Irish Soda Bread

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Preparing Irish Soda Bread

As I mentioned, this Irish Soda Bread recipe is super easy to make.  You don’t have to be a bread baker to make it.  

Make sure to sift your dry ingredients into the bowl to start, then make a “well” in the middle of the dry ingredients.

Add in the raisins, then the buttermilk and mix to combine.  The dough is sticky.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board, and knead about 10 times.  Don’t over knead. 

Form into a circle and place it in a parchment-lined cake pan.   Score an “X” in the top with a knife, and bake.

Crunchy on the outside and dense and soft in the middle.  Slather it with butter, add jam or honey if you desire.  It’s amazing toasted, too!

Simple Buttermilk Substitute

This soda bread recipe calls for buttermilk.  I don’t know about you, but I don’t keep it on hand. 

I use it in a handful of recipes, but not enough to warrant me buying a quart of it.  So, I make my own Buttermilk Substitute. 

Cake Flour Substitute

My Irish Soda Bread recipe also calls for cake flour.  Again, if you don’t find yourself using lots of cake flour, it may go bad before you actually get to use it.  So make your own!

In the notes of the printable recipe card below, I have added the substitution ratios of all-purpose flour to corn starch to make your own cake flour, if you don’t have any on hand.

I have oodles of St. Patrick’s Day Recipes as well as Bread Recipes here on my blog, stay a while and give them a browse, won’t you?

Let’s get to this quick and simple Irish Soda Bread with Raisins recipe! You’ll be noshing on warm bread in just over an hour! 

Continue to Content

Yield: 1 loaf bread

Irish Soda Bread

Print

Traditional Irish Soda Bread, dotted with raisins.  Slightly sweet, crunchy on the outside and dense and soft on the inside.  Makes a terrific accompaniment to your favorite soups, stews, and St. Patrick's Day meals!

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour 5 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 3 cups sifted cake flour *
• 3 Tablespoons of sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup raisins, regular or golden are fine
• 1 1/3 cup of buttermilk **

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9-inch cake pan with parchment paper.
2. Sift all of the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl.  Form a "well" in the center of the flour mixture.
3. Add raisins and buttermilk, and combine. The dough is STICKY.
4. Turn dough onto a lightly floured board and knead about 10 times. Don’t over knead.
5. Form dough into a circle, and place in prepared pan. Score an “X” in the top with a knife.
6. Bake 60-65 minutes.
7. Cool slightly before slicing.

Notes

* If you don't have cake flour, you can substitute all-purpose flour by removing 6 Tablespoons of flour from the 3 cups, and adding in 6 Tablespoons of corn starch for this recipe.

** If you don't have buttermilk on hand, make your own using whole milk and either lemon juice or vinegar. Buttermilk Substitute Recipe.

Bread WILL NOT KEEP for long. Consume bread within 1-2 days.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

12 slices

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 186Total Fat: 1gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 1mgSodium: 303mgCarbohydrates: 41gFiber: 1gSugar: 12gProtein: 4g

Nutrition isn't guaranteed accurate.

This post was originally published in March of 2013 and was updated in March of 2020 to upgrade user experience.  Recipe from Green Eggs and Spam.

If you make this recipe, I’d love to know! Snap a picture, share the photo on social media with the hashtag #AnAffairFromTheHeart – I’d love to see what you made! – Michaela