This is the real thing! Because it must only be handled very lightly, it can never be made in a bread machine.
This bread was so easy to make, & tasted great with the Irish stew we had on St Patrick's Day - I used the instant oats, & my second batch turned out better because I flattened out the loaves more - they really rise a lot, so need to start out at about one inch thick.
Read MoreI had high hopes for this recipe. But it really had no taste. I have made this in the past with butter, and it turned out much tastier. I was really disappointed.
Read MoreThis bread was so easy to make, & tasted great with the Irish stew we had on St Patrick's Day - I used the instant oats, & my second batch turned out better because I flattened out the loaves more - they really rise a lot, so need to start out at about one inch thick.
I had Irish Brown Soda Bread at an Irish restaurant in Cincinnati and thought it was delicious. I think that they may have sweetened their bread slightly, but I prefer not to have my bread sweetened. I have nothing else to compare this recipe to and assume by the comments from Andrea and another reviewer that this is quite authentic. My husband and I both enjoyed this bread quite well and I plan on making it again and again. I served it with whipped sweet butter and a dinner salad.
At first I thought the dough was too gooey, but I stuck with the recipe, and the bread turned out great! My 5-year-old son gobbled up 3 pieces fresh out of the oven. And he's a very picky eater. It was even better the next day. This bread is not for people who like a light, fluffy bread. Our family has an Irish background, so this is just what we were looking for. Great with soup and salad.
Sorry, but there are better recipes for irish brown soda bread. This is OK but needs a bit more flavor. Suggest the following : add 1 tsp. baking powderl, 3 ozs. butter (not margarine or shortening) and a tablespoon or so of brown sugar. I think you will find it more interesting. I come from Ireland and have made many, many types of this bread.
This recipe was fast and easy to make. The taste is exactly as it is in Ireland. The only downside was that my 11 year old did not like it.
AMAING.. Just like my irish Grandmother used to make. Went well with my Irish Lamb Stew
I took this to a work pot luck on St. Patty's day and everyone asked if it was an old family recipe! I will definately make this again!
I had high hopes for this recipe. But it really had no taste. I have made this in the past with butter, and it turned out much tastier. I was really disappointed.
I thought this was easy to make and delicious. My family didn't care much for the taste. Definately a "heavy" bread.
A tip for cooling your Irish Soda Bread. Wrap the bread in a clean t towel and stand on its thin edge resting against the wall on a diagonal. This is what my Irish Mum always does. That way it cools a little slower and the crust is crunchy but not too tough. If there is any left over it's yummy toasted lighly the next mornong with jam. I'm off to bake!!
A tip for cooling your Irish Soda Bread. Wrap the bread in a clean t towel and stand on its thin edge resting against the wall on a diagonal. This is what my Irish Mum always does. That way it cools a little slower and the crust is crunchy but not too tough. If there is any left over it's yummy toasted lighly the next mornong with jam. I'm off to bake!!
YUMMY!! I am totally lovin' this recipe. I had tried a couple other soda bread recipes from this site and was really disappointed because they weren't anywhere CLOSE to what I was looking for. This one was!! It's not identical to my brother's recipe, but it is SUPER close, moist and dense with a wonderful hearty flavor. Would be fantastic with a hunk of cheese or a nice stew, and is great with some real butter. My son loved this bread too. I halved the recipe and made one large loaf, rounded and baked in a pie plate. I baked for 30 minutes at the recommended temperature then turned the heat off and let it sit in the oven another 10 minutes (it was already nicely browned, but I wanted to make sure the middle cooked through too). Seems to have worked perfectly! The bread is just fantastic, and easy to throw together. Thank you! :)
This crusty, dense bread had a really good flavor. The loaves are nice to look at, as well. I chose this recipe because it seemed to be the most authentic. The others are too "americanized". I wanted soda bread, not a biscuit/currant loaf! It was also very very easy, I have never made any kind of bread before, and I was extremely gentle with it as suggested. The only thing I changed was I ground my oats, for smoother texture. I made this on St. Patty's Day with lamb stew. The bread was really addictive with butter, I couldn't stop eating it!
