Did you know that Irish Soda Bread is made without yeast? Irish Soda Bread rises because of baking soda, thus the name.
St. Patrick’s Day is coming up soon and all of us will embrace any Irish ancestry we can find in our lineage, even if we have to go back many generations to find it. My husband and I both have Irish ancestors. He comes from a noble line; my ancestors are Black Irish.
For us, St. Patrick’s Day is a day to pass on a little of our heritage as well as celebrate the life of St. Patrick.We read books about St. Patrick and read St. Patrick’s prayer at dinner. You can find aFree Printable St. Patrick’s Prayer here.
For dinner, we serve Corned Beef and Cabbage which is not a traditional Irish recipe, but it is a recipe that our Irish ancestors created and enjoyed after arriving in America.
This Irish Soda Bread recipe makes a lovely addition to Corned Beef and Cabbage, but it is so easy to make that it is a great bread recipe for whenever you want to quickly make bread without yeast.
Irish Soda Bread Recipe
Ingredients:
4 cups flour
4 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
4 Tbsp butter, cold
1 cup raisins
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1¾ cups buttermilk
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Line a sheet pan with parchment paper – alternatively, you can use a cast iron pan.
Mix the flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda in a large bowl.
With two knives or a paddle attachment on a stand mixer, cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the butter is mixed in well then mix in raisins.
Create a well in the mixture and pour in your egg and buttermilk. Stir the dry ingredients into the liquid slowly with a wooden spoon until it is solid enough to kneed.
Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and kneed together to form a ball, careful not to over-kneed the dough. The dough should remain somewhat shaggy looking. If you are using a sheet pan the more circular the better as the bread will spread out a bit while baking.
Transfer the dough to your sheet pan and use a large knife to cut an X into the dough about 1 inch deep.
Bake in the oven for 45-55 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. If you are using a cast iron pan it will most likely take 55 minutes as it takes longer to heat up than a baking sheet. The bread should sound hollow when tapped.
Remove to a cooling rack for 5 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Printable Recipe for Irish Soda Bread
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Irish Soda Bread Recipe
An easy Quick Bread recipe that does not require yeast to rise.
Line a sheet pan with parchment paper - alternatively, you can use a cast iron pan.
Mix the flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda in a large bowl.
With two knives or a paddle attachment on a stand mixer, cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the butter is mixed in well then mix in raisins.
Create a well in the mixture and pour in your egg and buttermilk. Stir the dry ingredients into the liquid slowly with a wooden spoon until it is solid enough to kneed.
Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and kneed together to form a ball, careful not to over-kneed the dough. The dough should remain somewhat shaggy looking. If you are using a sheet pan the more circular the better as the bread will spread out a bit while baking.
Transfer the dough to your sheet pan and use a large knife to cut an X into the dough about 1 inch deep.
Bake in the oven for 45-55 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. If you are using a cast iron pan it will most likely take 55 minutes as it takes longer to heat up than a baking sheet. The bread should sound hollow when tapped.
Remove to a cooling rack for 5 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.
How to Make Corned Beef and Cabbage in an Instant Pot or Pressure Cooker
Thanks to Elizabeth of Frugal Mom Eh! for sharing her recipe with me. This was originally published on February 21, 2016, and updated on March 14, 2021.
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.
Barely any kneading is necessary, but if you overknead it, it makes for a pretty tough bread. Start by mixing the flour, baking soda, salt, and sugar together. Dice up the cold butter and cut it into the flour mixture with a pastry cutter or the tips of your fingers.
Not preheating your oven long enough will mean thst it isn't hot enough to get a good rise. Make sure the oven is up to temperature before you begin mixing the dough. Using a baking stone for good bottom heat will help your bread rise, but it needs at least 45 minutes to soak up the heat of the oven.
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.
Your oven is too hot if it is uncooked in the center. Try lowering the temp on your oven by 25F and extending the bake time. Don't put anything on the top of the bread to aid in browning until the last few min. of cooking, and use an instant read thermometer (target temp to pull is 190F).
(Some recipes call for yeast and kneading, but know this isn't required.) You don't have to wait hours or overnight for a rise, either. In fact, you don't even need to wait at all: Dough for Irish soda bread can go right into the oven after making.
Irish Soda Bread is the easiest bread you'll make – no proofing or kneading required and the dough comes together in 5 minutes. Soda bread has a soft and tender crumb with a Biscuit-like texture.
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.
The oldest recipe for soda bread, widely syndicated from Ireland's Newry Times in 1836, says the dough was "as soft as could possibly be handled...the softer the better." Thirteen years and 180 miles down the road, the Waterford Times described it as "wetter than pie crust, too stiff to pour, but not stiff enough to ...
If the dough is too sticky, add a little more flour. Transfer the dough to the prepared skillet/pan. Using a very sharp knife or bread lame, score the dough with a slash or X about 1/2 inch deep.
Yeast is too cold If the other ingredients are too cold, it could cause some of the yeast to die. Was the dough kneaded properly? Dough may not have been kneaded enough. Kneading 'exercises' the gluten in the bread and gives it the elasticity to hold in the air bubbles produced by the yeast.
In my experience, one of the things that puts people off soda bread is the bitter tang of bicarbonate of soda, so it's important to get the balance right: just enough to raise the bread, but not enough to taint the flavour.
Bake the bread for 50 minutes to 1 hour, or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean; the interior of the bread will measure 200°F to 210° on an instant-read thermometer. Remove the bread from the oven, loosen its edges, and after 5 minutes turn it out onto a rack to cool.
Bake the bread for 50 minutes to 1 hour, or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean; the interior of the bread will measure 200°F to 210° on an instant-read thermometer. Remove the bread from the oven, loosen its edges, and after 5 minutes turn it out onto a rack to cool.
The oldest recipe for soda bread, widely syndicated from Ireland's Newry Times in 1836, says the dough was "as soft as could possibly be handled...the softer the better." Thirteen years and 180 miles down the road, the Waterford Times described it as "wetter than pie crust, too stiff to pour, but not stiff enough to ...
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.
Introduction: My name is Frankie Dare, I am a funny, beautiful, proud, fair, pleasant, cheerful, enthusiastic person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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