Irish Brown Bread

With St. Patrick's Day just around the corner I've been trying out new recipes for my annual Irish feast. I found a new Irish Brown Bread recipe in an issue of Woman's Day magazine last year and recently tried it. Oh so good! It's the best I've made yet!

This recipe requires no pans as the loaves are "free form" rounds. It's delicious with a bit of honey or butter but I prefer it served with Irish Stew or Steak & Guinness Pie.

Ingredients

* 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 1/4 cups whole-wheat flour
* 3/4 cup quick oats
* 1/2 cup wheat germ
* 2 tsp baking soda
* 1 tsp salt
* 1 3/4 cups buttermilk
* 2 T tbsp honey

1. Heat oven to 425°F. Coat a large baking sheet with cooking spray or use parchment paper. In a large bowl, mix flours, oats, wheat germ, baking soda and salt.
2. Whisk together buttermilk and honey. Add to flour mixture; stir to combine until soft dough forms.
3. Turn dough out onto floured surface. Divide in half. Shape each half into a round loaf. Place loaves 3 in. apart onto prepared baking sheet; bake 10 minutes.
4. Reduce temperature to 400°F. Continue baking 10 minutes longer or until bread sounds hollow when tapped. Let cool 15 minutes.