Irish Soda Bread

Irish soda bread is quick, easy and comes together in just 1 hour. Make it sweet, plain or savory- the choice is yours!

Alright folks. First off, I just want to say, this is NOT a traditional recipe for Irish soda bread.

What is traditional Irish soda bread?

A quick bread made from the most basic of ingredients: flour, baking soda (instead of yeast), sour milk, and salt. Before baking, a cross was cut on the top to ward off the devil and protect the household. Because of it’s perishable nature, it was generally eaten within 2-3 days.

This recipe contains more than four ingredients. If you’re looking for a classic recipe, you may want to try this one. My version is like the soda bread you find in restaurants and stores nowadays. It’s slightly sweeter with a soft texture.

Irish soda bread is made with all-purpose flour, however, you can swap out a cup of all-purpose for rye flour. This is especially good when using caraway seeds.

As far as add-ins or mix-ins go, there are three options:

1. Sweet: with additional sugar in the loaf and on top, as well as raisins/currants and orange zest.
2. Savory: rye plus caraway seeds.
3. Plain: just a simple loaf.

You can also get really non-traditional and mix in Irish cheddar and chopped chives. It’s totally up to you!