This quick and easy-to-make Irish soda bread recipe is made with unbleached all-purpose flour and buttermilk, and is flavored with caraway seeds and currants. It will become a household favorite.
What is Irish Soda Bread?
I’ll be honest, I don’t have a long standing history with Irish soda bread. It wasn’t until my Mom took the Genealogy test that I discovered we are part Irish. I thought I was almost pure German, but apparently I am Irish too – who knew?
So with that news I decided to research the favorite foods of the Irish and soda bread was among the top. What exactly is it? Well, it’s a quick bread that uses baking soda as the leavening agent. There is no yeast in this bread, therefore there is no proofing time. It’s a delicious bread that comes together in about an hour. It has a texture and taste of scones. It’s lovely.
Our Twist on Irish Soda Bread
The most common way to make soda bread is with raisins. There are literally hundreds of food blogs with the same Irish soda bread recipe. We wanted to change things up a bit, so we decided to use dried currants and some Irish whiskey. And oh boy was this ever good!
It is sweetened with honey and orange zest. There is no additional white sugar or eggs in this recipe.
How to Make Irish Soda Bread
- Soak the dried currants in the whiskey – set aside.
- Combine the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Then slowly add VERY COLD cubed butter until it is all incorporated.
- Add the rest of the ingredients and turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead into a round loaf. Since there is no yeast in this recipe, once the dough is shaped it is ready to be baked.
- Simply make some cross hatch marks on the bread and bake.
TIPS FOR MAKING THE BEST SODA BREAD
- The dough will be sticky when you turn it out. Just dust your hands and the counter with some flour to knead it into shape.
- The cold ingredients can stay cold, especially the butter.
- Make sure to score the bread with a big X before baking. This allows the bread to steam and cook in the middle.
- The best vessel for this bread I have found is a Dutch oven. I simply love mine.
- Do not substitute the buttermilk.
What to have with your soda bread?
This bread can be enjoyed with our Ultimate Beef Stew with Guinness or
it can be enjoyed with some Irish coffee of course!
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Irish Soda Bread
Description
A twist on the classic Irish soda bread with caraway seeds, dried currants and Irish Whiskey. You’ll never go back.
Ingredients
- 4 Cups Unbleached Flour
- 1 Tbsp Baking powder
- 1 teaspoon Baking soda
- 1 teaspoon Sea salt
- 4 Tbsp cold, unsalted butter, cut into pieces
- 1 ½ teaspoons Caraway seeds
- 1 cup Dried currants
- 2 teaspoons Finely grated orange zest
- ⅓ Cup Honey
- 1 ½ Cups Buttermilk
- ¼ Cup Irish whiskey
- Flour for kneading
Instructions
- Preheat an oven to 350° F.
- Soak the currants in a small bowl with the whiskey.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix on low speed until incorporated, then raise the speed to medium and add the butter, a piece or two at a time, until all of the butter has been incorporated and the mixture is crumbly. This will take 4-5 minutes.
- Add the buttermilk, caraway seeds, honey, orange zest, currants and whiskey. Mix until just combined.
- Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and knead a few times to a round loaf shape and transfer it to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Make a cross hatch design on top of the loaf with a knife and sprinkle with a bit of flour.
- Bake for about 45 minutes, or until the loaf is set and sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.
- Cool the bread on a wire rack.
Made this tonight and it was fabulous, thank you for the great recipe
★★★★★
YAY! Thanks Kathy. I know the ingredients on this are a little unusual. I’m so glad you gave this a try!
This looks amazing. I’m going to make it