I divided the mix into two parts, and mixed in a bit of brown sugar and raisins in one loaf. The other loaf was per the recipe. Both were delicious!
If you're a fan of whole grain breads, you'll love this one. I made the bread as written to go with a beef stew, except I halved the recipe and substituted a plain yogurt, sour cream and milk mixture for the buttermilk as stated in another review. My bread baked to perfection in 30 minutes. I also made a tasty tea bread by using a 50-50 mix of white and whole wheat flour, adding 1/2 cup of honey, 2 tablespoons of butter, 1 tablespoon of carraway seeds and 1 cup of raisins. Great both ways.
A good basic bread. The texture is moist and soft even though it is a dense bread. It has a very simple wheaty flavor that is good with blackberry jam. The second time around I added 2 tbsp honey and 2 tsp salt, raisins, and caraway seeds.
This is a purist recipe! It's very easy to make and is in the oven in minutes. I halved the recipe and made one larger loaf. The ingredients should be just mixed together -don't knead the dough for too long. When shaping the loaf, I recommend making it flatter and wider than you would expect, no more than 1.5 inches high. This bread rises a lot! Scoring the bread about 1/2 inch deep is helpful in the rising process, too. I baked my loaf on a baking stone and it was ready at about 50-55 minutes. We served it hot from the oven with butter slathered on. Leftovers made for lovely toast in the morning. A warning to some: Even though the bread appears to rise considerably, this is a very, very dense bread. You may be surprised at how heavy and hard it is. This bread is definitely for those who are seeking out the rustic appeal of a traditional Irish brown bread. If you're looking for something a little lighter and more savory/sweet, I would recommend trying a more American-Irish recipe that includes a touch of sugar, raisins, or caraway seeds. Although some would say those recipes are not truly traditional, they are often very tasty!
Finally! When I was in Ireland, I lived almost exclusively on soup and brown bread, I was addicted to it. When I got back to the 'States, I tried to get a recipe or find it at restaurants, only to be presented with a whitish bread with raisins or currants in it! WRONG! This is the real deal! Thank you for submitting it, it is sooo easy and tastes great, especially when dipped in soup!
i have no idea what "real" irish soda bread or "fake" irish soda bread is supposed to taste like....but this stuff is GOOD!!! it's very dense & hearty, so if you like your bread light and airy this is probably not the recipe you want. it took me about 5 minutes to throw everything together & i know from making biscuits that the less you work with the dough the better so i was very careful not to overmix. it did look a little rough, but it disappeared fast & i will definitely be making it again.
I make this bread for my Irish man and he loves it!! Says it's just like mum used to make. I sneak in a bit more buttermilk than the recipe calls for, and bake about 5 minutes longer. We love it!
This is by far the best Irish soda bread recipe I've tried. I've tried it with buttermilk, soured milk, and regular milk, and it turns out well with each. I do add about a half tablespoon of sugar to the dough to bring out the flavors more, but it's good the way the recipe is written also.
Easy to make and came out great! The rolled oats add a nice touch to this hearty bread. Nice crispy crust with a flavor that will not overwhelm your meal. Will absolutely make this again.
We spent time in County Clare, Adare and Dublin this summer and had this bread with every meal we were served. Thank goodness someone put a 'real' recipe up. I don't know what all those others were, but they weren't the Irish Soda Bread I had in Ireland!
This is a wonderful whole grain bread - absolutely love the density of the whole grains. Does need a bit more salt if you are using the milk/vinegar substitute for buttermilk - will add more next time. Thanks for providing a fantastic whole wheat bread with a short turnaround time.
My co-worker is from Ireland, and when she tasted this bread, she said it was as close to the bread back home as it could get. I made one big loaf (per my co-worker's instructions) instead of the four little ones. I baked it an extra 10-15 minutes, and it turned out real nice. You definitely need some REAL butter on it though; that really adds to the flavor. Great recipe!!
Yum! I've never had soda bread before and didn't know what to expect, but my family enjoyed this bread. I forgot to buy buttermilk, so I used 1 part sour cream to 2 parts yogurt and 2 parts whole milk.
