Irish Soda Bread

Irish Soda Bread

Irish Soda Bread has been a St Patrick’s Day treat in my family for as long as I can remember. It’s a quick bread that requires no yeast, instead it has all the leveling necessary from just buttermilk and baking soda. This recipe was handed down to my family from my grandmother to my Aunt Greta to my mother to me. It’s a family cherished recipe that is dense yet soft and yummy.

Ingredients:

1 ¾ cups buttermilk

1 large egg

4 ¼ cups all purpose flour plus a bit more for your hands and counter in order to kneed the dough

3 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

5 tablespoons butter cold and cubed

1 ½ cups raisins

 

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 400degrees F (240 C) There are many options for a baking pan, I prefer either a baking sheet lined with parchment, or a Dutch oven lined with parchment use a bit of sprayed veg oil on the parchment paper to ensure no sticking. Bake with the lid off the Dutch oven.

Whisk the buttermilk and egg together then set aside. In a bowl whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt together then cut the butter into the flour mixture with a pastry cutter. If you don’t have a pastry cutter use your fingers. Do your best to cut the butter into the flour until the butter looks to be pea-size crumbles. Stir in the raisins then pour in the buttermilk and egg mixture until completely incorporated. You can do this by folding the flour into the liquid until the dough is stiff then turn it out onto a floured countertop and kneed it with floured hands until it is worked into a ball. If the dough is sticky add a bit more flour to absorb the stickiness.

Transfer the dough ball to your Dutch oven or baking sheet and cut a cross into the top with a sharp knife. Place in oven and cook for approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour or until golden brown and the bottom sounds hollow when tapped. Another way to test to see if it’s cooked is to insert an instant thermometer that reads 195 degrees at the center of the loaf.

Remove from oven and allow the loaf to rest for about 15 minutes before cutting into it. Served warm is best with some honey butter or at room temperature with the same honey butter. 

This can be stored and covered for up to 2 days on the counter or in the fridge for a week. The best way to store it is either in a Ziploc bag or in an airtight container. Enjoy!

Elizabeth Kilbride is a Writer and Editor with forty years of experience in writing with 12 of those years in the online content sphere. Graduating with an Associate of Arts from Pheonix University, then a degree in Mass Communication and Cyber Analysis from Phoenix University, then on to Walden University for her Master's in Criminology with emphasis on Cybercrime and Identity Theft, and is currently studying for her Ph.D. degree in Criminology, her portfolio includes coverage of politics, current affairs, elections, history, and true crime. Elizabeth is also a gourmet cook, life coach, and avid artist in her spare time, proficient in watercolor, acrylic, pen and ink, Gouache, and pastels. As a political operative having worked on over 300 campaigns during her career, Elizabeth has turned many life events into books and movie scripts while using history to weave interesting storylines. She also runs 6 various blogs from art to life coaching, to food, to writing, and opinion or history pieces each week.