Traditional Irish Soda Bread Recipe
Irish soda bread is the perfect no-yeast bread recipe! When you need a bread recipe without yeast, try this traditional Irish soda bread recipe. It's a quick and easy bread recipe you'll reach for again and again.
Servings: 1 Loaf
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 3/4 cup buttermilk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease a cast iron skillet or baking sheet with butter or coconut oil.
- In a large mixing bowl, stir together flour, salt, and baking soda.
- Make a well in the center of the flour mixture, and pour in the buttermilk. Mix the dough with a spoon or your hands until the dough comes together in a crumbly, sticky ball. Add more buttermilk if it seems too dry.
- Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, shaping it into a ball. Don't knead it too much. Just form it into a ball.
- Place the ball of dough into the greased cast iron skillet or onto the baking sheet you prepared earlier. Press the dough, flattening it a bit with the palm of your hand, into a 1" thick round. Make an "x" in the top of the dough (about 1/2" deep) with a sharp knife.
- Place the skillet or baking sheet into the oven and bake for 30-40 minutes or until crust is browned. Tap the bottom of the bread to see if it's done. It should sound hollow when lightly tapped.
- Remove from oven. Let bread cool on a cooling rack before slicing.
Notes
If you don't have buttermilk, you can make your own. Add 1 Tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice to a liquid measuring cup. Then add regular milk until it reaches the 1 3/4 line. Mix the acid and milk together, and then let sit for 5 minutes. It will then be ready to use.
I substitute whole wheat flour for the all-purpose flour. It's a bit of an inexact science, but you just need to add a bit more milk to keep the dough from being too dry.