Brown Butter & Herb Whole Wheat Soda Bread

I promised you the recipe for this amazing bread that I served with  this pot of yumminess ....and I always follow up on a promise (Except for that one time, I promised to do the laundry but then The Real Housewives of New Jersey was just SO dramatic... well you get the idea)

This recipe jumped out at me when I was browsing one of my favorite blogs How Sweet It is.... and by this recipe I mean the words 'Brown Butter'. Who could resist??!!

I also remembered something about no yeast, no kneading. Was it really possible to achieve this amount of warm, fluffy bread goodness without all the bread work?? Why, yes, indeed it is!

In fact, it was so good I forgot to take a picture after it was baked and just proceeded to rip off (there was no time to cut!) a delicious morsel.

OK really, my camera lost the pictures somehow (technology is not my forte!), forgetting to take a picture just sounded much better. However it is true that I was indeed too distracted by the warm, fresh out of the oven, brown butter bread to cut a piece and I did indeed just rip a bite off the loaf. So sue me. I know you will soon be doing the same thing!

Brown Butter & Herb Whole Wheat Soda Bread

Source: How Sweet It Is, slightly adapted from bon appetit

makes 2 circular loaves

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) of unsalted butter

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 cup old-fashioned oats

1 tablespoon brown sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon dried rosemary

3 cloves garlic, pressed or minced

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 3/4 cups buttermilk

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Heat the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat for about 3-5 minutes, stirring constantly. As soon as you see brown specks, remove from the heat and set aside.

Combine all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Pour in buttermilk and butter and stir together (dough will be fairly sticky, which is ok).

Set dough on a floured surface and knead for a few minutes until dough is silky and no longer sticky. Divide in half, and form into two equally shaped rounds. Place on an parchment lined sheet. Spray with a light coat of olive oil cooking spray and sprinkle with additional seasonings and black pepper if desired. 

Bake breads for 30-45 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and the middle is set (mine only took about 30 minutes). Let cool for 30 minutes, then enjoy!

Notes:

• I used all whole wheat flour instead of a mix of flours
• I was out of buttermilk so I instead used milk and added 2 tbsp. of vinegar.
• You can also brush the top of the loaf with an egg white wash.
• This recipe is easy to cut in half.