Irish Soda Bread
This is bread for the days when you need it today. Soda and buttermilk do the work of yeast, and since the reaction starts at once, the dough is neither kneaded nor left to rise — it goes straight into the oven. The deep cross on top isn’t decoration: it lets heat into the middle of a loaf that would otherwise stay damp.
- Prep
- 15 min
- Cook
- 45 min
- Rest
- 30 min
- Total
- 1 h 30 min
- Servings
- 10
- Level
- Easy
- Per serving
- 210 kcal
Ingredients
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What to use instead
Soured milk, kefir or plain milk with a spoon of lemon juice all work in place of buttermilk.
Makes: a loaf of about 800 g
Shopping list
The ingredients for the servings you chose — copy them or send them to a messenger. Tick what you already have at home: only the rest goes on the list.
Method
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Step 1: Heat the oven
Put the oven on at 200°C in advance: the dough must meet a hot oven or the soda is wasted.
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Step 2: Mix the dry ingredients
Combine both flours with the soda and salt and whisk well so the soda is evenly distributed.
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Step 3: Add the buttermilk
Stir the honey into the buttermilk and pour it into the flour. Mix with a spoon for barely 30 seconds, to a wet, sticky dough.
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Step 4: Shape the loaf
Tip the dough onto a floured surface and gather it into a round in two or three movements. Don't knead — kneading makes this bread dense and rubbery.
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Step 5: Cut the cross
Move the loaf to a tray and cut a deep cross with a sharp knife, 2 cm down, almost to the base.
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Step 6: Bake
Bake for 45 minutes at 200°C. The loaf is ready when the base sounds hollow as you tap it.
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Step 7: Cool
Cool the loaf on a rack for at least 30 minutes: hot soda bread is still damp inside.
Tips & variations
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Tip
The dough should stay wet and tacky. The urge to add more flour is strong, and it is exactly what dries the loaf out.
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Variation
A handful of seeds, walnuts or raisins turns this into breakfast with butter and honey.
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Swap
Soured milk, kefir or plain milk with a spoon of lemon juice all work in place of buttermilk.
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Storage
Best on the day it is baked; toast the slices the next day.
Nutrition
| 1 serving | Whole dish 10 servings | |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 210 kcal | 2,100 kcal |
| Protein | 7 g | 70 g |
| Fat | 3 g | 30 g |
| Carbohydrates | 39 g | 390 g |
Approximate values calculated from standard ingredient data.
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