The Best Irish Soda Bread Recipe - The Recipe Critic (2024)

FAQs

Why didn t my Irish soda bread rise? ›

Reasons for an improperly leavened loaf include: You used too little sodium bicarbonate. This translates into too little CO2. Your baking soda was too old.

Make sure you are using the correct amount of baking soda in the recipe. Too much or too little can result in a crumbly loaf. It's also possible that your oven wasn't hot enough when you baked the bread.

Why does my Soda Bread not cook in the middle? The reason why your soda bread isn't cooking properly is very often that your oven isn't calibrated correctly. Check your oven or adjust your temperature with the next try until you get it right. Baking is as much an art as it is a science.

And finally, don't immediately cut into the Fast Irish Soda bread when you pull it out of the oven. Although this bread is best served warm, cutting into it too quickly will turn the bread gummy.

The Southern Irish regions bake their loaves in a classic round fashion and cut a cross on top of the bread. This was done for superstitious reasons, as families believed a cross on top of the bread would let the fairies out or ward off evil and protect the household.

If you leave it lying around, it loses its firepower = dense dough. 10 Knead Rule – Like all no yeast bread / muffin type recipes like Blueberry Muffins and Herb Garlic Quick Bread Loaf, the less you handle the dough, the softer the crumb. So don't knead more than 10 times!

Bake the bread for 50 minutes to 1 hour, or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean; the interior of the bread will measure 200°F to 210° on an instant-read thermometer. Remove the bread from the oven, loosen its edges, and after 5 minutes turn it out onto a rack to cool.

Note that the dough will be a little sticky, and quite shaggy (a little like a shortcake biscuit dough). You want to work it just enough so the flour is just moistened and the dough just barely comes together. Shaggy is good. If you over-work the dough the bread will end up tough.

Sweeter Soda Bread

On this side of the Atlantic, what we call "Irish soda bread" is more rich and sweet, usually studded with raisins and caraway seeds.

Soda bread gets its name from baking soda, which, added in the right amount, creates levity without the use and wait of yeast. (Some recipes call for yeast and kneading, but know this isn't required.) You don't have to wait hours or overnight for a rise, either.

Should you refrigerate Irish soda bread? ›

This delicious Traditional Irish Soda Bread is best stored at room temperature for up to 3 days. Or, place it in an airtight bag, and freeze them for up to 1 month.

Too much liquid added, or it hasn't been baked enough. It should go on the top shelf of the oven and it should be baked for at least 30-35 minutes.

Nutrition Notes

Whole-wheat soda bread is a healthy addition to your plate! One serving—a 1/2-inch-thick slice—provides complex carbohydrates for sustained energy, protein, fiber, and vitamins and minerals.

Serve a slice with a stew.

Traditionally, Irish soda bread is served with a slow-simmered beef and barley stew.

You might be overworking the dough.

By the time you get it in the oven, there is no spring left and it will be flat. Avoid a flat soda bread with a couple simple moves. Keep your mix time quick. Pour in the liquid ingredient, mix it enough to moisten the dry ingredients, shape it, and quickly get it in the oven.

But almost as good as a proofing box is taking a Mason jar filled halfway up with water, microwaving it for two minutes, then putting your bowl of dough into the microwave with the jar to rise. The other thing you can do is place your lidded container or bowl of dough into a second, larger bowl of warm water.

You don't have to wait hours or overnight for a rise, either. In fact, you don't even need to wait at all: Dough for Irish soda bread can go right into the oven after making. Given the short time to mix ingredients, you can have a warm loaf on the table in under an hour.