Since the month of March has finally begun, we can officially resume the St. Patrick's Day recipes extravaganza! I'm SUPER excited about this next one because it's ridiculously easy, festive, and oh so delicious. Without further ado, straight from the Emerald Isle, Irish soda bread!
During our trip to Scotland and Ireland, I ate my weight in soup and bread (and drank my weight in tea, whiskey, scotch, and Guinness but that's besides the point).
What was my favorite bread? I'll give you three guesses.
Irish👏🏻 soda👏🏻bread. Hands down the best soup accompaniment during our trip. It's a dense bread with touch of sweet found in currants or raisins that uses baking soda instead of yeast. Upon our return home, I was so happy to find it's way easier to make than you think!
No yeast so no checking water temperatures, no proofing or waiting for rising dough. Mix, cut in butter, knead for literally 30 seconds and then bake in a cast iron skillet.
Voila!
Now you can absolutely bake this bread on a baking sheet or in any oven safe pan, even a pie dish will work. A cast iron skillet will just give it that perfect golden, crunchy crust.
PS. Stay tuned this week for my new Irish soda bread soup accompaniment 😁 . Scroll down for the recipe!
Irish Soda Bread
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 1 loaf 1x
Description
Quick and easy traditional bread recipe straight from Ireland, no yeast required! Use a cast iron skillet for that perfectly golden, crunchy crust.
Ingredients
- 4 cups unbleached, all purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons white sugar
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 large egg
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed and chilled
- 1 ¾ cup buttermilk, well shaken
- 1 cup dried currants or raisins
Get Recipe Ingredients
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Prepare a cast iron pan or baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, salt and baking soda.
- Add the cubed butter, and using either a pastry blender, two forks or a food processor, cut the butter into the mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs.
- Add currants and gently mix to combine.
- In a small bowl, whisk together egg and milk. Create a well in the center of the flour mixture. Gently fold together until incorporated and can be formed into a round ball shape.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. With lightly floured hands, knead for about 30 seconds, maintaining a round loaf shape. Place the dough onto the prepared pan. Score an X on the top of the dough.
- Bake for 45 minutes until golden brown and center is cooked through. Cover with foil if it gets too brown.
- Remove from oven and let cool on wire rack for 10 minutes. Serve warm with a pat of butter.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
Pat walshe says
Great breadpaa
Valerie says
The best recipe for Fruit Soda Bread and I have quite a collection of recipes.