Making the Perfect Irish Soda Bread

In my quest to make the perfect Irish soda bread, I have tested a variety of recipes and learned a number of lessons along the way. This is the story of my experience, as well as the recipe I finally created. My family loves it, and I hope yours will, too!

A Little Backstory

My maternal grandmother, Mary Margaret “Maura” Mcgraw, was 100% Irish. Her ancestors, the McGraws and the Delaneys, came from the counties of Clare and Laois (formerly Queens County) during the mid-19th century. To say that my grandmother was proud of her Irish heritage would be an understatement.

That said, I don’t remember my Irish grandmother cooking much in the way of Irish food. Her fruit salad and “Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake” were staples at many family gatherings, but I honestly don’t recall a single loaf of soda bread ever emerging from her well-used oven.

Flash forward to the fall of 2020 when my family chose to participate in the 21-Day Family History Experiment (no longer available). Our focus was to learn about our shared Irish heritage, including the history, language, music, and FOOD of Ireland. We enjoyed spending time together listening to music, watching historic videos, and doing other activities… until it came to the food.

When I asked my family which Irish recipe(s) they would like to try, I received the usual blank stares and shrugged shoulders that accompany any conversation about food.

Me: “Corned beef and cabbage?”
Them: “Eeewww, no.”
Me: “Shephard’s Pie?”
Them: “Ugh.”
Me: “Potatoes???”
Them: “Meh.”

(At this point, I was considering scrapping the food in favor of Irish Coffee, but since it really wasn’t a “family-friendly” recipe, I kept looking.)

We finally agreed on Irish Soda Bread, so I set out to find the perfect recipe… which turned out to be a bit more difficult than I expected.

Irish Soda Bread… Easier Said Than Done?

Soda bread is known for being “quick” and “easy.” In fact, those two words are repeated in recipe after recipe, but I’m here to tell you that they’re not entirely accurate.

Quick? Yes. Easy? Not so much.

Maybe it’s the weather where I live – or maybe it’s just me – but I’ve found making soda bread to be an incredibly frustrating experience. My first soda bread was almost as flat as a pancake. My second was so tough and chewy that it went straight into the trash. Another recent attempt rose a bit… but stuck to the baking sheet as if its life depended on remaining there forever (my husband got to clean that one).

What I Learned

I began experimenting with a variety of soda bread recipes. I obviously couldn’t do anything about the weather, but I could play around with the ingredients a bit (getting the ratio of dry to wet ingredients right was the first step). After much trial and error (mostly error), I eventually wound up with a soda bread recipe that my teenage daughter actually said she liked.¹Those of you with teenagers know what a high compliment this is, especially coming from the teen who hates all forms of food that aren’t breaded or from a box.

It wasn’t “easy” or “quick”, and I will share with you what I learned along the way.

The Dry

The type of flour you use – and the quantity of it – is important to the flavor of the bread. I’m slightly allergic to wheat flour so that one came off the list right away. Specialty flours aren’t easy to find these days, or in my area, so I decided to stick to good old all-purpose flour. My family likes their bread to be more cake-like, so the lighter flour serves that purpose. If you prefer a coarser soda bread, then feel free to swap out the all-purpose flour for something more substantial.

To add a bit of texture, I also like to throw in 1/4 to 1/2 cup of rolled oats, if I have them on hand.

The Wet

Buttermilk seems to be the liquid of choice in nearly every soda bread recipe. Back when my Irish ancestors were making soda bread, buttermilk was the liquid that remained after making butter. Today, most commercially-sold buttermilk is simply fermented milk.²For more about buttermilk, see “What Is Buttermilk,” Food Network, https://www.foodnetwork.com/how-to/packages/food-network-essentials/what-is-buttermilk.

My family hates buttermilk, and I’m always trying to stay away from fats, so I used a low-fat version that was 1.5% milk fat. (Did that make a difference to the bread? Maybe, but I’m reluctant to try regular buttermilk to find out.) You can use whatever you prefer.

If you don’t have any buttermilk on hand, you can make your own by souring regular milk with a bit of lemon juice or white vinegar. According to Food Network, “The substitute for 1 cup of buttermilk is 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar in a liquid measuring cup, and enough milk to fill it to the 1-cup line. Stir and let the mixture sit for 5 to 10 minutes at room temperature. It will curdle slightly, thicken and be ready to use.” Get the step-by-step recipe here.