Regarding the review of this dish prior...."GHETTO" measuring cup??? What is THAT supposed to mean?
This is great! Very easy. Just make sure you don't over-knead it or it will get too hard. It is supposed to have a hard crust, very rustic. Yummy. Serve it with the Irish Stew recipe that has the rosemary and parsnips. Tasty combination for St. Patrick's Day. Don't mess with this recipe. Make it as written for an authentic Irish bread.
This was just like the soda bread I had in Ireland. The other recipes I tried bore absolutely no resemblance to it. I make it every St Patricks Day now.
This was simple to make and it came out great. I cut the recipe in half because there's only 3 of us. My husband and 9-year old son loved it. We wanted a soda bread that didn't have the raisins and sugar and this was perfect. My baking time was closer to 25 minutes instead of 30 to 45. Thanks for this wonderful and simple recipe!
OK, This is getting only 3 stars as it is a great base recipe, but needs work. First it totally needs 2 eggs and half a cup of vegetable/sunflower/flaxseed oil to make it soft and rise better. You can add 1/2 to 1 cup of extra buttermilk so you don't need to knead and just make it soft and sticky enough to put in a bread baking tin. Fits a 2 lb perfectly. You can also play around with the flours, I put in a total of 6 cups of whatever is at hand; brown flour, flaxseed meal, flaxseed whole, wheatgerm, rye flour, cracked rye... The result is a VERY healthy bread that is heaven. Top it with Kerrygold aged cheddar and you are in heaven... Lovely
This did not turn out or look anything like the picture, however i am taking into the consideration that perhaps the baking soda has to be fresher than what i used?? We still ate it, but slathered it in honey and apple butter to cover up the taste.
This is a very good and traditional Irish Soda Bread recipe. I added 1 cup of raisins and 1 tablespoon caraway seeds as I like my soda bread eatting with breakfast or tea time.
This was my first try at bread baking and it turned out great. The dough was a little dry so it held it's shape in the oven a lot more than I expected. Still, it was amazingly simple to make and the whole family loved it. I used parchment paper on the cookie sheet instead of greasing it. No mess, but the bottom crust was a little tough. 2nd time around I used a little more buttermilk until the dough stopped flaking and then baked on a pizza stone. Even better results!
The baking time is WAY off. At 25 minutes the loaves were over baked. I took them out and covered them with a wet towel to try to keep them from being a brick. Taking it to a St. Patrick's party tonight. Hope they are edible.
This is truly authentic Irish bread. I made it exactly as directed in the recipe and it was great. Delicious with thinly sliced smoked salmon (or even better, lox) and a few capers.
This bread is good for what it is. Not a ton of flavor, but it soaked up my salty soup very well! I scaled the recipe to 3 servings to make 1 loaf. I flattened it to about an inch before cooking, which seemed to work great. I also drizzled it with a tablespoon or so of melted butter before baking, and brushed another tablespoon on halfway through.
just what I was looking for, thank you. I cut the recipe in half, forgot to knead it, used soured milk in place of buttermilk and didn't have bread flour and the results were still great.
Very easy to make. Yes, it's quite a dense bread and somewhat bland, but eaten with butter or jam, and it's not really an issue. Note: bake it on the middle rack of the oven. I did it on the second lowest rack, and the bottom came out too hard. Took 30 min to bake, and served it with the Special Irish Stew recipe. This bread would also go well with baked brown beans.
I absolutely love this bread. It's the closest I've come to the buttermilk soda bread I had an affair with in Ireland. I ended up dividing the recipe in half as I'm the only one who eats it and since I didn't have bread flour, I just used whole wheat flour for the entire thing. The dough was quite stickey, but it came out beautifully.
This is a simple, fast and delicious recipe that makes such gorgeous little breads that your mates see you as a cooking goddess, slaving away for their culinary delight. Under an hour, I had fresh bread to take to work and a clean kitchen. I was surprised that the bread were not drier and harder as were the other soda breads I have eaten. My cook time was on the low end, so that probably made for a more moist bread. My secret for this bread (when not making it for soups and the such) is to dust the loaves with powdered sugar before cooking -- especially filling in the little ruts of the cross marks. As a snacky or breakfast treat the powdered sugar is ace!
