Whole Wheat Irish Soda Bread

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper. (You can also grease the baking sheet and dust it with flour.)
In a big bowl, add the dry ingredients together i.e; flours along with baking soda and salt.


Make a well at the center of the flour mixture and pour the buttermilk.


Start kneading lightly by bringing the dry flour together, resulting a sticky dough.


Transfer the dough on a flour-dusted surface, keep kneading until you get a round and somewhat smooth top. (If the dough is too sticky and tough to handle, add some flour and knead gently. Do not knead more than a min.)


Gently press the dough to make it a little flatten. With a knife, make a deep cross on the dough and immediately transfer it to the baking sheet.


Bake for 40-45 mins or until evenly browned.


Remove the bread and insert a knife, when the knife comes out clean, its done. Let cool on a rack for 20 mins.


If you do not have buttermilk handy, you can use 1 cup milk with 2tsp lemon juice or vinegar  to make it sour. (Let the mixture rest for 10 mins before using it.)
After baking, to get a crunchier crust, let the bread completely cool, wrap it and store. To get a softer crust, wrap it up with a clean cloth once taken out from the oven and store.
The bread goes stale after 2-3 days at room temperature, so finish it fast. Else, wrap it tight and freeze it in a zipper bag, which you can thaw or reheat it in a oven, later.