Irish soda bread is a quick-bread made with baking soda instead of yeast. Easy and flavorful! This is the recipe perfected by my mom that we’ve enjoyed every Saint Patrick’s Day for years. But we like it so much that when we’re all at her house for the holidays, it’s fairly common for her to whip up a soda bread for our breakfast. When the kids were little, she put Christmas sprinkles on the top.
Ingredients
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 cups raisins
1 teaspoon baking soda
1-1/2 teaspoon double-acting baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 cup buttermilk
Directions
- Preheat oven to 400F. If raisins are dry, pour boiling water over them & let stand for 5 minutes; drain. In a large bowl, sift flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt & sugar. Cut in butter until mixture looks like coarse crumbs. Add buttermilk and mix well. Stir in raisins, mix well. Knead a few times on a floured board, shape into a ball. Place on a greased pie plate & cut a shallow cross in the top. Bake for 15 minutes at 400F, then reduce heat to 375F & bake for 40 more minutes. Remove from pie plate; cool. Slice after the bread is cooled. Cut into wedges or slices & serve with butter or jam.
Notes
- Mom says: “Mimi, this is the best recipe for soda bread. You should add it to your website. I found it on the web but made some changes in it. Love, Mom”. I can tell you from past experience that when Mom makes changes to a recipe, it approaches perfection. Try her scones too!