Traditional Irish Soda Bread is quick to make, 4 ingredients, no yeast needed, no kneading required. What could be easier?
If you can stir you can make this bread! I love Irish Soda Bread! I tend to think of it for breakfast with butter and jam but it is actually very neutral so you can use it wherever you like.
It is dense like a rustic yeast bread with a crispy crust. It makes great sandwich bread for a hearty sandwich, goes well with soups and stews and even is great for dips! It is completely neutral, dense and chewy!
This recipe makes a small loaf, about 8 thin but dense and chewy slices. If you want a more traditional size loaf -double the recipe.
In these days of panic buying I am finding yeast a bit hit or miss to source. Luck would have it the jar I keep in the fridge was getting low but I did not get it replenished before the panic buying set in.
I now hope that my shopping trip scores at least a few packets.
Enter Irish Soda Bread - no yeast require! Baking soda, which most of us have on hand in ample quantities will do the work of the yeast.
And - it is fast, no kneading or rising! you just stir all the ingredients together and bake!
The one tricky part might be the buttermilk. But - don't stop reading! You can make your own buttermilk in 10 minutes by acidifying regular milk with white vinegar or lemon juice. I have written the recipe as though you are going to make your buttermilk. I prefer vinegar as the acid because I find the lemon juice can leave a bit of flavour. That might ok for muffins or other quick breads but I don't want lemon in my soda bread.
In fact- I almost never buy buttermilk. Recipes usually on need 1 cup or so. I would have to be more organized to make several recipes for breads, pancakes, loaves or soups to use up the entire quart.
So I make my own. Check out How to Make Buttermilk in 10 minutes!
So here is a good way not to let the empty shelves or hit-and-miss ingredients stop you from enjoying your carbs!
I only wanted to make a small loaf because I am trying to stretch my flour until I know I have more in the pantry. I want to make Naan and maybe English muffins as well.
So if you are feeding a lot of people or love soda bread you can easily double this recipe, which will make a more traditional loaf size.
Traditional Irish Soda Bread
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 13 Tbsps milk (equals ¾ cup +1 tablespoon or milk)
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar or lemon juice
Instructions
- Grease and coat a 6" round baking dish with flour. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- Mix milk and vinegar in a cup and allow to sit at room temperature for 10 minutes. It will thicken slightly and take on a slightly curdled appearance.
- Mix flour, salt and baking soda in a bowl. Stir in the milk mixture. It will be a shaggy dough.
- Use your hands to turn the dough into a ball. Dough will still be shaggy but no noticeable dry flour. Shape into a disc shape.
- Transfer disc to your baking dish. Score a deep X in the crown of the dough disc. Bake 25 minutes covered. Remove cover and bake a further 10 minutes.
- Allow to cool. Slice and serve.
- Note: This recipe makes a small loaf. To double for a more traditional size loaf, double the ingredients and prepare an 8" round oven dish. Bake 25-30 minutes covered and 10 minutes more uncovered.
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