Name: Family Irish Bread
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 60 min
Total time: 70 min
Ingredients: 2 eggs; 1/2 cup shortening; 1/2 cup brown sugar; 1 1/2 cups sour milk; 1 1/2 cups white flour; 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour; 2 tsp baking powder; 1 tsp baking soda; 1 tsp salt

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Updated April 26, 2020. New photos and slight modification to the recipe.

Update: Still as good as ever! This Family Irish Bread is a tried and true recipe that won’t disappoint. One that we've been baking for years in our family. Highly recommended! Serve it with Honey Butter for a truly delicious snack. Both recipes on the blog.⁠

Anytime my aunt is comes to town, fresh Family Irish Bread, is a guarantee. She bakes loaves of it and it is amazing, as is she, amazing that is! Call this a bit of an ode to Ele (my aunt). She is like a second mom to me. She’s the aunt I can confide in, scheme with and is always there to help. My aunt drops everything and comes to the rescue of any of her family members, especially her nieces and nephews.

In fact, she flew to Georgia for a month-long visit to watch our toddler while I was in labour with our second baby. She is a lifesaver. We’re already counting down the days when she can visit again, and she’s only been gone three weeks.

How to Make Family Irish Bread

There are multiple variations of Irish bread out there, and from what I’ve read, this is probably more of a tea cake. So, in that case, I guess we’re serving dessert for breakfast, no one will complain, trust me! I’m no expert on what is traditional but this recipe is a favourite.

Family Irish Bread is an easy quickbread recipe. It’s super simple to make, literally mix it all together and bake. Because, I have zero patience when it comes to waiting for bread to rise, this bread is perfect for me. Bake and eat.

Start by beating together the sugar, shortening and eggs. Stir in the sour milk. To make the sour milk, add one tablespoon of vinegar to a two cup measure and then add enough milk to reach one and a half cups. Next, in a second bowl sift together the flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Make a small well and slowly pour in the liquid mixture and mix until combined. Spoon batter into a greased bread pan and bake. Let cool and slice. Freezes perfectly!

In our home, we generally toast the Irish bread. Family Irish Bread does fall apart easily, but, don’t worry, it adds to its charm and means nice thick slices. I, personally, love mine with creamed honey, on the other hand, my husband swears by a heavy smear of butter.

For our second wedding ceremony, my aunt drove down to help us out. Amongst many other items, she baked mini Family Irish Bread loaves for our welcome baskets. Each of our out-of-town guests, were given Irish bread along with honey butter and homemade peach jam, which she also made. All were massive hits. I had guests stop and rave about the bread and accompaniments! If you’d like to see our most memorable top ten details from our second wedding ceremony please click here.

This recipe is perfect for weekends when you have company over and you want to impress your guests with a delicious loaf of bread or serve it to your loved ones. Either way, everyone will be thankful for this new breakfast option.

If you love this Family Irish Bread, check out these other delicious recipes, I’m sure they’ll hit the spot:

If you get a chance to make this or any other recipe on the blog and want to share. Please feel free to tag @candyjarchronicles or use #candyjarchronicles on Instagram, so I can see your post. I’d love to see what you’re cooking in your kitchen!

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