4-Ingredient Irish Soda Quick Bread
This 4-ingredient Irish Soda Bread is an authentic recipe with the versatility of adding lots of mix-ins to appeal to any savory or sweet desires. This traditional Irish Soda Bread has the texture and flavor of a southern American biscuit. The loaf is in the shape of a 4-leaf clover perfect for St. Patrick's Day or any day requiring a tasty, quick bread for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. This recipe is an adaptation from https://bakingamoment.com/irish-soda-bread/.
Servings: 16
Ingredients
- 4 cups all-purpose flour cake flour, pastry flour, or White Lily all-purpose is preferred for a lighter bread*
- ¾ tsp salt
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1¼-2 cups buttermilk full-fat is preferred for a richer bread*
Optional Mix-ins (not to be used all at once)
- ½-1 cup Irish Sharp Cheddar Cheese, shredded or any cheese
- 1-2 tsp dried herbs chives, rosemary, or thyme
- 1 head roasted garlic, separated from skins and mashed
- 1 small onion, sliced and caramelized
- ½ cup dried fruit, chopped raisins, currants, dates, etc.
- ½-1 cup nuts, chopped pistachios or walnuts
- 2-3 tsp seeds caraway or shelled sunflower
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450˚F / 232˚C.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk flour, salt, and baking soda to disperse ingredients throughout.
- Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in 1¼ cups of buttermilk. Mix well with a spoon.
- Continue to mix using your hands and check the texture. If the dough is too dry, pour in another ¼ cup buttermilk. Continue to knead in the buttermilk and add another ¼ cup more, if needed. You should have a sticky dough; no flour left in the bowl.
- At this point, you can add / knead in additional mix-ins.
- Prepare a lightly floured surface with a little flour and scoop out the dough.
- Knead the dough only a few times to bring the dough together into a nice round shape. Careful not to overwork the dough; no gluten is being developed.
- Pat out the dough into 1½ inch thickness.
- Score the top of the dough into a criss-cross pattern ("x" shape) using a sharp floured knife. Then using your knife, add about 1-2 inch long slit on the top-center of each quarter to allow for steam to escape and the dough to rise.
- Place the round loaf on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, in a Dutch oven, or in a skillet.
- Bake the bread for 15 minutes at 450˚F / 232˚C.
- After 15 minutes, without opening the oven, set the temperature to 400˚F / 204˚C and bake for another 25 minutes.
- After 25 minutes, open the oven, turn the bread upside down and bake for another 5 minutes.
- Bread is done when the loaf is golden brown, crusty, and sounds hollow when tapped on the underside. A fail-safe method is to check the internal temperature using a thermometer which should read at least 190˚F / 88˚C.
- Eat immediately while hot and enjoy!
Video
Notes
*full-fat buttermilk is recommended and traditionally used in this bread
*if using low fat buttermilk, consider adding some sour cream or Greek yogurt to thicken it more like full-fat buttermilk
*Irish all-purpose flour is milled using a soft wheat while most all-purpose flour in America is milled using a hard wheat. Consider using either cake flour, pastry flour, or White Lily all-purpose flour as all three are lighter and will produce a lighter soda bread more like an Irish version than what a traditional American all-purpose flour would yield.
*Serve this bread with some Irish Salted Butter and jam for breakfast or a snack, with a brothy soup for lunch, or with corned beef and cabbage for dinner.