Irish Soda Bread
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Here’s a recipe to make for your family in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day! It seems the main ingredients in traditional Irish Soda Bread are flour, baking soda, salt, and buttermilk. Most recipes have black currants and/or caraway seeds. It is a heavy, quick bread that is inexpensive to make and hearty-enough to fill one’s stomach at the beginning (or the end) of the day.
In researching this recipe I noticed two types or recipes for Irish Soda Bread. One tended more toward a sweeter breakfast bread (like this one) made with white flour and currants or raisins, and even orange zest. This bread would also be great for snacking on with some hot coffee or tea.
The second type was more of a savory, hearty bread that you might serve at dinner with soup or stew. It tended to have whole grains mixed in and may or may not have additional caraway seeds. I also saw this bread listed as an Irish Brown Bread.
This recipe is a sweeter breakfast bread, but if you’d prefer a less sweet bread, simply leave off the sprinkling sugar at the end. Because this is a quick bread and relatively simple to make, it’s a perfect recipe for small hands when baking with children.
Ingredients Needed to Make Irish Soda Bread
- all-purpose flour
- brown sugar
- baking powder
- baking soda
- salt
- caraway seeds (optional)
- raisins (or black currants)
- buttermilk
- large egg
- butter, melted
- granulated sugar for sprinkling
Instructions for Making This Bread
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Gather all your ingredients so that you have everything close at hand on the counter or table. Prepare your ingredients. Using a Chef’s knife and cutting board, chop raisins into small bits, if desired.
In a medium mixing bowl, combine all-purpose flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, baking soda, and caraway seeds. Mix in chopped raisins.
If you’d prefer, go ahead and substitute dried black currants for the raisins. Dried currants can be difficult to find here in the US but if that’s not the case for you, I recommend using them!
Create a hole in the center of the mixture and add in buttermilk, large egg, and melted butter. Using a dough whisk or fork, stir until moistened.
Turn out onto a lightly floured surface, and gently knead 6-8 times.
Shape into a round loaf and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Slice a large cross through the center. Sprinkle top with sugar.
If you’d prefer a less sweet bread, you may leave off the sprinkling of sugar on top of this bread.
Bake in preheated oven for 30-35 minutes until golden brown. Serve warm. Makes one large loaf.
See more Quick Breads Here. Browse Irish Recipes Here.
Irish Soda Bread
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons caraway seeds optional
- 1/2 cup chopped raisins I used golden
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 large egg
- 2 tablespoons butter melted
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar for sprinkling
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Gather all your ingredients so that you have everything close at hand on the counter or table. Prepare your ingredients. Using a Chef's knife and cutting board, chop raisins into small bits, if desired.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine all-purpose flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, baking soda, and caraway seeds. Mix in chopped raisins.
- Create a hole in the center of the mixture and add in buttermilk, large egg, and melted butter. Using a dough whisk or fork, stir until moistened.
- Turn out onto a lightly floured surface, and gently knead 6-8 times.
- Shape into a round loaf and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Slice a large cross through the center. Sprinkle top with sugar.
- Bake in preheated oven for 30-35 minutes until golden brown. Serve warm. Makes one large loaf.
I’ve always wanted to try this, now that I know how easy it is to make, I shall.
Except for the buttermilk, don’t keep that on stock.
Oh well.
Mica
Hi Micaella, you may substitute this for buttermilk: 1 tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice + enough milk to make 1 cup. Let set for 10 minutes to thicken. Thanks for writing.