Easy Irish Soda Bread
Our Easy Irish Soda Bread is incredibly flavorful and simple to make. This recipe will make 2 loaves of Irish Soda Bread and bake in less than an hour. It’s a cross between a cake and bread. Each slice is filled with a delicious combination of raisins and bits of chocolate throughout, giving this Irish soda bread a delightful flavor and subtle sweetness.
Try something new this St. Patrick’s Day and enjoy this tasteful bread that goes perfectly with a cup of coffee or a glass of milk. It happens to be our favorite breakfast treat this time of year.
Who doesn’t love Irish Soda Bread?
We love the month of March. It’s the month when the weather begins to warm up and we see the first wonderful signs of spring.
We also get to celebrate St. Patty’s Day, St. Joseph’s Day, and my birthday with delicious treats. 🙂
Every year, we enjoy making our favorite treats, our St. Patrick’s day green chocolate bark, and Italian cream puffs for St. Joseph. And we can’t forget our boozy frozen grasshopper.
Today, I’m excited to share this Easy Irish Soda Bread recipe.
This bread is so delicious, you won’t need to add any butter or jam. It’s that good.
Best of all? There’s no downtime, no kneading, and no waiting to rise.
Just blend all the ingredients with a good whisk, divide the batter into 2 baking pans, and bake for 45 to 55 minutes.
It’s that easy!
How To Make This Easy IRISH SODA BREAD?
(*full recipe card below!)
Ingredients Needed for this recipe…
- 1 + 1/2 cups (337.5 grams) of buttermilk – at room temperature
- 3 whole eggs – at room temperature
- 1 + 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 4 cups (480 grams) of all-purpose flour
- 1 + 1/4 cups (251 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 cup (113 grams, 1 stick) unsalted butter – sliced into pieces
- 1 + 1/2 cups (225 grams) raisins
- 1/4 cup (40 grams) mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
- with powdered sugar, for dusting
Directions with 5 Simple Steps to whip up this Easy Irish Soda Bread:
1. First, in a small bowl, whisk all the liquid ingredients: buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla extract.
2. Second, blend all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Then cut the butter into the flour, the same way we do when we make a pie crust or make our crumble bars. You can do this with either a fork, your hands, or a pastry cutter.
QUICK NOTE: I prefer to use my hands and get the butter evenly incorporated into the flour, making the flour very soft and crumbly.
3. Stir in the raisins and mini chocolate chips.
4. Next, gradually pour the liquid into the large mixing bowl and whisk until all the dry ingredients are well incorporated.
QUICK NOTE: I switched over from a whisk to a large wooden spoon when the mixture became too heavy to whisk any further.
The dough will be very soft, sticky, and pliable.
5. Spoon and divide the mixture into two round baking pans. Spoon the mixture into the center of the pans. Do not spread it.
5. Spoon and divide the mixture into two round baking pans. Spoon the mixture into the center of the pans. Do not spread it. Bake until the crust is brown and when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Yields: 16 to 24 servings
Baking Notes and Tips…
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No need for any fancy equipment, just a good whisk, along with a large wooden spoon will do.
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This recipe yields 2 loaves of bread.
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It’s important to whisk the egg mixture into the flour mixture as best as you can. Then use a large wooden spoon to help you finish incorporating all the flour into the dough.
The dough will be very thick, soft, and sticky.
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I used two 8-inch baking pans. But if you use smaller pans, like 7-inch round pans, they will bake higher.
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These finished loaves of Irish soda bread are often dusted with powdered sugar.
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As always, all ovens vary. The best way to know if they are fully baked is when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
How to Store Irish Soda Bread?
- This bread will stay fresh for up to 3 to 4 days if you store it tightly wrapped with clear wrap or in a zip-lock plastic bag, or air-tight container.
- It freezes well for up to 1 month.
With a few ingredients on hand, you can whip up this easy Irish soda bread as a quick option for a delicious breakfast the whole family will enjoy!
