Celebrate St. Patrick's Day with my easy, traditional Irish Soda Bread! A Riley family recipe and New England favorite, this rustic loaf is packed with raisins and warm, homey comfort.
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There's a reason why moist Irish Soda Bread has been a favorite treat at breakfast time and tea time for so many generations: it's a quick, no-knead bread made with just a few ingredients that bakes up fast.
You're gonna love my family's recipe for Irish Soda Bread because
- your hungry fans will eat it up fast, and
- it's good any time of day—for breakfast, afternoon snack, or as a side with dinner
This recipe gets a lot of attention in March, specifically for St. Patrick's Day and I love that! However, I hope that after you make this easy Irish Soda Bread, you'll find you want to bake it year-round.
In a nutshell... 🐿️
- What this is: A family recipe from my Great-Great-Aunt Lizzie Reilly, a rustic no-knead soda bread speckled with sweet raisins and caraway seeds. It's a comforting and nostalgic accompaniement to hearty New England breakfasts, especially on St. Patrick's Day.
- You'll love this part: It's an ideal bake for a busy afternoon or early morning because it comes together without any rising times or fuss. My Irish soda bead has a tender crumb that's especially nice when toasted and slathered with Irish butter.
- How it's made: Whisk dry ingredients with raisins, then stir in buttermilk until a soft dough forms. Shape it into a round loaf—don't forget to poke holes to let the fairies out! Then bake.
Jump to:
- Notes from fellow cooks:
- What is soda bread?
- Chocolate Irish Soda Bread
- Irish soda bread history
- What does soda bread taste like?
- Baileys Chocolate Irish Cream Pie
- Here's why you'll love my Irish Soda Bread
- 🔪How to make Irish Soda Bread
- Irish Soda Bread FAQs
- Tips:
- Don't just take my word for it...
- 📖 Recipe
- 💬 Comments
Notes from fellow cooks:
"Love this easy soda bread recipe! Made these Irish eyes shine. It will be perfect with the corned beef and cabbage." — N. Caperton
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What is soda bread?
Soda bread is a kind of quick bread, which means it's made without yeast and doesn't require the lengthy rising or kneading times of yeasted bread dough. Instead, quick breads are made with baking soda, baking powder, or a combination of the two. These leaveners give them their lightness and texture.
The most basic soda breads are so-named because they're made with baking soda, plus flour, and salt. Soda bread is also made with buttermilk, a traditional ingredient that moistens the dough and also has enough acidity to active the baking soda.
A chocolatey twist!
Chocolate Irish Soda Bread
Guinness Extra Stout makes this chocolate loaf especially rich and flavorful. And it's topped with Irish whiskey glaze.
Irish soda bread history
For the working class and poor in Ireland in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, soda bread was an inexpensive and nutritious food that households could rely upon to help feed their families. The simplest soda breads contained only flour, salt, bicarbonate of soda, and buttermilk.
The type of wheat grown in Ireland at this time, a soft wheat with low protein content, was also a factor in the reliance upon soda bread. Bread made with this type of wheat flour doesn't rise well with yeast, but works very well with baking soda as a leavener.
Ireland soda bread has a couple of other names, too. When we attended a class at the famous Ballymaloe Cookery School in County Cork, Ireland, they made this loaf and called it a Spotted Dog. Other names include white soda bread, American Irish soda bread, and fruit soda bread.
What does soda bread taste like?
Soda bread is a rustic loaf with a soft, dense crumb. It's heavier and a little more crumbly than yeasted breads.
Brown soda bread, like my Irish Brown Bread recipe, is what I think of as a real Irish soda bread—because it's what's served at every B&B and restaurant in Ireland! It's made with coarse wholemeal flour and has a nutty wheat flavor.
White soda bread like this one, which is an American-Irish bread, is made with all-purpose flour and has a simpler flavor. This is what makes it great to pair with mix-ins like raisins, spices, citrus zest, and even savory ingredients like cheese.
Slices of soda bread are delicious as is or toasted and spread with butter or jam.
Something sweet!
Baileys Chocolate Irish Cream Pie
Complete the St. Patrick's Day menu with this creamy, chocolaty pie flavored with real Irish cream!
