Bread,  Food,  Healthy

Irish Soda Bread

March 15, 2012 /

♣St. Patrick’s Day♣

It’s coming up! Do you all have something planned? I have a weekend planned out, but it is a surprise!!

Patrick’s birthday is the 19th of March, so this weekend I have something super exciting for him all planned out, but I can’t tell you all because then he would know! hehe

The plan is to blindfold him for our trip, so he doesn’t guess where we are going as I drive, and then have a fabulous weekend with all the events and food I have planned. Sounds like fun huh?

I don’t think he has a clue as to what I have planned out, which makes it all the more fun for me haha. I have been telling him silly things like “don’t forget your passport and pancho..” or,  “you know, you might want to bring your safety helmet and some flip flops”.

Poor guy, I am lucky he puts with my shenanigans! haha

Anyways, with the holiday coming up this weekend I wanted to make something traditional. What is more traditional than Irish Soda Bread?

I know I know, you all have seen like a bazillion Irish Soda Bread recipes this week. But to me Irish Soda Bread is kind of special. I remember having this bread when I was little at the dinner table. It was something I truly looked forward to having as a kid.

Have you ever had Irish Soda Bread? It is SO good! I know everyone gets worried that it will be hard, but if you eat it the same day it is made? Holy soft bread heaven. Put some butter and jam on it? There is nothing better.

I remember my mom making it and then grabbing a chuck with some butter as I ran out the door to go play with the kids on the neighborhood block. Those are the memories that make this recipe so special to me.

This recipe is comforting, traditional, and oh so good!

The recipe that I am sharing is from a cookbook called “Baking with Julia”. Yeup! Julia Child. I just love her. I remember watching her show on TV when I was little on the local PBS channel with my mom on Sunday mornings. She did so much for cooking on TV. Any show that is on the food network, cooking channel, etc…owes her a thank you for what she did for cooking on TV. Bravo Julia!

You’ll see that the bread recipe is very very simple, but I promise the outcome is so amazing. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

  • 4 Cups Flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 2 cups Buttermilk

Preheat oven to 375º. Make sure to position your rack in the middle of the oven.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. This way you don’t have to grease a pan. You can just put the dough right onto the sheet. Set this aside.

In a large bowl put together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir together with a fork until all ingredients are incorporated. Add the buttermilk and stir vigorously until the dough comes together.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface (keep some extra flour handy this dough is VERY sticky). Knead the dough gently for a minute. Do not knead too much! The dough should be soft and malleable.

Pat the dough into a disk about 6″ across and slash and X across the top of the dough. The X should be about 1/2″ deep. I know that seems a bit deep, but do it, you will see what it does when it bakes. Place the dough onto the baking sheet.

Bake the dough for about 50 minutes or until the dough is golden brown on top. Transfer it to a rack to cool for a few minutes and then slice. Serve warm.

Now, because of the low fat content in the bread it doesn’t last very long. Will be as hard as a blarney stone in 2 days so make sure if you make this you plan on eating all of it, or plan on throwing some out for your birds to enjoy ;-). I have found that if you put it away immediately after dinner (possibly while still a little warm), it will last about 2 days. That 3rd day though? Forget it!

This recipe is SO simple. No one can screw it up. The only thing that I recommend is that you do not use a mixer. Just use a fork and then your hands to get this dough where it needs to be. This will help ensure that you don’t overwork your dough.

I hope you enjoyed the recipe, I know it will definitely be one that I will be making for years and years to come!

♣Have a great St. Patty’s Day everyone♣

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48 Comments

  • Tina@flourtrader

    March 15, 2012 at 11:53 am

    Your soda bread does look fabulous. Funny that I have that cookbook, but your picture here has drawn me to the recipe. Not sure if the book has a picture or not. I have never made this type of bread before but it is time I did!
    Cool that you have an adventure planned for the weekend. I will be traveling with mom and sis to South Texas. I have been getting a little stir crazy here and am glad we are moving into spring weather! Happy St Pats day!

  • Jen

    March 15, 2012 at 12:16 pm

    Do you know that I’ve never had Irish soda bread? *gasp* I know!

    Yours looks delicious.

    Have fun this weekend, honey. Enjoy P’s birthday!