It’s even terrific as an afternoon snack with some coffee or tea.
Give it a try … and enjoy!!
Finally, a few more delicious bread recipes for you…
Yield: 2 loaves of bread
Easy Irish Soda Bread
Easy Irish Soda Bread is a delicious bread that's incredibly simple and bakes in less than an hour. It's a cross between a cake and bread. Each slice is filled with a flavorful combination of raisins and bits of chocolate throughout, making this Irish soda bread a terrific treat!
Prep Time
15 minutes
Cook Time
50 minutes
Total Time
1 hour 5 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 + 1/2 cups (337.5 grams) of buttermilk - at room temperature
- 3 whole eggs - at room temperature
- 1 + 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 4 cups (480 grams) of all-purpose flour
- 1 + 1/4 cups (251 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 cup (113 grams, 1 stick) unsalted butter - sliced into pieces
- 1 + 1/2 cups (225 grams) raisins
- 1/4 cup (40 grams) mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
- with powdered sugar, for dusting
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177C). Rearrange your racks in the oven to make sure there is one in the center.
- Lightly spray two 8-inch round baking pans with cooking spray and dust them with some flour, and set them aside.
- In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, vanilla extract, and three eggs. Set aside.
- Next, in a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon, baking soda, and baking powder.
- Cut the butter into pieces and with a pastry cutter or with your hands work the butter into the flour mixture until the flour is nice and crumbly soft.
- Stir in the raisins and mini chocolate chips and blend to combine.
- Slowly pour the buttermilk mixture into the flour mixture and whisk as you work to combine it all. Then use a large wooden spoon to help blend it evenly. The dough mixture will be very soft and sticky.
- Divide the batter evenly into the two prepared round baking pans. Do not spread it. The bread will rise as it bakes. Place both pans on the center rack in your preheated oven.
- BAKE for 45 to 55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Allow the loaves of bread to cool in their pans for 10 minutes. Then remove from pans, and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Dust with powdered sugar on top.
- yields: 2 loaves
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
16 servingsServing Size:
1 servingAmount Per Serving: Calories: 303Total Fat: 8.1gCarbohydrates: 50.2gFiber: 1.7gSugar: 23gProtein: 5.5g
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| Nutrition Facts | |
|---|---|
| Serving size: 1 serving | |
| Servings: 20 | |
| Amount per serving | |
| Calories | 231 |
| % Daily Value* | |
| Total Fat 6.4g | 8% |
| Saturated Fat 3.7g | 19% |
| Cholesterol 38mg | 13% |
| Sodium 244mg | 11% |
| Total Carbohydrate 40.1g | 15% |
| Dietary Fiber 1.2g | 4% |
| Total Sugars 18.6g | |
| Protein 4.6g | |
| Vitamin D 5mcg | 27% |
| Calcium 51mg | 4% |
| Iron 2mg | 9% |
| Potassium 180mg | 4% |
| *The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calorie a day is used for general nutrition advice. |
I’ve yet to taste Irish Soda Bread! Your recipe sounds wonderful and almost cake-like. March is a wonderful month! Although we could still get snow here in the north, the days are getting longer and soon it will be daylight savings time! My birthday is this month also! 🙂
So nice to hear from you, Susan! Thank you so much. You’ll have to try this recipe! This recipe for Irish Soda bread is truly delicious. I gifted one loaf to a friend, and my family finished the other in just two days. It was that good. It’s been so cold here in the South as well, and we’re so looking forward to it warming up as well.
So glad to hear we both celebrate our birthdays in March! How nice! Cheers to you and me, and Happy Birthday! 🙂
This looks like a simple and delicious recipe for Irish Soda Bread. I bookmarked to try for St. Pat’s Day.
Thank you for book marking our recipe Bernadette. Welcome to our blog, it’s so nice to meet you! Looking forward to seeing what you’re cooking in the kitchen. Have a great weekend!