Irish Soda Bread

Irish Soda Bread is one of my favorite foods to have around March. I mean, there’s nothing quite like ringing it St. Patricks Day with some dense, chewy, buttered soda bread.

Can I make Irish Soda Bread without Buttermilk?

While most Irish Soda Breads require buttermilk, I have made this version with a buttermilk substitute (because sometimes I just want to make soda bread with what I have at home, dammit!).

To do that I just make a super easy substitute of whole milk and white vinegar!

So while this recipe requires 1 ¾ cups of buttermilk, to make the substitute you can use 1 ¾ cups whole milk with 1 ¾ tbs of white vinegar. Just add the vinegar to the milk and let it sit for about 10 minutes.

In an Irish mood? You should also try:

• Guinness Beef Stew

Irish Soda Bread Ingredients

One of the best things about Irish Soda Bread is that it’s one of the few yeast-less breads. So if you’re a little scared of yeast, or you just want an easy bread to begin your bread journey, this one’s perfect for you!

Flour: We’ll be using King Arthur All Purpose flour for this recipe.

Baking soda: It is soda bread, after all.

Sugar: I just use ¼ cup here. It brings just a touch of sweetness without being overpowering.

Salt: For flavor.

Butter: I use cold, unsalted butter.

Buttermilk: Our buttermilk substitute.

Egg: Just one to add richness.

Raisins: It wouldn’t be Irish Soda Bread without raisins!

Now this is everything I use, but if you’re a fan of caraway seeds you can use a tablespoon or two.

How to Make Irish Soda Bread

This dough comes together very quick, but it can be a little sticky! You’ll be fine, but just wanted to warn you upfront.

Step 1: Preheat the oven (& do some prep).

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and add a bit of parchment paper to a cast iron skillet. Set aside.

I also cut my cold butter into cubes and set that aside.

Step 2: Mix your dry ingredients.

Add the flour, salt, baking soda, and sugar to a bowl and whisk to combine. Now add the cold, cubed butter and cut it into the flour. This means you want to incorporate the cold butter by using a cutter or even a fork (or your fingers!) to make sure the butter mixes well into the flour. Now add the raisins and stir to combine.

Step 3: Add the wet ingredients.

Now add the buttermilk and egg. Use a spatula to combine everything, noticing that the dough may be a little sticky. This is NORMAL.

Step 4: Form your dough.

Now I like to switch to my hands and dump the dough onto a clean work surface. Using additional flour as needed, sprinkle some onto the dough (this will still be a bit sticky, this is OK!) and form the dough into a big ball as best as you can. Once you’ve made the ball, add it to the parchment paper-lined cast iron pan.

Step 5: Bake your bread.

Now, cut an ‘X’ into the top of the bread with a sharp knife and bake in the preheated oven for ~50-55 minutes. Remove and let sit for ~10 minutes before cutting.