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.
Use a sharp knife to score the top of the dough into an "X" shape about an inch deep. This is to help heat get into the dough as it bakes. Transfer the skillet to the preheated oven and bake for 35 to 45 minutes. To check if the bread is done, when you tap the bottom of the bread it should sound hollow.
Note that the dough will be a little sticky, and quite shaggy (a little like a shortcake biscuit dough). You want to work it just enough so the flour is just moistened and the dough just barely comes together. Shaggy is good. If you over-work the dough the bread will end up tough.
It's important to remember no to overmix your ingredients. 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.
Reasons for an improperly leavened loaf include: You used too little sodium bicarbonate. This translates into too little CO2. Your baking soda was too old.
Chances are good that the bread you ate suffered from one of three common problems: improper amount of baking soda (a gross, salty-bitter taste), over cooking (a dry, chalky texture), or undercooking (a soggy, doughy center).
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.
Soda bread gets its name from baking soda, which, added in the right amount, creates levity without the use and wait of yeast. (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.
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 ...
On this side of the Atlantic, what we call "Irish soda bread" is more rich and sweet, usually studded with raisins and caraway seeds. These cakey, scone-like loaves often include eggs and butter for tenderness and more flavor.
Make sure you are using the correct amount of baking soda in the recipe. Too much or too little can result in a crumbly loaf. It's also possible that your oven wasn't hot enough when you baked the bread.
For this reason, the reality is that Irish soda bread is much closer to a quick bread or scone than a loaf of bread. It rises thanks to a process called chemical leavening, in which the baking soda (a base) reacts when it's mixed with something acidic like buttermilk to produce carbon dioxide.
The Southern Irish regions bake their loaves in a classic round fashion and cut a cross on top of the bread. This was done for superstitious reasons, as families believed a cross on top of the bread would let the fairies out or ward off evil and protect the household.
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. Let the bread cool.
Whole-wheat soda bread is a healthy addition to your plate! One serving—a 1/2-inch-thick slice—provides complex carbohydrates for sustained energy, protein, fiber, and vitamins and minerals.
Remember the golden rule. You can undercook bread but you can't really overcook it unless you have a mind to. Remove from the oven when you are happy the loaves sound hollow and are cooked all through. Place on trivet to cool.
If your Irish soda bread is too crumbly, it may be because you overmixed the dough. Another possibility is that your baking soda was expired and should be replaced. Make sure you are using the correct amount of baking soda in the recipe. Too much or too little can result in a crumbly loaf.
Irish soda bread is an easy quick bread that has a soft, dense interior with a perfect crusty exterior. It pairs well with a nice hearty meal or as a side to a traditional Irish celebration. Keep or skip the raisins - your choice!
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Introduction: My name is Msgr. Benton Quitzon, I am a comfortable, charming, thankful, happy, adventurous, handsome, precious person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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