Made with 8 simple ingredients, this Irish Soda Bread recipe is quick, easy and delicious. Serve hot with butter, jam, or soups and stews!
This Irish Soda Bread recipe is the quickest and easiest way I know to make delicious bread at home. You only need 8 ingredients, mix the dough and put it in the oven in less than 20 minutes. No fermentation required. Baked with a crispy golden crust and a soft, buttery interior sprinkled with sweet dried currants. For St. Patrick’s Day this weekend…and keep building! This Irish soda bread recipe is too simple and too delicious for an annual treat.
What is soda bread?
But first things first! What is soda bread, anyway? This Irish quickbread got its name because baking soda, not yeast, is the leavening agent.among them simplest formMy recipe, like many other American soda bread recipes, adds butter, sugar, eggs, currants or raisins. Caraway seeds are also commonly used, but I’ll leave that out here.
Enjoy Irish soda bread with your St. Patrick’s Day feast of corned beef and cabbage (or my cabbage soup!), or serve it hot with a generous dollop of butter or jam.
Irish Soda Bread Recipe
Here’s what you need to make this Irish soda bread recipe:
- baking soda, of course! Ferment the bread.
- all purpose flour – Flatten with a spoon to avoid overfilling the measuring cup. If you want to weigh the flour, you will need 438g plus more to knead the dough.
- buttermilk – It adds moisture to the bread, but that’s not all! Its acidity is important for activating the baking soda, which helps the bread rise.
- egg – Adds extra rise and richness.
- butter – Gives bread a delicious buttery flavor.
- cane sugar and dried currants – Adds sweetness to the bread. Don’t have currants on hand? Raisins work too!
- and sea salt – To make every flavor pop!
Find the full recipe with the measurements below.
How to make Irish soda bread
As the bread recipe progresses, this Irish Soda Bread couldn’t be simpler. Here’s how to make it.
First, mix buttermilk and eggs. To save money on cooking, I like to combine them into the liquid measuring cups I use to measure buttermilk.
Next, mix cake flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. in a large bowl. Whisk well so that the baking soda and flour are evenly distributed.
Cut the butter into small cubes and add it to the flour mixture. Dust it with flour and then mix by hand into the dry ingredients until roughly the size of a pea.
Then add the buttermilk mixture. Make a well in the middle of the flour and pour in the buttermilk and eggs. Stir the wet and dry ingredients together with a spatula or wooden spoon until a shaggy dough forms.
Transfer the dough to a lightly floured board and knead into a ball. It should be soft, but not too sticky.
If it’s too sticky, add a little more flour. If it’s dry, knead in a little more buttermilk.
Then bake! Transfer the ball of dough to a parchment-lined sheet pan (a cast-iron skillet also works!) and use a sharp knife to cut a 1/2-inch-deep cross cut into the top. , the heat can access the center of the pan. Place bread in a 400°F oven and bake for 45-50 minutes until golden brown. It’s ready when you hear a hollow sound when you tap the bottom of the pan.
Let the soda bread cool on a baking sheet for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to continue cooling. fun!
recipe tips
- Currants like to cluster. Be sure to crumble them up before adding them to the flour mixture.
- A cross decides the top. This gives the Irish soda bread a distinctive look and helps the bread cook right in the middle.
- Foil is your friend. Is your Irish soda bread getting too dark before the middle is fully cooked? Cover the pan with aluminum foil and continue baking.
- Don’t you have buttermilk? no problem. I like to make this recipe best with buttermilk, but you can use a buttermilk substitute if you prefer. Squeeze 1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon of fresh lemon juice into the bottom of a liquid measuring cup. Next, fill the cup with regular milk or unsweetened almond milk to the 1 1/3 cup line. Let stand 5 minutes before proceeding with recipe.
- Freeze it. Irish soda bread dries quickly. Eat them raw on the same day they are baked, then slice the rest and put them in the freezer. Frozen slices are beautifully toasted and delicious with a generous spread of butter or jam!
more favorite bread recipes
If you like this Irish soda bread, try this easy homemade bread recipe.
Irish soda bread
serve 8
This Irish Soda Bread recipe is quick, easy, and delicious. Slice with your favorite soup or spread with butter or jam and enjoy. This bread tastes best the day it is baked. For longer storage, we recommend slicing and freezing. Frozen slices make great toast!
- 1/3 cup Buttermilk*
- 1 big egg
- 3½ cup all purpose flour, Flattened with a spoon (438g), for kneading
- 2 tablespoon cane sugar
- 1 tea spoon baking soda
- 1 tea spoon sea salt
- 3 tablespoon cold unsalted butter, cube
- less than 1 cup dried currants or raisins
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Preheat oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
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In a medium bowl, whisk together buttermilk and eggs.
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Combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl and whisk to combine. Add diced butter and toss to coat. Use your hands to work the butter into the flour mixture until it is roughly the size of a pea. Add currants, stir, and dust with flour.
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Make a depression in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the buttermilk mixture. Stir with a spatula or wooden spoon until a fluffy dough forms.
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Roll out the dough onto a lightly floured board and knead into a ball. The dough should be soft, but not too sticky. If the dough is too sticky, add a little more flour. If it feels dry, add a little more buttermilk.
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Transfer the ball of dough to a baking sheet and use a sharp knife to make a 1/2-inch-deep cross cut in the top. Bake 45 to 50 minutes or until bread is golden brown and hollow when tapped. If it browns before baking, cover with foil and continue baking.
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Remove from oven and let cool on baking sheet for 10 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to continue cooling.
*If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, you can use a combination of milk or almond milk and lemon juice instead. Squeeze 1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon of fresh lemon juice into a liquid measuring cup and pour your favorite milk to the 1 1/3 cup line. Let stand 5 minutes before proceeding with recipe.