  • Ramona

    March 15, 2012 at 12:47 pm

    My hubby’s birthday is this week too… 🙂 Of course I don’t have the exciting weekend planned out for him that you have for your honey. 🙂 I hope you guys have a grand time celebrating. This soda bread looks like something even I could do. Wow! It looks great. 🙂

    • RavieNomNoms

      March 15, 2012 at 1:06 pm

      OH well happy birthday to yours as well Ramona! I hope you both have a wonderful time with it! I think we will have a good time celebrating. We are normally fun when we are together 😉

  • Conor Bofin

    March 15, 2012 at 5:44 pm

    As an Irishman, I used to live in fear of how the world viewed us, particularly on St. Patrick’s Day. having traveled a bit, I now realise that it is all good fun in most parts of the world and great promotion for our little country.
    Happy St. Patrick’s Day,
    Conor

    • RavieNomNoms

      March 16, 2012 at 8:26 am

      I would LOVE to go to Ireland someday. It is my top spot. It looks gorgeous and I have met a few Irishmen and they are just awesome. You won’t get anything but good words from me about Ireland.

  • Anita @ Hungry Couple

    March 15, 2012 at 7:40 pm

    I just made a loaf today but used a different recipe. Mine had a whole stick of butter in it! It would be interesting to try this one, too. I love when foods bring back happy childhood memories!

  • Becky

    March 15, 2012 at 9:50 pm

    I usually make Irish Soda Bread, but haven’t made it yet this year. I love your simple but yummy recipe. I’ve got get busy in the kitchen and make some;)

    Have a great weekend with Patrick! My birthday is March 20th!

  • Sara

    March 15, 2012 at 10:25 pm

    Tis ths season I guess–I just made some too, from Darina Allen’s cookbook. I put golden raisins in mine. It’s a nice change from “regular” yeast-risen bread.

  • Kristina

    March 16, 2012 at 9:31 am

    So I have never had Irish Soda Bread….or corned beef? haha umm can you tell I’m not a bit Irish?? I can do without the beef but I really want to try your bread recipe!! I love carbs in pretty much any form 🙂 And fresh bread is seriously the best, your pics look soooo good! And your bday plans sound adorable, I hope you end up needing the pancho and safety helmet… and maybe like a bow and arrow or something 🙂

    • RavieNomNoms

      March 16, 2012 at 9:38 am

      Haha! Kristina! That is so funny, I will have to tell Patrick that today. “You didn’t forget your bow and arrow did you?” hehe 😉

      You should definitely try it out! If you like bread, you would love this!

      • Kristina

        March 23, 2012 at 9:56 am

        hahaha well I hope you had a great weekend! Bow and arrow and hazard free 🙂

        Just wanted to drop by again and let you know I nominated you for the Versatile Blogger Award 🙂 Your posts are always so delicious and make me laugh!

        Have a great weekend!!

  • sprint2thetable

    March 16, 2012 at 11:49 am

    I’ve been reading these recipes all day trying to decide what to make, but I think this is the winner! I l love the simplicity.

    When I was in Ireland they told me we couldn’t replicate their bread in the US because we can’t get whatever special flour they use. have you ever heard that?

    • RavieNomNoms

      March 16, 2012 at 12:22 pm

      Oh I hope you do try it and like it! It is extremely simple!

      I haven’t heard that actually. I wonder what it is? I want to go to Ireland so bad! I bet it was amazing when you went!!

  • Tamara Temple (@tamouse)

    March 17, 2012 at 7:34 am

    (coming via FoodBuzz)

    I have been really wanting to start learning to do bread, but I’m a little put off because I don’t really know how it’s supposed to feel during kneading and such. Soda bread seems like a great place to start. You are right, I have seen so many Irish Soda Bread recipes!! But your’s seems pretty simple and a good place to start.

    Where do you get the pictures for your blog? Are these your own things? Because I just want to say, if so, you have a great eye for food photography (which I’m led to believe is actually pretty difficult to do well!).

    • RavieNomNoms

      March 17, 2012 at 8:18 am

      This would be a great bread to try! It is very very simple.

      And yes these pictures are my own. I try to get better and better at it, so thank you very much for your compliment that means a lot! 🙂

  • Helene (@MasalaHerb)

    March 17, 2012 at 11:43 am

    I have never head irish soda bread and I hadnt seen it yet online. The best foods are those which bring back fond memories, I guesse. 😉

    thanks for sharing, i hope to try your recipe soon!

  • krimkus

    March 17, 2012 at 9:35 pm

    My mother-in-law grew up in Dublin, but was never much of a cook, so soda bread was never on the menu. My daughter and I tried to make it once without success. We’ll have to try your recipe and see if we can do better.

  • Javita Coffee Company

    March 17, 2012 at 10:25 pm

    I have been wanting to try making soda bread for a while but haven’t yet. I will definitely be using this recipe! What do you normally do with this bread? I see it with butter but is it good with jam or other things with it?

  • Kelly

    March 18, 2012 at 8:34 pm

    That does it! This is the second DE.lightful Irish soda bread I’ve encountered this evening – I’m taking it as an absolute sign that I must give this a try ;-). Lovely post and a very happy (though belated) St-Patty’s to you too!