Traditional Irish Soda Bread (Easy No-Knead, No-Yeast Bread)
Traditional Irish soda bread only requires 4 ingredients and is perfect for even the beginner bread maker. There is no yeast and no kneading required here. Add the amazing taste of buttermilk, and you have an easy bread that everyone will love.
Prep Time10 minutesmins
Cook Time45 minutesmins
Total Time55 minutesmins
Course: Bread Recipes, Quick Bread Recipes, St. Patrick's Day
Preheat your oven to 425°F (218°C) and grease a 8 inch cake pan or line a baking sheet with parchment paper. *I prefer to use a set of the 2" deep cake pans, grease the bottom cake pan and use the second as a lid to simulate the bastible that Irish Soda Bread was originally baked in.
In a large mixing bowl, sift the 4 cups all-purpose flour and add the 1 ½ teaspoon baking soda and 1 teaspoon salt. Stir to mix with the flour, then make a well in the center of your dry ingredients. Add the 1 ¾ cup buttermilk and stir until a sticky dough is formed (even though the dough is sticky, it may be in pieces (see video)).
4 cups all-purpose flour, 1 ½ teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 ¾ cup buttermilk
Turn the sticky dough out onto a lightly floured surface, flour your hands and knead the dough gently (to prevent the gas from escaping). Bring the dough together and shape into a 1 ½ - 2 inch tall disc shape to fit into your 8 inch cake pan (this should be roughly the same size if you are baking on a baking sheet).
Use a sharp knife to score a cross on the top of the dough (to bless the bread), then poke each of the four corners (traditionally done to allow the fairies to escape, otherwise they will jinx the bread).
Cover the cake pan with the second cake pan and bake at 425°F (218°C) for 30 minutes, then remove the top cake pan and finish baking for an additional 15 minutes. The bread will have a hollow sound when tapped on the bottom crust.
Turn the baked soda bread out of the cake pan and allow to cool on a wire cooling rack. Break the bread loaf in half and cut into thick slices (or serve as 4-8 torn wedges) to be buttered.
Video
Notes
Irish Soda Bread was originally baked in a Bastible, which is very similar to a Dutch Oven. However, baking soda bread in our Dutch Oven will give the bottom of our loaf a rounded appearance. Instead, we are using a pair of cake pans to simulate the Bastible, and keep a nice flat bottom crust on our white soda bread.
Cover the bread with a tea towel and mist with a spray bottle to keep your bread moist.
Once your Traditional Irish Soda Bread is day old, it is perfect for making our Irish Soda Bread Pudding!