Irish Soda Bread

It appears everyone has their favorite Irish soda bread recipe. Some with caraway seeds, some with raisins, some with both, some with neither.

The essential ingredients in a traditional Irish soda bread are flour, baking soda, salt, and buttermilk. The acid in buttermilk reacts with the base of the baking soda to provide the bread’s leavening.

This soda bread is a slightly fancied up Americanized version of the Irish classic, with a little butter, sugar, an egg, and some currants or raisins added to the base. You can bake it in a cast iron frying pan (now that’s traditional!) or an a regular baking sheet.

You can also make a simpler version without eggs or currants, but with some caraway seeds, or you could turn your soda bread dough into biscuits.

Soda bread dries out quickly so is only good for a day or two. It is best eaten freshly baked and warm or toasted.

Updated from the archives, first posted 2007.

Irish Soda Bread Recipe

Ingredients

• 4 to 4 1/2 cups flour
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 4 Tbsp butter
• 1 cup currants or raisins
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1 3/4 cups buttermilk

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