This isn’t the dark bread you see in every Dublin or Galway restaurant these days, but I swear it’s real Irish soda bread cooked just the way my late Irish grandma did. with butter, warm or cold. It freezes beautifully. For family gatherings or St. Patrick’s Day, I’ve baked multiple loaves. I defrost them the night before, then thaw them in a hot oven for 5 to 7 minutes before serving.
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 30 mins |
| Total Time: | 45 mins |
| Servings: | 12 |
| Yield: | 1 round loaf |
Ingredients
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup white sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs
- 1 ¼ cups buttermilk
- ¼ cup corn oil
- 1 cup raisins
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a baking sheet, or line with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl, whisk together eggs, buttermilk, and corn oil. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture, and pour in the buttermilk mixture. Add the raisins, and stir a few times, just until the ingredients come together into a soft dough. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, and with floured hands shape dough into a ball. Place the dough on the prepared baking sheet, and cut a large cross in the top with a sharp knife.
- Place the bread on a middle rack of the preheated oven, and bake until golden brown, 30 to 40 minutes.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 272 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 48 g |
| Cholesterol | 32 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Protein | 7 g |
| Saturated Fat | 1 g |
| Sodium | 421 mg |
| Sugars | 14 g |
| Fat | 6 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Followed the recipe exactly. Everyone loved it. Will definitely make again!
Didn’t change the recipe at all and came out perfect and I am a very new baker so that says something lol. Absolutely delicious.
Everyone loved it, even my son in law that doesn’t usually like breads.
I made this for a group of friends and they loved it and wanted the recipe. One friend even remarked that it wasn’t so heavy with soda and she couldn’t wait to make it herself. I did have to bake longer than than it said. Will be making again.
Wow, this was easy and turned out great! I used vegetable oil in place of corn oil. I had no buttermilk, so substituted regular milk with a tablespoon of lemon juice. It was really good! Definitely will make it again.
Such a simple recipe but makes a very good bread. I’ve made it with snd without raisins and both are good. Make it for St Patrick’s day with corned beef,cabbage,potatoes,carrots,celery and some rice. Very good recipe try it.
I highly recommend dividing into 2 loaves. Every time I make it as one loaf, it comes out doughy – even with increasing the bake time.
The middle turned out a little doughy so I would make it flatter next time
Best I ever made
perfect -we make it for st pats day every year. the recipe can be halved perfectly too.
This was terrific, quick and easy. My brother adds caraway seeds to his. I will make this again!!
I’ve made this amazing bread numerous times of course always on St. Patty’s Day. I follow the recipe and it comes out amazing every time. Like other reviewers I was skeptical about the raisins – do not leave them out. I don’t even like soda bread I love this soda bread even i was shocked. My husband’s family is Irish & Italian and they beg for this bread every St. Patrick’s Day and it’s so easy to make I’m happy to bring 3 or 4 loaves every year for everyone to enjoy with their corned beef. Thanks for this wonderful recipe
I actually used this recipe to make mini loaves of soda bread – i had to figure out the timing of course but they came out great! If you don’t want the big loaf and make the individual ones for handing out or dinner – try it! Great recipe – one of my faves!
Very easy to make taste great , almost like a desert
I’ve made this soda bread every year for probably 5 or 6 years now around St. Patrick’s Day. It comes out great every time. I’m a nurse and an Irish charge nurse I work with told me this tastes just like the bread her mom made in Ireland. I’ve made it with all different mild oils- veggie, canola… all different types of raisins (I personally love the golden ones) and it is always delicious. I like buying the Kerigold butter to slather over the top. Or toast it and adding jam and butter too. So good! I’ve easily doubled the recipe – one for my house and one for work. Works out perfect, although it’s helpful to have the mixer mix the 8 cups of flour for me ????
I have made this for the past several years for our St. Patty’s Day dinner. Loved it every time.
The big guy and I loved this bread. It goes together quickly and uses simple ingredients. It was the perfect bread for our early St Patrick’s Day meal of corned beef brisket, pan-fried cabbage with bacon, potatoes and carrots. It toasts up nicely for breakfast and pairs well with jams and marmalades. Can’t be beat for a basic quick bread.
I think this recipe was great. The last recipe I made was dry, but this one is light and just right. I cooked it for 35 minutes and that wasn’t quite enough but close. I thought more would make it dry. Raisins didn’t really add much for me. I put an extra bit of sugar in it.
Made this exactly as stated in the recipe. Baked it on a parchment lined pan for 35 minutes. Served it warm slathered with butter. It was delicious, I wouldn’t change a thing. It tasted like a big rich scone.
Fantastic recipe. Dead easy and was a crowd pleaser for St. Pats day.
Mixed this up in about 6 minutes. I used dried cranberries instead of raisins. I mixed the dry ingredients and then simply put the wet ingredients on top and mixed it up really well. I preheated a stone and then shaped this on a piece of parchment. I sprinkled it with course decorator sugar and scored it and placed the entire loaf on parchment in the oven. I turned out very nice. I would divide it into two loaves next time. The oven spring was good, but the scores probably would have split better with smaller loaves. It is just a tad drier than I would prefer it. Other than that it is very, very good.