Great, healthy, non-yeast bread. My husband must be the pickiest person on the planet, but even HE thought it was pretty darn good. I halved the recipe (only 2 of us) and made two small loaves-- will probably only make one larger one next time. Also, check for doneness around the half hour mark-- mine were completely done and would've been dry and burnt if I'd done the full 45 minutes (I did cook them on a pizza stone though, so that might've had something to do with it). I served this with the Cranberry Roast from this website but, really, this bread can go with anything. Serve warm for that special restaurant effect!
I will start by saying that I had never made Irish soda bread before, but have eaten my fair share. I really wanted a "traditional" type bread, no sugar or eggs or raisins. I halved the recipe to just make one medium size loaf. The only other change I made was the ratio of wheat flour to bread flour. I used 1 1/2 cups wheat to 1 cup of bread (3 cups wheat to 2 cups bread for the full recipe). It is definately a dense and heavy bread, which is just what I wanted. The flavor is great, and it was perfect for sopping up the Irish stew I made for lunch!
Made this last night and it was so good! All dinner guests loved it and kept saying how good it was. I did use the bread flour - which I think helped a lot (rather than just substituting AP flour for it). I also used 1/2 skim milk with vinegar (buttermilk substitute) and 1/2 fat free plain yogurt. I also adjusted for high altitude and had to add a little more than 3 cups total of milk/yogurt (just FYI for those high altitude bakers out there). I only split it into 2 loaves, and for one of the loafs I also added some caraway seeds and raisins. Baked for 35 min (at 440) on a parchment-lined baking sheet and it was absolutely perfect. Very dense but chewy and hearty. Went perfectly with corned beef and cabbage. Highly recommend if you're looking for a great, not-too-sweet bread accompaniment for your meal. Will definitely make again!
Delicious! "Meaty and wheaty." My 10 year old son and I teamed up to make this, just as written. It's a savory bread, with heavy, warm textures - no sweet side here! Counterpoints corned beef wonderfully. And for the morning, it's 15 seconds in the microwave for slices, loaded with butter, and my sons say it's better than toast. It's remarkable how something so tasty and filling could be so easy to pull together. Thanks!
This was the easiest bread I have ever made! I did not have wheat flour, so I only used white. I had to add an extra 1/3 cup of flour or so because the dough was super sticky. Other than that, I used the recipe as written.
Well done Andrea! Really nice REAL Irish soda bread recipe - what do americans doooooo to recipes that cheapen them so much. Caraway? Fennel? Bread machine version? Keep it simple, keep it real, keep it Irish!!!
I'm so excited I found this recipe! I moved to Ireland for a while last year and one of my favorite things to do was run to the bakery and pick up a loaf of soda bread. It's been impossible to find it the same way here in the states, even at Irish bakeries, so I was ecstatic! This recipe is almost right on. I'm definitely making this again. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
I just got back from Ireland and loved their breads. This bread is rustic and quick. next time I'm changing the recipe to add 1/2 cup of honey and an extra 1/2 tsp of salt. This bread is dense and needs alittle kick. I'm making a herbed butter to go with it tonight. Parsley/thyme/salt mixed with soft butter. Makes great presentation.
Good taste, family really enjoyed. I had the bread in for 30 minutes and it was overcooked. I will watch it much closer next time.
Wonderful recipe, absolutely takes me back to Ireland! I did substitute steel cut Irish oats for rolled oats and that gave it the authentic texture.
This recipe made delicious loaves of heavy, old-fashioned wheat bread, with a thick crust. I added about 1/2 cup more oatmeal, and a little bit of water to make up for it.
This is about the best soda bread I've had outside of southern Ireland! It is so simple yet so flavorsome. I had it with some potato soup for lunch - great comfort food on this grey rainy day. Thanks, Andrea!