Here's why you'll love my Irish Soda Bread
Old-fashioned, seeded Irish soda bread is simple to pull together. Dry ingredients are blended with buttermilk; the dough is squeezed together into a loaf before baking. This bread is made without eggs, butter, or yeast. It's so easy you could make several loaves a week!
My original family recipe for Irish soda bread came from my great-great-Aunt Lizzie Reilly who lived in Hoosick Falls, New York. I have some of her other recipes on my site too, including Chilli Sauce and Molasses Cookies.
Aunt Lizzie's original soda bread recipe is a simpler version made with only a half cup of raisins. However, because I love them, my version contains lots of raisins! I just adore how sweet the bread is with all this fruit. You can adjust the amount of raisins to suit your taste—or try golden raisins or dried currants instead.
Irish soda bread is a lovely, soft, scented bread. Caraway seeds flecked throughout the dough give the bread a distinctive, savory flavor.
🔪How to make Irish Soda Bread
Ingredients:
- All-purpose flour: My go-to all-purpose flour for this and all my recipes is King Arthur Baking brand.
- Granulated sugar: I add just a little sugar to this loaf to give it a hint of sweetness.
- Baking powder and baking soda: These will leaven the bread and make it light. Buttermilk activates the baking soda and baking powder helps lift the loaf when it goes in the oven.
- Caraway seed: These aromatic seeds lend a mild flavor to the loaf. They're a traditional ingredient in American-Irish soda breads.
- Raisins: This sweet dried fruit adds so much flavor and moisture to Irish soda bread.
- Buttermilk: Not only does it give the bread some tangy flavor, buttermilk also activates the leaveners to give the load a light texture.
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Mix the dry ingredients
Blend together the flour and spice in a large bowl.
Add the raisins
Toss the raisins in and stir them through the dry mixture.
Add the buttermilk
Stir the buttermilk through the dry mixture, until you have a soft and sticky dough.
Bring the dough together
Knead the dough just a few times to bring the dough together and form it into a round loaf. Use a sharp knife to cut a cross in the top, and poke holes in each corner to let the fairies out.
Bake the loaf
Bake the soda bread in a round pan, cast iron pan, Dutch oven, or on a baking sheet. The finished loaf will be brown and sound hollow when you tap the bottom. Let it cool before slicing.
Irish Soda Bread FAQs
One idea is that cutting a cross into the dough bestows a blessing on the bread as it goes in to bake. There's a practical reason, too—slashing the dough helps the bread expand and bake through evenly.
Buttermilk is naturally acidic; it activates the baking soda in the dough to help the bread rise during baking. It also lends a tangy flavor to the bread. Buttermilk is a traditional ingredient in Irish breads—leftover from butter making, it was plentiful in Irish households and inexpensive.
While this Irish soda bread has a more crumbly texture than yeasted bread, if your loaf seems way too crumbly and is falling apart there are a couple of possible reasons. One is that not enough buttermilk was added to the dough. You should add enough to achieve and soft and sticky dough. Another possibility is that the bread is overbaked and dry. Begin checking the bread at the 30-minute mark—it's done when it's lightly browned all over and sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.
If your white soda bread or brown soda bread does not rise well during baking, there are two possible culprits. The first is that your baking powder and baking soda may have lost their effectiveness, often because they're expired. Check the dates on the packages before using these leaveners in your bread. You can also test baking soda and baking powder with water: baking powder stirred into hot water should fizz; baking soda stirred into a mixture of water and vinegar should fizz.
Another possible reason your soda bread didn't rise is that the dough was over-handled, something I'm occasionally guilty of myself. Over-handling or kneading too much will toughen the dough and prevent it from rising. To avoid this, remember that after mixing in the buttermilk, the soda bread dough should be squeezed together just a few times, until it can be shaped into a round.
It's best to eat your soda bread within three to four days of baking it. Any longer than this and the bread will begin to dry out.
Once Irish soda bread is cool, seal it inside a plastic bag. Keep it on the counter at room temperature, away from heat sources. I don't recommend refrigerating Irish soda bread because it will make the loaf dry out more quickly.
