Irish Soda Bread
Would it be St. Patrick’s day without Irish Soda Bread? Not in my house! Put on the kettle and enjoy a slice of this buttermilk-enriched, raisin-filled traditional Irish Soda Bread with a hot cup of tea.
Table of contents
What is Irish Soda Bread?
Irish soda bread is a “quick bread”. Quick breads get their lift from a chemical leavener (baking soda) instead of yeast. As soon as the bread is mixed it’s ready to bake.
With no yeast or fussy fermentation, no rolling or cutting, soda bread is even easier to make than muffins or biscuits.
If you keep a sourdough starter, you can make Sourdough Irish Soda Bread or Sourdough Irish Brown Bread with your discard.
Ingredients
How to make Irish Soda Bread
Here’s what the recipe process looks like at each stage. Refer to the recipe card below for measurements and exact instructions.
- Whisk together the dry ingredients.
- Cut in the butter and toss in the raisins.
- Add the buttermilk all at once.
- Start mixing with a spoon, then turn the dough out onto a floured surface and finish mixing by hand.
- Cut a deep “X” on the loaf for the traditional soda bread shape. This also promotes even rising.
Recipe Tips
- Mixing by hand helps ensure that you won’t over work and toughen the dough.
- The dough can be a little sticky. If your hands get coated with the sticky dough don’t try to wash it off with water, it’ll just get stickier and leave a mess in the sink. Dip your hands into the flour bin to coat them. Holding your hands over the trash can, rub them together vigorously and the sticky dough will come off easily.
- Cutting a deep X in the top of the loaf before it goes in the oven ensures that it will rise evenly without splitting in random places.
- The raisins are optional but highly recommended.
- If the raisins on the surface of the dough burn in the oven, just pick them off (careful, they’re hot) when the bread comes out of the oven.
Storage
The bread is best the day it’s made, but will keep several days at room temperature. It will keep in the freezer for 1-2 months.
All you need is a little creamery butter and maybe a dollop of Blood Orange Marmalade for the perfect teatime treat.
Let’s not limit soda bread to St. Patrick’s day. It’s so easy to make and so tasty it should be enjoyed year-round.
More Irish inspired recipes
- Honey Kissed Irish Whiskey Cake
- Irish Brown Bread
- Baileys Pot de Creme
- Baileys Bundt Cakes
- Baileys Cheesecake
- Baileys Chocolate Macarons
- Guinness Fudge Cake
- Triple Guinness Cake
- Irish Tea Brack
- Irish Apple Cake
- Irish Coffee Trifle
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Irish Soda Bread Recipe
Ingredients
- 20 ounces unbleached all purpose flour (4 cups, see note)
- 1 teaspoon table salt
- 1 ounce granulated sugar (2 tablespoons)
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ½ ounces unsalted butter (room temperature)
- 6 ounces raisins (1 cup)
- 16 ounces buttermilk (2 cups)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 °F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- Sift or whisk together 20 ounces unbleached all purpose flour, 1 teaspoon table salt, 1 ounce granulated sugar, 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder and ½ teaspoon baking soda. Use your hands to work 1 ½ ounces unsalted butter into the dry ingredients until there are no pieces larger than the size of a pea. Toss 6 ounces raisins with the dry ingredients.
- Add 16 ounces buttermilk all at once and mix until the dry ingredients are almost incorporated. The dough may seem dry at this point but it will come together.
- Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead about 15-20 times to form a smooth ball. Place the loaf onto the prepared baking sheet. Use your hands to flatten the ball slightly. Use a sharp knife to cut a 1/2″-3/4″ deep X into the top of the loaf. Brush the loaf with buttermilk.
- Bake until the loaf sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom or the middle of the loaf is about 200 °F, 45 minutes to an hour.
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My favorite soda bread recipe! I used plenty of flour when kneading (maybe too much) and it still turned out great.
Although my bread tastes really good , I notice from your pics mine spreads a little more than yours rises . Why is that ?
I halved the recipe and found the dough to be VERY sticky. (Used unbleached, all purpose flour, measured by weight.) Was ready to abandon but then decided to go ahead, bake and….see what happens! It’s very good! I added a generous amount of raisins which made the bread moist and naturally sweet. Glad I persevered!
It can be a sticky dough to handle. Use plenty of flour on your hands and on the surface. As I noted in the “Recipe Tips” section: “The dough can be a little sticky. If your hands get coated with the sticky dough don’t try to wash it off with water, it’ll just get stickier and leave a mess in the sink. Dip your hands into the flour bin to coat them. Holding your hands over the trash can, rub them together vigorously and the sticky dough will come off easily.”
My favorite Irish soda bread recipe I’ve tried so far. It’s ever so slightly sweet and isn’t stingy with the raisins. My main complaint with store bought was always too much sugar and not enough raisins.
I weighed my ingredients and used a homemade “buttermilk” (milk w/ a splash of lemon juice).
The dough was a bit sticky to work with (especially at the beginning), but I always keep my hands well floured and use a bowl scraper to help manipulate and move the dough around.
Made two smaller loaves and it took about 40 minutes to bake.
I don’t have buttermilk at the moment but have whole milk. Could I substitute the whole milk in place of the buttermilk?
Yes. Add 2 tablespoons of lemon juice or white vinegar to 2 cups of whole milk. Let it sit for 10 minutes to let it thicken.