Name: Irish Soda Bread
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 1 h 5 min
Total time: 1 h 20 min
Yield: 8
Cuisine: Irish
Ingredients: 3½ cups all-purpose flour; ⅔ cup granulated sugar; 1 tablespoon baking powder; 1 teaspoon baking soda; 1 teaspoon kosher salt; 1 cup raisins; 2 large eggs, lightly beaten; 1 cup buttermilk; 2 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted

Grab the raisins and get baking! This recipe for Irish soda bread makes a loaf-style bread that’s easy to cut and a favorite to enjoy.

Irish soda bread is a slightly sweet bread that’s dotted with raisins and absolutely delightful served with a pat of butter. Sometimes it also includes caraway seeds, but I am not a fan of those so they are never included in the one I make.

What about you?

Speaking of the loaf I make, I’ve been baking one recipe for years and years. Once you find one you love, you should hold onto it and that’s precisely what I’ve done. And it’s not just me who loves it. My son does too, looking forward to the loaf or two I make each year.

My chosen recipe comes from years ago when I wrote a food column for the Bangor Daily News in Maine. Caldwell House Bed and Breakfast in Salisbury Mills, New York, sent me their secret recipe for Irish soda bread. I wrote about it at the time, making some small adaptations to work in my kitchen. And I’ve made it every year since.

This recipe for Irish soda bread is baked in a loaf pan, which makes it so easy to make, cut and enjoy. Seriously, I don’t know why more people don’t bake this bread in a loaf pan. Dotted with raisins and enriched with buttermilk, it’s lightly sweetened and just the right amount of moistness. Serve it with corned beef and cabbage or buttered for breakfast. Either way, it’s delightful. Leftovers can also be toasted to make croutons for salad (delicious!). It’s also delicious served with the Irish stew Dublin Coddle, bangers and mash and other Irish specialties.

This really is the only recipe for Irish soda bread that I make. And I hope you’ll make it to and love it. Let me know if you do.

Irish Soda Bread

Yield: 8 servings

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour 5 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes

This recipe for Irish soda bread is adapted slightly from one shared with me by the Caldwell House Bed and Breakfast. It's the loaf I make every single year now.

Ingredients

3½ cups all-purpose flour
⅔ cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup raisins
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted

Instructions

Heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a bread loaf pan all over the inside with a little butter or cooking oil spray.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt and raisins. Stir with a spoon.
Add the eggs, buttermilk and melted butter to the bowl. With the stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, knead the dough until smooth and sticky about X minutes.
Transfer the dough to the prepared pan and bake for 60-65 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool slightly before serving with butter.