Traditional Irish Soda Bread (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.

If your Irish soda bread is too crumbly, it may be because you overmixed the dough. Another possibility is that your baking soda was expired and should be replaced. Make sure you are using the correct amount of baking soda in the recipe. Too much or too little can result in a crumbly loaf.

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.

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.

How to Eat Irish Soda Bread. This versatile bread works for any meal, but Irish soda bread is a natural for breakfast, whether simply spread with (Irish) butter and jam or alongside that hearty fry-up known as a full Irish breakfast. It's also wonderful with a cup of tea in the afternoon or as a late-night snack.

Irish Soda Bread is a dense bread, similar to a scone, but can easily become dry if overmixed. Quickly add the wet ingredients to a well you've made in the dry ingredients, and mix with your hands or a dough hook until it just 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.

Irish Soda Bread Best warm and slathered in butter! Tends to stale quickly, within 24 hours. Keep wrapped in kitchen towel on counter and slice and freeze after 24 hours.

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.

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.

Should Irish soda bread dough be sticky? ›

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. Shaggy is good. If you over-work the dough the bread will end up tough.

Serving the Irish Soda Bread

Although soda bread is ideal for serving at room temperature, it is better to serve it warm.

Too much kneading will create a hard dense crumb on the bread. Rule of thumb with no yeast breads, the less kneading the softer the crumb. Score the bread. This is an important step to helping to ensure that the center is cooked.

The unique texture of soda bread is a result of the reaction between the acidic sour milk and baking soda, which formed small bubbles of carbon dioxide in the dough. The shape of soda bread is also steeped in tradition.

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 made with baking soda, not yeast. Like my easy no yeast bread, this is a shortcut bread that doesn't skimp on flavor. (If you want a yeast bread, I recommend my sandwich bread recipe!)

A soda bread defined in America

If you want to make an authentic Irish soda bread, the difference lies in what ingredients you should omit. According to Epicurious, Irish-American soda breads use caraway seeds and raisins in the recipe, while soda breads from Ireland lack both of these add-ins.