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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 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!
I’ve made the barley bread twice. It is delicious ! My problem is it brakes apart . Is it possible that because the baking powder and baking soda were outdated that , that is the reason ?? Thanks
That is the nature of the barley flour. Barley has a different kind of gluten and it doesn’t have as strong of a ‘bond’ as wheat flour so the bread will naturally be a bit more crumbly, similar to cornbread in texture. You can add an extra egg which will help make it less crumbly.
@Dahn Boquist,
My question is regarding the substitution for butter milk while making ” quick barley bread. ” is it still 1-1/2 cups of milk and splash of vinegar or lemon juice ?? Thankyou Kim
Ideally, you should take out 1-1/2 tablespoons of milk and add 1-1/2 tablespoons of vinegar.
I would love to try this recipe, have been looking for barley bread recipes for long… Yours look very simple and interesting. Could you please mention a substitute for egg as I am a vegetarian.
Thanks
I haven’t tried this with an egg replacement. I would expect the texture to be quite different and turn out dry and crumbly with a plant-based egg. I know people have luck using flax seed for an egg replacement and I have seen a plant based egg replacement in the grocery store called “Just Egg”. However, I think it would be challenging to use an egg replacement with the barley flour. If you try it please let us know how it turns out.
I substituted buckwheat honey for the regular honey.
Thanks for the comment, the buckwheat honey sounds great. It will have a more robust flavor.
How could I incorporate barley malt flour into thie recipe ?
I haven’t tried that. Barley flour and barley malt flour are not interchangeable. Typically when recipes incorporate barley malt flour, they only use 10% or less of the flour.
Awesome, simple recipe. My wife even liked it and she’s picky.
Fantastic, thanks for the comment.
Hi!
Can you please tell me what is the size of cup in ml??
Thanx,
Iva
One cup will hold 236 ml. But that only pertains to liquid measurements. I gave you the measurements you will need in ml’s for the buttermilk and olive oil in the previous comment. If you are trying to measure the barley flour in ml’s then that will not work but I have the grams listed in the recipe card.
Hi!
Can you please tell me how many ml is in this cup in recipe.?
Thanx!
1-1/2 cups of buttermilk is 355 ml and 1/3 cup of olive oil is 79 ml.
I’m excited to find this recipe! I just learned I’m allergic to wheat (not gluten though!), so I’ve been looking for alternatives. Most recipes still call for wheat flour, and I’m hesitant to just race with gf flour. Aside from extending prep time, what would happen if I used yeast in this recipe?
I haven’t tried this recipe with yeast so I’m not sure how it would turn out
@Bethany, Hi you should use spelt flour! makes awesome bread.
I would like to bake this bread for communion. Is the batter tight enough to create a small round loaf, or is it too runny? (The five loaves were barley loaves at the feeding of the multitudes in John 6.)
The batter isn’t runny but it isn’t tight enough to shape. It would work to put the batter in a round pan that would keep it’s shape