Your St. Patrick’s Day Feast Needs This Irish Soda Bread

By Jessie Oleson Moore

irish soda bread While your St. Patrick’s Day dinner of slow-cooked corned beef and cabbage sounds amazing, there’s one easy way to make it better: serving it alongside a dense loaf of Irish soda bread. The traditional loaf is usually unsweetened, but this recipe is proof a spoonful (or two) of sugar goes a long way in enhancing the flavor while keeping the bread moist. Here’s how to make it — and store it properly — so your holiday festivities go off without a hitch.

Irish Soda Bread

Yield: 1 approximately 9″ round loaf

Ingredients

  • 4½ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting work surface
  • 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 1½ teaspoons salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed
  • 1 cup raisins
  • 1 large egg, lightly beaten
  • 1¾ cups buttermilk

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 425º F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

2. In a large bowl, sift 4 cups of flour with the sugar, salt and baking soda. Work the butter into the flour, mixing only until it resembles a coarse meal that can be loosely clumped by hand.

3. Stir in the raisins.
Pro Tip: If your raisins are hard, soften them up by soaking them in a mixture of water and 2 tablespoons rum, brandy or vanilla extract. The alcohol or extract will improve the flavor, but you need to thoroughly drain and dry them before adding to the dough.

4. With the dough mixture still in the bowl, form a well in the center. Pour the beaten egg and buttermilk into the well and stir using a wooden spoon until the batter is combined. Take care not to over-mix — you just want everything evenly moist.

5. Dust a work surface and your hands with flour. Gently turn the dough onto the work surface and knead just enough so you can form it into a ball. (It should be slightly rough; don’t try to get it smooth and seamless.)
Pro Tip: If needed, you can work in the remaining ½ cup flour, in part or in whole, but only work in as much as you need to make the dough workable. It’s OK if it’s still slightly sticky.

6. Transfer the round of dough to a prepared baking sheet. If the dough alters shape while being transferred, re-work it into a round with a domed top.

7. Using a serrated knife, score the dough with an “x” shape across the top, about 1″ deep.

8. Bake until the bread is golden on the outside and has formed a firm crust, about 35–45 minutes.
Pro Tip: If your bread’s crust is browning too rapidly, tent a sheet of aluminum foil over the loaf. This will slow down the baking of the exterior so the interior can catch up.

Test by inserting a skewer or cake tester in the center of the loaf. If it comes out mostly clean, your bread is done.

Remove from the oven and let cool for several minutes before serving warm. This quick bread is best when served the same day it’s made, but will keep when well-wrapped at a cool room temperature for up to three days. You can also freeze it for up to a month.

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30 Responses to “Your St. Patrick’s Day Feast Needs This Irish Soda Bread”

  4. thumphrey16858320

    Can you bake this in a cast iron Dutch Oven and would that change the baking time?

    Reply
    • Customer Service

      Hi,Yes, you can bake the Irish Soda Bread in a cast iron pan – no problem.
      But because cast iron heats up so well – the bread may bake a little more quickly.
      I would check at 40 minutes – the range on the recipe is 35-40 minutes – 35 minutes feels
      too short but baking in cast iron – check the soda bread at the 40 minute mark.
      Happy Baking!
      Colette
      Craftsy

      Reply
  5. Julie

    I am Irish born and bred and would never put sugar in soda bread. If you cannot get buttermilk you can put a little lemon juice about a tablespoon in whole milk, this works well.
    Not very healthy but delicious, fry slices of soda bread and serve with bacon and eggs.

    Reply
    • Ann

      Julie, I just did mine with coconut oil and had it with cabbage and corned beef. 😋😋

      Reply
  6. Joy

    To check if it’s cooked lift up & tap on bottom. Should sound hollow. Too much sugar and the raisins turns this into a sweet bread. With savoury meal better left plain.

    Reply
  7. ANN BRUNNER

    FULL FAT BUTTERMILK IS HARD TO FIND, CAN LOW FAT OR FAT FREE BE USED?

    Reply
  10. Lazy K

    When you put raisins in Irish Soda bread it’s actually called Spotted Dick.

    Reply
    • Jean Stocks

      No, that’s not spotted dick. Spotted dick is a steamed pudding made with dried fruit and suet.

      Reply
      • Lazy K

        I’ve seen both the pudding and the bread called Spotted Dick. An Irish baker I follow calls the Soda Bread with raisins “Spotted Dick”

        Reply
      • Kay Charles

        Yes “Spotted dick” is a steamed rolled in a pudding cloth pudding and is so delicious with cream

        Reply
  11. Naiomi Turko

    Is there a gluten free option for this bread? I am Irish and would love to make this but I cannot have gluten.

    Reply
  13. Joanne

    I’m Irish and this is exactly how I make it. Great recipe, but it’s not an X it’s a Cross to bless the bread and give thanks!

    Reply
  14. Christina

    Hi,
    This looks super easy & yummy – just my type! I just got a multiple type bread machine I’d love to experiment with; is this recipe convertible to using a bread machine? It’s so easy, perhaps not, so just askin’. ;-)

    Reply
    • Deirdre Reid

      No, a bread machine with knead it. You really don’t knead soda bread, that will make it dense and hard. Just put it onto a floured surface and bring it together into the shape your want.

      Reply