I’ve also read that soda bread is an ideal destination for milk that has already soured. Despite the fact that we almost always have some of that in our refrigerator (my daughter is the only one in the family who drinks milk), I haven’t been brave enough to try it. Yet.

Rise, Ye Stubborn Bread

Just like my Irish grandmother, soda bread can be a bit stubborn, especially when it comes to rising. Without yeast, soda bread needs a leavening agent, and as the name suggests, that agent is baking soda.

Most of the recipes I tried called for 1 teaspoon of baking soda, the flattest soda bread I made actually called for 3 teaspoons… and an egg (which was no help at all). The latter also had an odd taste to it, so I decided to cut back to just 1 teaspoon of baking soda.

After a bit of research and a few more flat loaves of soda bread, I eventually decided to throw in a teaspoon of baking powder. Yes, I know… baking powder doesn’t belong in SODA bread. But the outcome was totally worth it. The bread rose to about 2 inches high (in the middle) and had a bit of a cake texture to it. What can I say? My family likes cake!

Adding Flavor

I’ll be blunt: my family hates nearly every sort of flavoring called for in nearly every soda recipe I looked at. Currants, raisins, craisins, candied fruits… all were quickly vetoed by the family. I was able to sneak in a dash of cardamom, which adds a subtle hint of cinnamon-y flavor without being overpowering.

One recipe I tried called for honey and molasses to add sweetness. The honey is a nice touch, but the molasses gave the bread a slightly bitter taste. With molasses, less is more, and about 1/2 teaspoon seems to do the trick (though, my molasses-loving husband would prefer more). I decided to keep both of those ingredients in my recipe.

Putting It All Together

The most important thing to remember when mixing your wet and dry ingredients together is do not overmix. Seriously, there is no need to knead; in fact, kneading the bread will cause it to become tough, which is the biggest mistake I made with my first batch of soda bread. You really only need to make the dry ingredients wet all the way through… and then stop.

Handling the dough is a trick in itself. The addition of honey and molasses makes the dough very, very sticky. So sticky that most of it will stick to your hands. You can try flouring your hands – or utensils – before handling, but I really didn’t find that to be of much help. If you do manage to get the dough into a ball, be sure to cut a cross of about 1/2″ deep into the top to help it cook all the way through.

There seems to be quite a bit of discrepancy in what sort of pan or pot to cook soda bread in. Most recipes call for the dough to be formed into a ball on a baking sheet, while some other recipes call for a loaf pan or cake tin. My mother-in-law bakes her soda bread in a round glass Pyrex, but I haven’t tried that yet.

I haven’t had good luck with the baking sheet method (especially when the dry-to-wet ingredient ratio has been off), but I’ve had success with using a 9″ round cake tin. I actually found a cast-iron griddle (like this one) that I didn’t know I had (probably my paternal grandmother’s) in my cupboard last night, so I’ll be trying that out next!

Regardless of what you choose to bake your soda bread in, be sure that you grease it well. I mistakenly thought a non-stick baking sheet would be fine by itself (boy, was I wrong), but the result was a disaster. To be honest, I’ve had the best success using a greased AND floured pan; the bread just slides off when it’s finished!

If you don’t like a “crusty” crust, you may want to bake your soda bread under a cake tin or casserole dish. I like my bread crusty, so I prefer the method of brushing with melted butter before letting the bread cool. It softens the crust a tad and gives it a nice buttery flavor.

Wrap Up

Soda bread doesn’t keep well, so you’ll want to eat it quickly. The crust tends to get soft and the taste turns a bit sour after a couple of days. I haven’t tried freezing soda bread because my family typically demolishes the entire loaf within a day!

I don’t expect you to obsess over the perfect soda bread recipe as I have, but if you’ve found a tasty recipe, I would love to hear about it in the comments.

P.S. The shamrocks in the featured image came from my grandmother’s plant, which I inherited after she passed. She always claimed the original plant was carried to the U.S. from Ireland by her sister.

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Footnotes

• 1
  Those of you with teenagers know what a high compliment this is, especially coming from the teen who hates all forms of food that aren’t breaded or from a box.
• 2
  For more about buttermilk, see “What Is Buttermilk,” Food Network, https://www.foodnetwork.com/how-to/packages/food-network-essentials/what-is-buttermilk.

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