Super easy, crusty, and popular Irish bread with a beautiful dense crumb and slightly tender interior. No need for resting and no mixer involved. Quick, easy, and delightful bread any time of the day!
It wouldn’t be St. Patrick’s Day without an Irish-inspired recipe. Luckily, I was able to scour the net for this popular traditional Irish Soda Bread that is served alongside Irish-inspired dishes like this Guinness Beef Stew and Guinness Chocolate Cake. But most of the time, it could be anything with green, like these Stuffed Cabbage Rolls here as it is the celebratory color for St. Patrick’s Day.
What is St. Patrick’s Day?
For those who are not very familiar with St. Patrick’s Day, it is actually a cultural and religious celebration held on the death date of St. Patrick, the foremost patron saint of Ireland. It became an official Christian feast day in the early 17th century.
There would be parades, festivals, ceilidhs (an Irish social gathering), and anything that has to do with green color. As a matter of fact, St. Patrick’s Day is widely celebrated in more countries than any other national festival.
What is Irish Soda Bread?
Now onto this popular Irish Soda Bread. Well, this quick bread has been said to be around for quite some time as bicarbonate soda or baking soda, as we all know it today, was first introduced in Ireland around the 1840s.
It was traditionally made with only 4 simple ingredients: flour, baking soda (as a leavening agent instead of yeast and hence the name), soured milk (to activate the soda and moisten the bread), and salt.
Moreover, that “X” mark on top of this classic bread has its own story, too. It serves as a blessing or to ward off the devil. Others would also poke holes into the bread to release the fairies that could curse your bread if trapped inside. But actually, that X mark helps the center of the bread to baked all the way through.
Over the years, the 4-ingredient list grew as people customize it to suit their preferences. Some recipes call for a touch of sweetness from sugar, butter for that comforting buttery note, egg, raisins, nuts, and more.
What’s in Baking Soda?
Baking Soda, or sodium bicarbonate, has grown popular over the years with its countless uses at home. In baking, this simple ingredient replaces the yeast and reacts with an acidic ingredient like buttermilk resulting in a chemical reaction that produces bubbles of carbon dioxide which makes the bread rise.
I personally love using baking soda since I can make tasty warm bread for breakfast in a snap with no rigorous kneading and resting. Below are just some of my favorite quick breads:
Can You Freeze This Bread?
Yes, you sure can. Let it cool first before you wrap it tightly with plastic wrap or parchment paper and store it in the freezer for up to 2-3 months. Simply thaw and reheat before serving.
Serving Suggestions
With its crusty exterior and denser crumb, this bread is best served with a hot bowl of soup or stew. And for breakfast, you can slather it with butter (see my Garlic Butter Recipe HERE), jam, or peanut butter. It’s also great as an afternoon snack to pair with your warm coffee (Oh, I love this!)… Aaargggh..I’m already craving one.
More Homemade Bread Recipes
How to Make Irish Soda Bread
Preheat oven to 425°F and line a sheet pan with baking paper. In a small bowl, whisk the buttermilk and egg together. Set aside. In a large bowl, whisk the all-purpose and cake flour, granulated sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add in the cubed butter and rub it into the flour mixture using your fingertips until it becomes coarse and fully incorporated.
Then fold in the raisins with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula. Next, make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and slowly pour in the buttermilk mixture and mix.
Gently fold in the sour cream into dough together to fully incorporate until dough is too stiff to stir.
Sprinkle a bit of flour on your working surface and so as your hands and work on the dough into a ball. Then divide dough into to two smaller dough and knead for about 30 seconds or until flour is moistened. Dough should be soft and sticky. If it’s too sticky, just add a little more flour and remember not to over knead the dough.
Transfer both dough into the lined baking sheet pan. Using a very sharp buttered knife, gently cut a 1/3″ deep X on the top of the dough. Bake for about 45 minutes or until bread appears golden brown and center is cooked through. If you notice that it browns heavily while halfway through the baking time, loosely cover the bread with an aluminum foil. Remove the pan from the oven and allow the bread to cool for 10 minutes before transferring it to a wire rack. Serve it with stews and soups or slather with butter and jam for breakfast.
Watch How To Make It
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This blog post was first published in March 2019 and has been updated with a video.
Irish Soda Bread
Ingredients
- 1 cup (245g) buttermilk
- 1 egg , slightly beaten
- 3 cups (375g) all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (125g) cake flour
- ½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon (6g) baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoon (6g) baking powder
- 1 teaspoon (5g) salt
- 5 tablespoons (70g) unsalted butter , cold and cubed
- 1 ½ -2 cups (225g-300g) raisins
- ½ cup (115g) sour cream
- granulated sugar for sprinkling
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F and line a sheet pan with baking paper. In a small bowl, whisk the buttermilk and egg together. Set aside. In a large bowl, whisk the all-purpose and cake flour, granulated sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add in the cubed butter and rub it into the flour mixture using your fingertips until it becomes coarse and fully incorporated.
- Then fold in the raisins with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula. Next, make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and slowly pour in the buttermilk mixture and mix.
- Gently fold in the sour cream into dough together to fully incorporate until dough is too stiff to stir.
- Sprinkle a bit of flour on your working surface and so as your hands and work on the dough into a ball. Then divide dough into to two smaller dough and knead for about 30 seconds or until flour is moistened. Dough should be soft and sticky. If it’s too sticky, just add a little more flour and remember not to over knead the dough.
- Transfer both dough into the lined baking sheet pan. Using a very sharp buttered knife, gently cut a 1/3″ deep X on the top of the dough. Bake for about 45 minutes or until bread appears golden brown and center is cooked through. If you notice that it browns heavily while halfway through the baking time, loosely cover the bread with an aluminum foil.
- Remove the pan from the oven and allow the bread to cool for 10 minutes before transferring it to a wire rack. Serve it with stews and soups or slather with butter and jam for breakfast.
Tips & Notes:
- This bread is best enjoyed shortly after baking, but you can wrap it tightly and store at room temperature for 3-4 days. It also freezes well for up to 2-3 months. Simply thaw and reheat before serving.
- Raisins are optional. You can replace it with 1 cup of nuts, oats, dried cranberries, or any berries or currants. Or simply leave it plain. It would still taste good.
- If you don't have any buttermilk at home, you can do this do-it-yourself version. For every cup of buttermilk needed, just mix 1 cup of regular milk with 2 tablespoons of lemon juice or white vinegar. Mix and let it sit for 10 minutes before using.
- Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy only. Please keep in mind that it is a rough estimate rather than a guarantee. Ingredients can vary greatly based on the products used.
Nutrition Information:
Dolores says
I have the recipe that my husband brought over and she did use raisins &
caraway seeds. The only change was she used lard and later on my sister-in-law changed that to Crisco.
Patrice says
Where are the caraway seeds? Irish Soda Bread needs them to be authentic and delicious. At least list them as optional.