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Traditional Irish Soda Bread is a type of quick bread that uses baking soda instead of yeast as a leavening agent. The ingredients used to make traditional Irish Soda Bread are flour, salt, baking soda, and buttermilk. You can also add raisins, egg, butter, or nuts, but I prefer it plain.....and served along side a bowl of Guinness Pot Roast.....
Or Beef Stew! In Ireland, Irish Soda Bread is typically made with a soft wheat flour, like a cake or pastry flour. In Lisa's crazy world, it gets made with whatever flour is on hand. 😉
Slice it up and slather with softened butter.....YUM!!! Due to several injuries to my hands over the years, I also cheated and used my stand mixer. 😉
how to make Traditional Irish Soda Bread:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat liner and set aside.
Place flour, salt, and baking soda in a large bowl, and whisk to combine.....
Add the buttermilk.....
and stir to combine. Traditionally this would be done with a wooden spoon, and then your hands, but I used a dough hook.....
Just be careful to not overwork the dough. The dough should be very soft, but not soggy. Place dough on a lightly floured surface and knead and mold into an 8-inch circle.....
and place on prepared baking sheet. Cut a "cross" in the top of the dough to ward off evil spirits.....or to let the fairies out, whichever you prefer.....
Place in preheated oven and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until golden brown and loaf sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.....
Place on a wire rack to cool slightly, and serve warm.
The buttermilk in the dough contains lactic acid, which reacts with the baking soda to form tiny bubbles of carbon dioxide. Do to a severe lactose intolerance, I use coconut milk {box} mixed with apple cider vinegar to create my own buttermilk.....
Which also makes my bread a bit more dense than usual, but it doesn't make me sick so that's a good trade off in my book. 😉
Note:
I ran out of all-purpose flour and had to substitute whole wheat flour to finish. That is another reason why my bread seems flatter than normal.
recipes that are perfect to serve with irish soda bread:
- Beef Stew with Guinness Biscuits
- Guinness Pot Roast
- Potato Leek Soup.
- Instant Pot Guinness Beef Chili
- Instant Pot Irish Beef Stew
Enjoy!!
Irish Soda Bread
Ingredients
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 3/4 cups buttermilk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or Silpat liner, set aside.
- Place flour, salt, and baking soda in a large bowl, whisk to combine.
- Pour in most of buttermilk, and stir to combine {or use a dough hook in a stand mixer}.
- Dough should be very soft, but not soggy. Add remaining buttermilk if too dry.
- Place on a lightly floured surface and knead briefly.
- Shape into an 8-inch circle and place on prepared baking sheet.
- Cut a cross in the top of loaf.
- Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes, until golden brown and the loaf sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.
- Place on wire rack to cool slightly. Serve warm with softened butter.
Cathy@LemonTreeDwelling says
I actually love a dense bread so this looks especially delicious to me!
Lisa Johnson says
Thank you Cathy. It's actually really good. 🙂
Winnie says
Wonderful and unique looking bread Lisa 🙂
I've never eaten Irish-soda bread and I would definitely looooooooooove to try!
Lisa Johnson says
Thank you so much Winnie. 🙂
Katelijn says
Great post. I like to make Irish Soda bread, visiting Ireland I fell in love with it. Here in Portugal we don't have buttermilk for hand, so I use the same vinegar method with regular milk. Depends on the occasion, but I love to add raisins to it sometimes. Ease quick and simple bread! Love it.
Lisa Johnson says
Thank you so much!! 🙂
marcie says
I love soda bread -- it's the easiest way to enjoy homemade bread! Pinned. 🙂
Jamie @ Love Bakes Good Cakes says
I love homemade bread of any kind! Looks delish, Lisa!
Jennifer says
Lovely! I've never made this before but I believe I'll give it a try. Thanks!
Lisa Johnson says
Thank you so much Jennifer. 🙂
Nadine says
This looks so tasty, I love soda bread.... Definitely will be trying this, thanks for sharing.
Lisa Johnson says
Thank you Nadine, I hope you enjoy it. 🙂
Mela says
Ooh. Just looking at this takes me back to family St. Patrick's days....
Jamie says
That looks delicious...and with no raisins, or whatever they usually put in. I love it!!
Lilly's Mom says
How can I thank you for sharing this great recipe! I'm allergic to dairy so I'm definitely going to try this with the almond milk. It's look so yummy and what a great idea to use whole wheat flour. Thanks again.
Kathie says
Hmm, I always thought that it is too difficult to make bread, however, it seems that it is not as difficult as it seems. Thanks for the recipe!
Lisa Johnson says
You're welcome Kathie. One of my goals is to show everyone how simple bread is to make, even yeast breads. Good luck. 🙂
kathleen jennings says
My mother made soda bread but I remember it being more moist than the recipes I have tried. Is there a way to do this?
Lisa Johnson says
Have you tried using cake flour instead of all-purpose? This is the recipe that I have always used, so I am not sure what the differences would be other than using a more traditional flour.