I am not exactly what went wrong here but I ended up w/ a hockey puck. I scaled it down to serve 3 so that it only made one loaf and it did not rise at all... I am not sure what went wrong. I am going to try again though b/c it was incredibly quick and for a hockey puck it doesn't taste 1/2 bad :) I really want a nice hearty and dense bread to go w/ a soup that I have so I will give this another shot.
I'm eating this hot out of the oven with some cheddar, and it's delicious! Just one thing--wet your hands before the kneading! I got messy b/c I didn't think to do it. It was very quick and easy otherwise.
Not good at all! It was lacking flavor (a little more salt is needed) and they came out like rocks. I only mixed the dough enough to incorporate the flour mixture into the buttermilk. I'm a baker so this is not my first go round. Will not make this recipe again.
YUMMY! I love thick, dense, hearty bread and this fit the bill. I followed the recipe to a T (I did brush the tops with butter) and the loaves were cooked perfectly after 30 minutes. I took them to a St. Patty's day party and the bread went perfectly with all the other dishes.
Needed to tweak the amounts a bit (but that could just be my ghetto measuring cup =/. Very very very tasty as a vegan bread, just replace the milk soy milk! (1c soy milk + 1T lemon juice) very impressed!
Maybe I over mixed the dough but mine came out pretty dense and hard to cut, but it was tasty!
Have been looking for a simple bread recipe and this is it. Followed recipe to the letter and everything came out great. With two of the four rounds, I experimented and made one with raisins and the other without, topping them generously with demerara sugar (I know, couldn't leave well enough alone, but I love variety). Great with or without the additions. Just add butter or your favorite jam. Really satisfying.
What a great bread...I used white flour instead of bread flour because I didn't have the bread flour and it turned out great. I was nervous the dough was too crumbly, but it wasn't. The bread was so good out of the oven with a little butter. I also used low fat buttermilk because that was all the store had and it still turned out great!
If you are looking for the traditional Irish brown bread, look no further, this is it!!! I have been looking for a recipe for 15 years, since I spent a semester in Dublin - nothing else came close! Thank you for posting!! :)
I was raised by an Irishman and never knew there was a whole wheat version of this bread. Smells like whole wheat french bread. Great with butter and honey or split and toasted with garlic butter. I think it will make a great base for creating variations. Quick and easy to make.
I couldn't believe how easy this was to make! And it was very tasty! I shared it with friends for St Pat's day and everyone enjoyed it! Dense and hearty, it's also great with jam. I use fresh ground wheat, so I just used that for all 5 cups of flour. I didn't have buttermilk so I used regular milk w/vinegar. Thanks for an authentic recipe!
Absolutely Delicious. I added 1/2c. of golden raisins to half of the batter per request from my family whom I made it for. Tastes great with cream cheese or jam.
I'd been looking for a good brown bread recipe. Now, I've found it; thanks! I bought the powdered buttermilk from Amazon (Saco cultured buttermilk) and it works great with this recipe.
This is just delicious, easy, bread to make. Wonderful with a little butter on a slice.
Irish tradition holds that it is a cross cut into the top of the bread, not an x
Excellent. Just how I remember it from Ireland!!
It's really easy and quick! Tastes good, too. I substitute the buttermilk with non-fat yogurt, half the flour and add 1/3 cup of rolled oats. To increase the moist, I also add two tablespoons of skim milk. It turns out really good!
Love this bread! I halved the recipe for just the two of us and had to add a bit of white flour in order to knead the bread. I don't have buttermilk on hand, but I do have buttermilk powder and I used that along with half milk/half water for the liquid. I also added 1/4 c currants. I don't know if the currants are authentic, but every soad bread I have ever had contained raisons or currants. Yummy
I've never had soda bread, but this is a great recipe for whole wheat bread. I used whole yogurt instead of buttermilk, and it didn't take as long to cook. Delicious! Browned very nicely, with nice crunchy crust. Very moist and dense.
Outstanding! We scaled down the recipe to 3 servings so that we always can make it fresh. It's not good for leftovers - but it makes a great hockey puck! For a quick accompaniment to dinner, I measure out the dry ingredients and put them in storage containers. Then when I come home from work, all I have to do is add buttermilk and pop it in the oven.
