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

FAQs

Why is my Irish soda bread so dense? ›

It's called Irish Soda Bread because it's made with baking soda instead of yeast. Because of this, it's more dense than your everyday white sandwich bread.

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. Make sure to preheat your oven before baking Irish soda bread and don't open it frequently during the baking time.

If you make your dough too thick, you may end up with bread that looks great on the outside but is completely raw in the middle, like my attempt below. Also, I suggest using a sharp knife rather than a dough chopper like the one I bought.

You spent too much time kneading the dough. Baking soda starts to react and release its gas as soon as it comes into contact with the sour milk. Take too long and the gas will escape before the bread is baked. Kneading will also cause chewy gluten to form.

Barely any kneading is necessary, but if you overknead it, it makes for a pretty tough bread. Start by mixing the flour, baking soda, salt, and sugar together. Dice up the cold butter and cut it into the flour mixture with a pastry cutter or the tips of your fingers.

The oldest recipe for soda bread, widely syndicated from Ireland's Newry Times in 1836, says the dough was "as soft as could possibly be handled...the softer the better." Thirteen years and 180 miles down the road, the Waterford Times described it as "wetter than pie crust, too stiff to pour, but not stiff enough to ...

The most traditional doneness test calls for thumping the hot bread in the center to hear if it's hollow-sounding. A more foolproof indication is temperature; the loaf will register 200°F to 205°F when an instant-read thermometer is inserted in the center of the bread.

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.

Bake for approximately 35 minutes. Turn off the oven, remove the bread from the tray and wrap in a damp tea towel then return it to the warm oven to cool. This gives you a soft crust. If you like a hard crust then leave to cool on a rack with no damp tea towel.

If your dough is too sticky and it's impossible to work with you can add some extra flour, just a little at a time. Make sure you weigh the extra flour you add and then you'll be able to adjust the recipe correctly the next time you bake.

Should you refrigerate Irish soda bread? ›

How to Store. 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.

However, this bread is so easy to make, it's worth just making a fresh loaf in the morning or the night before. What's the best way to eat Irish soda bread? The slices are delicious simply spread with butter, jam, or marmalade. This bread can be toasted, too.

In my experience, one of the things that puts people off soda bread is the bitter tang of bicarbonate of soda, so it's important to get the balance right: just enough to raise the bread, but not enough to taint the flavour.

How to Eat Irish Soda Bread. This versatile bread works for any meal, but Irish soda bread is a natural for breakfast, whether simply spread with (Irish) butter and jam or alongside that hearty fry-up known as a full Irish breakfast. It's also wonderful with a cup of tea in the afternoon or as a late-night snack.

Irish soda bread is an easy quick bread that has a soft, dense interior with a perfect crusty exterior. It pairs well with a nice hearty meal or as a side to a traditional Irish celebration. Keep or skip the raisins - your choice!

Irish Soda Bread is a dense bread, similar to a scone, but can easily become dry if overmixed. Quickly add the wet ingredients to a well you've made in the dry ingredients, and mix with your hands or a dough hook until it just comes together.

Add Sugar

Adding sugar weakens the gluten structure, absorbs water, and eventually makes the bread lighter and softer. As a result, sugar improves the bread's taste, structure and texture. Yeast also eats up sugar to produce carbon dioxide, which raises the dough and makes bread fluffy.

Irish soda bread is simple to prepare bread that uses baking soda as a leavening agent to help it rise. It has few ingredients and bakes in under 45 minutes for an incredibly flavorful loaf. Soda bread typically is very dense and heavy, which will fill you up quickly.