Yes, you can freeze Irish soda bread for one to two months: Seal it inside a freezer-proof bag with all the air pressed out and place it in the freezer.
remember though that this bread is so easy to make that it's worth making a fresh loaf the morning or the night before you want it.
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 meals like soup, roast meats, or to use for sandwiches.
Use leftover soda bread to make a delicious bread pudding. Cut the bread into pieces and let them dry out, so they can soak up the batter in recipes like Mango Blueberry Bread Pudding or Maple Blueberry French Toast Bake.
Tips:
- Caraway seeds and raisins are the ingredients in my family's best Irish soda bread recipe. You can also omit these if you'd rather, and try other mix-ins like cinnamon, citrus zest, or dried currants.
- This bread has a short shelf-life—it's meant to be enjoyed quickly. Serve this bread plain or toasted with lots of butter or jam. It'll be gobbled up by your hungry fans.
Don't just take my word for it...
"So easy and so good, everyone loved it. I will make this again and again. Thank you, Aunt Lizzie!" — Anonymous
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My simple Irish Soda Bread recipe is below. And here are more Irish dishes to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. Sláinte!
💬 Did you make and devour this recipe? Leave a comment below.
📖 Recipe
Irish Soda Bread Recipe
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Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (plus extra for dusting a work surface)
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon caraway seed
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup raisins
- 1 cup buttermilk
Instructions
Combine the dry ingredients:
- Preheat the oven to 375° F. Line an 8-inch round baking pan, cast iron skillet, Dutch oven, or a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Place the 2 cups all-purpose flour, 3 tablespoons granulated sugar, 1½ teaspoons baking powder, ½ teaspoon caraway seed, ¼ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon baking soda in a large bowl and whisk to thoroughly combine.
- Add in the 1 cup raisins and toss to mix them into the flour mixture.
Add buttermilk to make the dough:
- Start with about ¾ cup of buttermilk and stir it into the dry mixture. If the mixture still seems dry and crumbly, add more buttermilk until it comes together into a soft and sticky dough.
- Sprinkle a work surface with flour. Turn the dough out of the bowl onto the floured surface. With floured hands, knead just a few times until the stickiness is gone and the dough is smooth.
- Shape the dough into a rounded loaf. Place the loaf into the baking pan, cast iron skillet, Dutch oven, or on the baking sheet. Use a sharp knife to slash the top of the dough with a cross shape. And poke a hole into each corner, to let the fairies out.
- If you have any buttermilk left, you can brush some over the top of the bread.
Bake:
- Bake the loaf for 10 minutes. THEN, then reduce the heat to 350° F.
- Continue to bake the loaf for 35-40 minutes more. The finished loaf will be browned and sound hollow when tapped.
- Remove the bread from the oven, and turn it out of the pan onto a cooling rack. Let it cool for about 20 minutes before slicing.
- This bread is the most delicious served on the day it is baked. Spread slices with Irish butter or with jam.
- The cooled bread can be wrapped and stored at room temperature for 3-4 additional days.
Notes
- Caraway seeds and raisins are traditional ingredients, and part of my family recipe. You can also omit these and try other mix-ins like cinnamon, citrus zest, or dried currants.
Nutrition
Anonymous says
So easy and so good everyone loved it, I will make this again and again. Thank you Aunt Lizzie!
Nancy Mock says
That's wonderful to hear, I'm so happy you liked Aunt Lizzie's soda bread. Thank you for trying the recipe! Sláinte!
N. Caperton says
Love this easy SODA BREAD RECIPE—top of the morning to you! Made these Irish eyes shine💚💚🍀☘️🍀It will be perfect with the corned beef and cabbage. Thanks to you and Aunt Lizzie—luck of the IRISH TO YOU!🍀💚
Nancy Mock says
And luck of the Irish to you, too! ☘️ Your comment brought a big smile to my face this St. Patrick's Day. Thank you for baking up my Irish soda bread!
Faye Laterza Ricci says
Try it it only comes along once a year
Nancy Mock says
Exactly! Though we really should bring it out more often. It's a tasty little bread ????????