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This quick barley bread is a delicious homemade bread with no yeast required! Made entirely with barley flour, it has a unique, complex flavor and a dense, rustic texture, similar to cornbread. Easy to mix and bake, it’s perfect for spreading with butter or serving alongside soups.
Barley bread is the perfect recipe for all your homemade bread needs, and a wonderful go-to if you don’t have any yeast on hand. It makes great toast for breakfast and tastes delicious served with a bowl of pork chili or beef chili beans and a drizzle of garlic butter sauce.
Here is Why This Barley Bread Recipe Works
No Yeast, No Problem: Skip the rising time. This bread is ready to bake as soon as you mix it up. Perfect for those who don’t want to babysit dough.
All-Barley Flour Goodness: This isn’t your run-of-the-mill bread; using 100% barley flour gives it a nutty, slightly sweet flavor that stands out from the usual wheat-based breads.
Cornbread Vibes: With its dense, rustic texture, it’s like cornbread’s sophisticated cousin. Just the thing for those hearty soups or stews.
One-Bowl Wonder: Minimal mess, minimal fuss. Mix, pour, bake, and you’re done. This recipe is easy enough to whip up even on busy days.
The Ingredients
- Pantry: Barley flour, baking powder, baking soda, honey, salt, oil
- Refrigerated: Eggs, buttermilk
Note: you can swap the honey for maple syrup.
This is easy bread baking. Unlike yeast breads like our sprouted wheat sandwich bread or our oatmeal bread, which take quite a bit more time to make, you can have this bread in less than an hour.
Variations
Honey Nut Bread with Barley Flour: Stir in ½ cup chopped walnuts and an extra tablespoon of honey for added sweetness
Barley Flour Herbed Garlic Bread: Mix in ½ teaspoon garlic powder and 1 tablespoon of dried mixed herbs (like rosemary and thyme).
Barley Cranberry Orange Bread: Fold in ½ cup dried cranberries and the zest of one orange.
This barley flour bread recipe makes fabulous toast, which is our favorite way to enjoy it! Slather some fresh strawberry jam on top and start your morning off right!
Tips for Success
- Barley flour can be a bit dense, so it’s best to spoon it into your measuring cup and level it off to avoid using too much.
- Once the wet and dry ingredients are combined, stir just until no dry spots remain. Overmixing can make the bread overly crumbly.
- If you prefer a less sweet bread, feel free to reduce the honey slightly. For a touch more, add an extra tablespoon or swap in maple syrup.
- Add an Extra Egg for Softness. If you’d like a softer, more cake-like texture, mix in an extra egg. This helps reduce the bread’s natural crumbly texture.
Storage
Room temp: Keep leftover barley flour bread in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Freezing: Wrap the bread tightly in plastic wrap and place it in a freezer-safe bag or container. It will stay fresh for up to 3 months in the freezer.
Reheating: Thaw the bread overnight in the refrigerator. To reheat, place slices in a preheated oven at 350°F or warm them in a toaster oven until heated through.
Quick Bread Made with Barley Flour
This quick barley bread brings all the cozy vibes without the yeast drama. Dense, nutty, and ready fast, it’s the kind of homemade quick bread you can make the same day. Smother it in butter, dunk it in soup, or devour it solo.
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Quick Barley Bread (No Yeast)
If you make this recipe, please leave a star rating and comment.
Ingredients
- 3 cups barley flour, 340 grams
- 1 ¼ teaspoons salt
- 2 tablespoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 large eggs, (see notes)
- 1 ½ cup buttermilk
- ⅓ cup olive oil
- 3 tablespoons honey
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray an 8-1/2 by 4-1/2 loaf pan with nonstick spray.
- Whisk the barley flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder together.
- In a separate bowl, combine the eggs, buttermilk, oil, and honey.
- Pour the liquid ingredients into the flour mixture and stir gently until just combined.
- Pour the batter into the bread loaf pan and bake 35 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Notes
- This is not gluten-free. Barley does contain gluten.
- As one reader noted, adding an extra egg will give the bread a softer, more cake-like consistency. If you want a less rustic texture that isn’t as crumbly, use 3 eggs.
- You can store the bread on the counter in a plastic bag for 2 to 3 days or freeze it for three months.
- To extend the shelf life of baked barley bread, you can wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and then store it in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- When you are ready to eat the bread, thaw it overnight in the refrigerator and then reheat it in the oven or toaster oven until warmed through.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this recipe? Rate & comment below!
Tastes great! But sadly, mine sunk in the middle 🙁 not sure why. Any advice?
Thanks for trying the recipe! I’m glad you liked the flavor. Sinking can happen if the batter is overmixed, the bread isn’t baked long enough, or if there’s too much moisture (like extra liquid or mis-measured flour). I hope that helps for next time!
Thank you so much, Dahn! Going to try it again today with this in mind. 😊
Can I make this without the honey? Or will it affect the texture? Just trying to not add sugar to it 😀
Yes, this will turn out fine if you omit the honey. Thanks for the question.
Homemade bread is a weakness of mine, and this recipe for barley bread is outstanding. So good, my family devoured it in one sitting!
Thank you for that comment! I’m so glad your family loved it.
Barley bread isn’t just a tasty choice; it’s a nutritional powerhouse. Packed with fiber and nutrients, it’s the perfect foundation for a healthier bread option.
So true! Thanks for your comment.
No mention how to store the bread.
How long will it keep?
Can you freeze?
Oh, yes. You can store the bread on the counter in a pastic bag for 2 to 3 days or freeze it for 3 months. Thanks for the question.
Adding 1/4- 1/2 C oat flour helps it hold together better too so it’s less crumbly.
Thanks, I haven’t tried adding oat flour but an extra egg will make it less crumbly.
@L, I tried xanthan gum for stability. Works great.
Thanks for the comment. Glad to hear it worked.
We really liked it! The buttermilk added a good flavor. I’m trying to use more barley because it’s part of the Portfolio Diet. I baked it in a parchment lined 8×8 glass pan, instead of a loaf. This was partly because we are at altitude and I thought it would have a better chance of rising nicely that way. I also only about 1 T honey just because of personal preference. It came out great! This will be on regular rotation now!
I’m glad the recipe worked well with your tweaks. Thanks for sharing!
Your Quick Barley Bread seems like a healthy recipe. Why does it have 1 gram of trans fat listed in the nutritional info. What has trans fat in this recipe.
Thanks for the question. There are no trans fats in the recipe. The 1 gram you see is actually a calculation for saturated fats which would come from the eggs and the buttermilk. I can see how the nutrition label can be difficult to read. Thanks for bringing that to my attention.
I am just using barley flour, water and salt (along with mint leaves and some chilli peppers). I put the batter into a pan and bake at 350 but after 40 min its still not cooked(the tootpick test). ANy suggestions?
Since this isn’t a yeast bread, it will require much more than just flour, water, and salt. This recipe will not work if you leave out the other ingredients. I’m sorry.
Thankyou Dahn FYI. I’ll add another egg and hopefully my barley bread will improve. As it stands now , I couldn’t make a sandwich if I tried .
Oh, yes. This isn’t a sandwich bread, but you might be able to get it closer to a sandwich bread if you add an extra egg.