You have no idea how hard I've searched for what I call "Real" Irish Soda Bread . . . with no add ins, simple ingredients, and of course, the x carved into the top. Thank you!
Just okay per my Irish hubby. This is a SUPER dense recipe, as are many Irish breads. I don't think I will be asked to make this one again.
Very dense, rustic bread. The flavor reminded me a little too much of wheat thins crackers, but it is most likely my own fault. I left out the bread flour and used all whole wheat and oats. Next time I will use a little less wheat flour, more oats, and something else... maybe wheat germ or flax seed, maybe some caraway or poppy seed, too. All in all I really enjoyed it, as did my family.
I pretty much followed the recipe exactly. The bread is tasty, though quite dense, and needs to be eaten sooner rather than later - otherwise you lose that nice crusty exterior and soft interior. I must say that I didn't care for it so much with just plain butter - though it was great with jam and butter for a breakfast treat. Not sure why, but I needed to add considerably more liquid to the recipe in order to knead it, otherwise it was like working a pile of dust. As the recipe says - knead lightly! I made a few loaves that turned out great, then over-kneaded a few and they turned into tasty bricks!
Very good, simple bread. Great accompaniment to corned beef and cabbage on St. Patty's Day!
I really enjoyed this! It was even better the second day. I also halved the recipe so I got 2 loaves instead of four. Per another reader's suggestion, I added golden raisins, about a tablespoon brown sugar and a tsp baking powder. I used more buttermilk than called for because it seemed dry. 30 minutes was plenty of cooking time. I could see this working with other grains, too, such as millet in place of the oats. Yummy for St. Pat's.
Very Good! We had it with split pea soup and it was very satisfying. The only thing I changed was I added 3tbsp of sugar. Next time I will try without.
ive never had real irish bread but i loved this recipe. i made it exact except i had no bread flour so i used all whole wheat. I would definitely make this again, perhaps into biscuits for easy serving (it was hard to cut) its a keeper!
It is an authentic recipe and tasted quite like my granny used to make. I have read the comments suggesting adding butter and sugar or an egg. While this does give more flavor it is no longer soda bread but rather soda cake. If you are looking for the real thing, this is it. If you want something with more flavor, that is still traditional, replace 1/2 the buttermilk with Guinness and add an extra spoon of Baking soda along with a spoon of baking powder and bake in a greased loaf tin at 325 for 60 mins. Hey presto Guinness Bread
This was just ok for me. I definately could have used a pinch more salt and more milk (my bread ended up being very dry). I will definatly increase both next time. I will probably also add some honey next time as well.
This was good right after baking. Next day, it was hard as a rock!. Gave it to the birds. Bottom line..bake it, and eat it!!
I halved this recipe, but otherwise followed it exactly and it didn't rise at all. The dough was very sticky, not like a normal bread dough. I've never made a soda bread though, so I wasn't sure how moist the dough should be. It still tastes fine, but the texture of the finished bread is off and it can't really be used as sandwich bread. I'm really not sure why it didn't rise, but I doubt I'll use this recipe again.
I needed to add 1/2 cup extra of buttermilk in order to get my dough to stick together. My bread cooked fast too. I am glad that I did not wait the full 30 minutes. Tastes pretty good though.
Very good bread. Not quite as coarse grained as the bread in Ireland but still quite tasty. Thanks.
I need help. I have made several loaves of Irish soda bread; I loved the taste of all of them, but my dough never forms a lightly made soft ball. I have to force it to make a ball at all. I followed the recipe exactly; what am I doing wrong?
Perfet. Just like how they serve in Ireland. As someone else mentioned, you never find raisins and such in brown bread there. No one can believe how easy the recipe is.
I followed the directions, but it went horribly horribly wrong. I had to substitute yogurt for the buttermilk, which, from what I've read elsewhere, should have worked. . .
Easy, authentic tasting and baked quickly! A new favorite to add to our traditional St. Patty's meal along with Irish Champ.
