Traditional Irish Soda Bread Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is traditional Irish soda bread made of? ›

4 cups flour / 1 tsp baking soda / 1/2 tsp baking soda / thimble full of caraway seeds (1 tbsp) / 1 cup raisins/ 2 cups buttermilk (or milk with lemon juice or vinegar). Mix all dry ingredients, add buttermilk/ mix until it is blended/ place on floured cutting board and kneed and roll into a flat round loaf.

Too much liquid added, or it hasn't been baked enough. It should go on the top shelf of the oven and it should be baked for at least 30-35 minutes.

And finally, don't immediately cut into the Fast Irish Soda bread when you pull it out of the oven. Although this bread is best served warm, cutting into it too quickly will turn the bread gummy.

The most traditional doneness test calls for thumping the hot bread in the center to hear if it's hollow-sounding. A more foolproof indication is temperature; the loaf will register 200°F to 205°F when an instant-read thermometer is inserted in the center of the bread. Let the bread cool.

Irish brown bread has a deep, nutty flavor because of its wheat flour and wheat bran while soda bread uses only white flour. Soda bread is slightly sweet and more scone-like while Irish brown bread is more savory with a tender interior.

Irish Soda Bread is a quick bread that does not require any yeast. Instead, all of its leavening comes from baking soda and buttermilk. This Irish soda bread recipe is my grandmother's and has been cherished in my family for years. It's dense, yet soft and has the most incredible crusty exterior.

Note that the dough will be a little sticky, and quite shaggy (a little like a shortcake biscuit dough). You want to work it just enough so the flour is just moistened and the dough just barely comes together.

Nutrition Notes

Whole-wheat soda bread is a healthy addition to your plate! One serving—a 1/2-inch-thick slice—provides complex carbohydrates for sustained energy, protein, fiber, and vitamins and minerals.

You're looking for a dough that's soft but not overly sticky or wet, and that holds together enough to make a loaf that can hold its shape on the sheet pan. If the dough is dry and crumbly, add up to 1/2 cup additional buttermilk, a tablespoon or so at a time, until it comes together.

Turn off the oven, remove the bread from the tray and wrap in a damp tea towel then return it to the warm oven to cool. This gives you a soft crust. If you like a hard crust then leave to cool on a rack with no damp tea towel.

Why does my soda bread not cook in the middle? ›

I have tried to make it several times recently, but although it always cooks on the outside and forms a crust, remains an uncooked dough in the centre. Lower the temperature in the oven and cook it longer. Your oven is too hot if it is uncooked in the center.

Serving the Irish Soda Bread

The thick and cakey texture of the bread and warm temperature brings out its hearty flavors. If you can't have it fresh from the over at least have it toasted. Irish soda bread is best served with butter and has its creaminess melt into the slice.

Fennel seeds are the closest alternative to caraway seeds and make an excellent substitution because they're both relatives of the carrot family, although they aren't the same plant.

(Some recipes call for yeast and kneading, but know this isn't required.) You don't have to wait hours or overnight for a rise, either. In fact, you don't even need to wait at all: Dough for Irish soda bread can go right into the oven after making.

The oldest recipe for soda bread, widely syndicated from Ireland's Newry Times in 1836, says the dough was "as soft as could possibly be handled...the softer the better." Thirteen years and 180 miles down the road, the Waterford Times described it as "wetter than pie crust, too stiff to pour, but not stiff enough to ...

The main difference between sourdough bread and soda bread is in its leavening agent – sourdough bread rises due to the gasses released from yeast and bacteria fermentation, while soda bread rises from the gasses produced during the chemical interaction between baking soda and acids in the dough.

Nutrition Notes

Whole-wheat soda bread is a healthy addition to your plate! One serving—a 1/2-inch-thick slice—provides complex carbohydrates for sustained energy, protein, fiber, and vitamins and minerals.

The slices are delicious simply spread with butter, jam, or marmalade. This bread can be toasted, too. Soda bread can be paired with any meal of the day. You can even bake it without the raisins to make a loaf to serve with savory dishes like soup, meat dishes, or to use for sandwiches.

Irish soda bread is a dense and tender quick bread with a subtle tangy buttermilk flavor.