Celebrate St. Patrick's Day with a slice of rustic Irish Soda Bread with raisins. This bread is a no-yeast bread and is so quick to make - it has no rising time! It is sweetened with raisins and a touch of sugar.
Jump straight to the recipe!
☘️A no-yeast bread
Irish soda bread gets it's name because it has baking soda in it, instead of yeast. This makes a very quick and easy bread to make - there's no rising time!
This bread has a golden brown crust and a dense, but light, crumb. Irish soda bread will go wonderfully with savoury dinners, or you could serve it with butter or jam. The raisins are optional, but I prefer it with them. They help add a bit more sweetness to the bread.
If you want to learn how to bake with yeast, you can have a look at my baking with yeast guide. I recommend my dinner roll recipe to go with any dinner. Or some overnight cinnamon rolls for brunch the next day.
🥘Ingredients
Ingredient notes
- Buttermilk - For an easy substitute, add 1 tablespoon and 2 ¼ teaspoons of lemon juice or vinegar into a measuring cup. Fill up to 1 ¾ cup mark with milk. Stir and let sit for 5 minutes.
- Raisins - these are optional, but I prefer the bread with them in.
🔪Instructions
Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda and salt together in a large bowl. Cut the butter cubes into the dry ingredients using a pastry cutter, fork, or your hands. The butter should be the size of peas with some larger chunks when done.
Measure the buttermilk into a measuring cup. Add egg and orange zest, and whisk to combine. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Mix with a rubber spatula until four is incorporated.
Tip the dough onto a floured bench. Gently knead it until it comes together. Gently knead in some raisins. You may leave these out if you prefer.
Transfer the loaf to a parchment lined baking sheet and, using a sharp knife, cut an "x" in the top. This helps the heat get to the center of the loaf. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until the center looks done. The loaf will be 200°F in the center when done.
For more step by step instructions, view the web story for Irish soda bread.
✔️Expert Tips
- Don't overwork the dough. You want to knead it very gently until it just comes together.
- The dough will be sticky so use flour on your hands to easily shape it.
- Score the top of the bread with an "X" shape. This helps the center of the bread bake through.
💭FAQs
You can freeze the baked and cooled bread for up to 3 months. Freeze the whole loaf, or individual slices. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight, if thawing whole loaf. Slices will thaw at room temperature in a few hours.
You can use currants or cranberries, or leave them out if you don't want a sweet bread.
You may have added in too much flour or your baking soda was too old. Knead gently to avoid chewy gluten from forming. Always knead until it just comes together.
Taking too long with kneading the dough can also play a part. Baking soda starts reacting and releasing gas as soon as it comes into contact with buttermilk. We don't want the gas to escape before it's baked.
📖Related recipes
📋 Recipe
Irish Soda Bread with Orange Butter
Ingredients
- 4½ cups all purpose flour + more for dusting raisins and for bench flour
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup unsalted butter cold, cut into ½ inch cubes
- 1 cup raisins
- 1 ¾ cup buttermilk cold
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Whisk 4 ¼ cups of the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt together in a large bowl. Cut in the butter using a pastry cutter, a knife or your hands.
- Use a measuring cup to measure out the buttermilk. Whisk in the egg and orange zest.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Stir the dough with a rubber spatula and add in the remaining ¼ flour, a bit at a time, until the dough is not too sticky.
- Tip the dough onto a floured surface. With floured hands, knead the dough a few times until it just stays together. Combine the raisins with 1 tablespoon of flour and then knead them into the dough.
- Gently form the dough into a round and place it onto the prepared baking sheet. Use a very sharp knife and score an "x" onto the top of the loaf.
- Bake until the loaf is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 45-50 minutes. The loaf will be 200°F when done. If the loaf is browning too much, place some aluminum foil on top.
- The Irish soda bread will last up to 2 days at room temperature wrapped with aluminum foil. It will last for a week in the refrigerator.
Notes
- For an easy buttermilk substitute, add 1 tablespoon and 2 ¼ teaspoons of lemon juice or vinegar into a measuring cup. Fill up to 1 ¾ cup mark with milk. Stir and let sit for 5 minutes. Use
- Don't overwork the dough. You want to knead it very gently until it just comes together.
- The dough will be sticky so use flour on your hands to easily shape it.
- Score the top of the bread with an "X" shape. This helps the center of the bread bake through.
Did you try this recipe? Comment below to let me know ☺️