes to mix up the ingredients, and 35 minutes in the oven.

For the next loaf Carole and I have decided to try adding raisins and cinnamon, and doubling the amount of honey. She brought a really fresh bag of raisins when we flew in earlier this month, so it should be fantastic.

Recipe