Irish Soda Bread

This artisan style Irish Soda Bread is a quick bread that relies on its leavening from baking soda activated by buttermilk instead of yeast. Bread has a tender crumb and a firm, crisp crust.

Course Bread

Cuisine Irish

Keyword Irish Soda Bread, Soda Bread, Quick Bread

My Island Bistro Kitchen Barbara99

Ingredients

4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2½ tsp baking power
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup cold butter, cubed into ½“ pieces
1 cup raisins or currants (optional)
1 large egg (cold)
1¾ cups cold buttermilk

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375°F.
Line a 9”- 10” cast iron skillet, cake pan, or baking sheet with parchment paper. Alternatively, a Dutch Oven may be used. See Note below for instructions re using a Dutch Oven for this bread.
In large bowl, sieve or sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together. Drop the cubes of butter into the dry ingredients and toss to coat the butter with the dry ingredients. Cut in the butter with a wire pastry cutter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs or pea-sized pieces. If using raisins or currants, stir them into the dry mixture. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients.
In a small bowl or large measuring cup, lightly whisk the egg then whisk in the buttermilk until combined with the egg. Pour liquid ingredients all at once into well in center of dry ingredients. Using a Danish dough whisk or a large wooden spoon, stir dough just enough that the liquid is absorbed into the dry ingredients. Dough will be soft and sticky and some floury spots may remain. Using a plastic dough scraper, gather up the dough and loosely form it into a ball in the mixing bowl.
Transfer dough to lightly floured work surface. With the palm of the hand, flatten out the dough into a rectangular shape and fold the dough in half over onto itself. Lightly press the dough down. Turn the dough a half turn and repeat the folding exercise. Do this 3-4 times in total. Without overhandling the dough, shape dough loosely into a circular shape, about 2“ – 2½“ high.
If desired, sieve a small amount of flour over top of loaf. Using a bread lame or sharp knife, cut an “X”, approximately 1/3” thick, on top of the loaf. Transfer dough to prepared baking pan. Bake for approximately 50 minutes, or until top of bread is tanned and cake tester inserted into center of bread comes out clean. If bread starts to darken too much before it is baked, loosely tent top of loaf with a piece of tinfoil.
Transfer bread to wire cooling rack. Bread may be served warm after it has cooled a bit or, alternatively, cooled to room temperature.

Recipe Notes

Yield: 1 loaf

NOTE: If using a porcelain enamel Dutch Oven, put it in the cold oven and let it heat up while the oven is preheating. Prior to placing Dutch Oven in oven, fit it with a piece of parchment paper sized to fit but remove the parchment paper while the oven is preheating. When it comes time to put the bread in the oven, put the bread on the parchment paper on a bread board, remove the Dutch Oven from the oven and quickly (and carefully) transfer the bread, parchment paper and all, into the Dutch Oven and immediately put it, uncovered, in the oven to bake.