Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

This Irish Soda Bread recipe has raisins (or currants) and optional caraway seeds; this round quick bread is easy to make in your cast iron skillet, baked in the oven. Enjoy it for St. Patrick’s Day or any time of the year.

Irish Soda Bread
How to Make Irish Soda Bread
- What Version of Irish Soda Bread is this?
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Irish Soda Bread

Hi Everyone, how was everyone’s St. Patrick’s Day? I have another St. Patrick’s Day, Irish-American recipe to share: Irish Soda Bread.

Irish Soda Bread was the first quick bread that I made on my own when I was a child. We had it every year at my paternal grandparent’s house around this time of year.

I remember being fascinated by how Irish Soda Bread is pretty similar to yeast bread, yet it is a quick bread.

There’s no rising time to deal with which is makes it easy to make in under an hour.

I have an interesting tidbit for you. I recently assisted a Kathleen Sanderson cooking class at the Farm Cooking School and she said that in Ireland they would not put raisins in the soda bread and if they were, they would call it, “spotted dog,” indicating that it’s a fancy sort of bread.

I always knew that the raisins in the soda bread were definitely an American thing, for American tastes but I never knew about the “spotted” dog name.

RELATED: The Farm Cooking School and Roots to River Farm at Gravity Hill (November, 29th, 2018) and Roots to River Farm CSA (March 7th, 2019)

To add the caraway seeds or to not add the caraway seeds? – that is the question!

I’m making the caraway seeds optional in this particular recipe.

Why?

Because I feel that it is a totally different taste with versus without the caraway seeds.

My husband Eric does not like them (they are similar in taste to fennel or anise) – although he will eat Irish Soda Bread with caraway seeds begrudgingly if it’s around and there’s nothing else to snack on.

I personally LOVE the floral, more subtle, and variate taste that they offer to the bread. It’s one of those personal preference things.

Did you see my last Irish-American-themed recipe, Corned Beef, and Cabbage?

Ingredients

4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading
1 tablespoon granulated white sugar
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 cup raisins (or the same amount of currants)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 3/4 cups buttermilk
1-3 tablespoons caraway seeds (optional, amount to taste)

Kitchen Tools

large cast-iron skillet
mixing bowls
baking spatula
parchment paper (optional)

How to Make Irish Soda Bread

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
In a large mixing bowl, add the flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda.
Add the butter pieces and using a pastry cutter, cut the butter into the flour. The texture should be coarse.
Add the raisins.
Make a well in the center, and add the beaten egg and the buttermilk.
Using a stiff baking spatula or wooden spoon, mix the dough until just combined.
Knead the dough until it forms a rough ball. Use more flour if the dough is too sticky. Make sure not to over-knead.
Put the ball of dough in a cast-iron skillet. To avoid the bread sticking to the bottom of the pan, you can use parchment paper to line the skillet. If your pan is well seasoned, you may not need the parchment paper.
Score an “X” on the top of the dough ball.
Bake for 35-40 minutes.
When the bread is done, test it with a skewer, knife, or toothpick, when inserted, it should come out clean.
Slice, and serve with jam and/or butter, if you wish, and enjoy!

What Version of Irish Soda Bread is this?

I love that this Irish Soda Bread is not overly sweet.

I am sure a more “dessert” Irish Soda Bread could be made and that would be an interesting recipe to develop for me, but this version is more of a traditional, Irish-American, version, typical of what I would have had growing up in New England, in Massachusetts, in the Greater Boston Area.

I would also like to share a plain soda bread recipe, that’s more typical of what you would find in Ireland, luckily, I have plenty of family and friends that would know about this, so I will have to pick their brains about it and report back.

Irish Soda Bread reminds me of my paternal grandmother, I am looking forward to sharing more of these Irish-American recipes 🙂

If you try this Irish Soda Bread recipe and love it, please rate it and share it in the comments below.

Thank you for reading and following along!

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Irish Soda Bread

Name: Irish Soda Bread
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 55 min
Yield: 1
Cuisine: Irish-American
Ingredients: 4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading; 1 tablespoon granulated white sugar; 1 teaspoon Kosher salt; 1 teaspoon baking soda; 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces; 1 cup raisins (or the same amount currants); 1 large egg, lightly beaten; 1 3/4 cups buttermilk; 1-3 tablespoons caraway seeds (optional, amount to taste)

Yield: 1 loaf

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Total Time: 55 minutes

This Irish Soda Bread recipe has raisins (or currants) and optional caraway seeds; this round quick bread easy to make in your cast iron skillet, baked in the oven. Enjoy it for St. Patrick’s Day or any time of the year.

Ingredients

4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading
1 tablespoon granulated white sugar
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 cup raisins (or the same amount currants)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 3/4 cups buttermilk
1-3 tablespoons caraway seeds (optional, amount to taste)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
In a large mixing bowl, add the flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda.
Add the butter pieces and using a pastry cutter, cut the butter into the flour. The texture should be coarse.
Add the raisins.
Make a well in the center, add the beaten egg and the buttermilk.
Using a stiff baking spatula or wooden spoon, mix the dough until just combined.
Knead the dough until it forms a rough ball. Use more flour if the dough is too sticky. Make sure not to over-knead.
Put the ball of dough in a cast-iron skillet. To avoid the bread sticking to the bottom of the pan, you can use parchment paper to line the skillet. If your pan is well seasoned, you may not need the parchment paper.
Score an "X" on the top of the dough ball.
Bake for 35-40 minutes.
When the bread is done, test with a skewer, knife, or toothpick, when inserted, it should come out clean.
Slice, serve with jam and/ butter, if you wish, enjoy!

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Nutrition Information:

Yield: 11 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 100Total Fat: 5gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 30mgSodium: 81mgCarbohydrates: 11gFiber: 0gSugar: 2gProtein: 3g

Please note that the Calculated Nutrition is an estimate at best.

This Irish Soda Bread recipe post was first published on 3/18/2019
Updated & republished on 3/10/2020, 3/16/2021, 3/14/2022, & 3/11/2023

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Sara Maniez

Owner at Life's Little Sweets

Sara is an architectural designer turned work-at-home Mom. She lives in New Jersey by way of New England and New York, with her husband and 3 kids under 8. She loves design, being creative, and spending time with family and friends. She loves checking out local businesses and eats and being apart of the local farm to table community.

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Irish Soda Bread

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Irish Soda Bread