Irish Soda Bread

4.80 from 5 votes

Bake a loaf of fresh crusty bread to serve with dinner tonight. This traditional Irish soda bread recipe is so good and it's easy to make.

Prep Time20

Cook Time40

Cooling Time10

Total Time1 10

Course: Breads & Muffins, Quick Breads

Cuisine: Irish

Diet: Vegetarian

Servings:

Preheat oven to 400ºF. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda.
4 cups all-purpose flour, 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, 1 teaspoon baking soda
Using your hands, knead in the butter until it resembles coarse crumbs. (You can also use a pastry cutter or fork.) Mix in raisins, if using.
4 tablespoons butter, softened, 1 cup raisins or currants
Add egg and buttermilk; mix well with a sturdy wooden spoon or a dough whisk.
1 large egg, lightly beaten, 1 ¾ cups buttermilk
When it becomes too difficult to stir, turn dough out onto a floured surface. It should look like a shaggy, sticky dough. Sprinkle the top of the dough lightly with flour. Knead lightly, just enough to bring dough together so that you can shape it. The dough should still be fairly sticky..
Form into a round loaf about 7 to 8 inches in diameter. Transfer to prepared pan. Using a sharp knife dipped in flour, score the top of the dough deeply with an X shape, roughly 5 inches, about ½ -inch deep.
Bake for 30 minutes and check bread. If the bread seems to be getting too brown, tent loosely with foil. Bake for 10 minutes more or until crust is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few crumbs.
Let cool for 5 to 10 minutes on baking sheet before placing on a cooling rack. Slice into wedges or slices. Soda bread is best served warm.

Make a buttermilk substitute: Put 2 tablespoons white vinegar in liquid measuring cup. Add milk to make 1¾ cup. Stir well; set aside for 5 minutes or until ready to use. We noticed that the dough was a little stickier when we used the buttermilk substitute, so you may need a bit more flour for kneading.
Whole wheat soda bread: Substitute whole wheat flour for half of the all-purpose flour.
Storage: Cool the bread completely before storing it a plastic bag or airtight container. I usually slice the entire loaf before storing it. Leftover bread can be stored at room temperature for a few days. It's really good toasted! To freeze, wrap the slices securely with plastic wrap, then with a layer of foil or freezer paper. It will keep for a few months.

Scan this QR code with your phone's camera to view this recipe on your mobile device.

*If you're viewing this on your phone, press and hold the QR code to open in your browser.