Irish Soda Bread – Egg-free, yeast-free, oil and butter free no rise bread made with just four ingredients. Check out this simple eggless Irish soda bread recipe with detailed step-wise pictures.
Irish soda bread was on my to-bake list for quite some time. I wanted to try this during the April A to Z baking event, but I ended making Ice-cream Bread for alphabet “I”. (It’s quick no-rise bread too) Last year I made this a couple of times especially after getting the Dutch oven. But I finally took step-by-step pictures last week and here I am posting right on time for St. Patrick’s Day.
St. Patrick’s Day:
According to Wikipedia, Saint Patrick’s Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick, is a cultural and religious celebration held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick, the foremost patron saint of Ireland. You can see people wearing shamrocks, green clothes, and green accessories. St Patrick is said to have used the shamrock, a three-leaved plant, to explain the Holy Trinity; hence green and shamrocks are customary during the festival.
Irish Soda Bread:
St. Patrick’s Day and Irish Soda bread are inseparable. You can learn about the Soda bread history in detail on “my recipes” website. Irish Soda Bread is Ireland’s culinary identity even though Native Americans invented the concept of Soda bread. During the financial crisis time in Ireland, this quick bread grew in popularity. The traditional Irish Soda bread is made with made with “soft” wheat flour, baking soda, salt, and buttermilk.
As you can there aren’t any exotic ingredients. Soft wheat flour is a low-gluten variety of flour, and Ireland’s unique climate is only suitable to grow the soft variety wheat, soda bread became a staple in Ireland.
The “X” mark on the Irish soda bread makes it unique too. The belief is that the cross on the top of the bread helps to ward off evil and protect the household. The shape and cross mark varies according to the region.
Which flour to use?
As I mentioned above, the traditional recipe calls for low-gluten flour, but you can use regular all-purpose flour. I have tried this bread with bread flour as well. In fact, for this recipe, I went with bread flour only. The unique texture and flavor of this bread come from the acid (buttermilk) and the base (baking soda) reaction. So make sure you use fresh and good quality buttermilk and baking soda. I used store-bought cultured buttermilk.
The bread is comparatively denser, and it is more like scones because of the buttermilk. You can serve this along with soup or stews, or you can relish it with butter smeared.
Do I need a Dutch oven to bake this bread?
No, not necessary. You can bake on a cake pan, cookie sheet or in the cast iron pan although I need to agree that baking in Dutch oven yields crispy and crusty loaves. As we cover and bake for the first 30 minutes, the steam does the magic and yields beautiful loaf.
I took the base recipe from “Let’s Dish.” As you can see the author went with cake pan but covered it with another cake pan to trap the steam. You can follow that, or you can bake it on a cookie sheet too.
Now without any further ado, here is how I made this Irish Soda bread without any eggs and yeast and oil or butter.
Ingredients:
- 2 cups bread flour or all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 cup buttermilk
Steps:
- Grease a Dutch oven and place in the oven and preheat oven to 425 degrees F. We need to preheat the Dutch oven too.
Using NutriMill:
I used my NutriMill Artiste to knead the dough. You can read about my review in the white bread post.
- Add the flour, baking soda and salt to the NutriMill bowl and add a half cup of buttermilk.
- Use the “P” switch to mix the ingredients.
- It should now look like cornmeal as in the picture below.
- Now increase the speed to level 3 and add the remaining buttermilk little by little.
- After adding all the buttermilk, place the lid and close it. Continue kneading the dough for five to six minutes at speed 3 or until the mixture is smooth.
- Flour your hands and the counter or the board with flour and remove the dough from the mixer and place it on the board.
Hand Kneading:
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and the salt.
- Little by little add the buttermilk and knead gently to form a smooth dough.
Shaping the dough:
- Shape the dough into round-ball like below.
- Cut an X on the top with a sharp knife about ¼-inch deep.
Baking:
- Carefully remove the Dutch oven from the oven and place the prepared soda bread inside and cover it.
- Now bake the bread covered for 25 minutes at 425deg F.
- And then remove the lid and bake it again for ten more minutes at 425 deg F or until the crust is crisp and brown.
- Allow it to cool before slicing.
- Serve warm with butter or pair it with a soup or stew.
Recipe Notes-
- You can bake the bread the cast iron pan for 30 to 35 minutes uncovered as well.
- The amount of buttermilk depends upon the quality of the flour. So add little by a little while kneading. If the dough is bit sticky and watery, add more flour.
📖 Recipe
Eggless Irish Soda Bread with Buttermilk
Ingredients
- 2 cups bread flour or all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 cup buttermilk
Instructions
Prep-Work:
- Grease a Dutch oven and place in the oven and preheat oven to 425 degrees F. We need to preheat the Dutch oven too.
Using NutriMill:
- I used my NutriMill Artiste to knead the dough. You can read about my review in the white bread post.
- Add the flour, baking soda and salt to the NutriMill bowl and add a half cup of buttermilk.
- Use the “P” switch to mix the ingredients. It should now look like cornmeal as in the picture below.
- Now increase the speed to level 3 and add the remaining buttermilk little by little.
- After adding all the buttermilk, place the lid and close it. Continue kneading the dough for five to six minutes at speed 3 or until the mixture is smooth.
- Flour your hands and the counter or the board with flour and remove the dough from the mixer and place it on the board.
Hand Kneading:
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and the salt.
- Little by little add the buttermilk and knead gently to form a smooth dough.
Shaping the dough:
- Shape the dough into round-ball like below.
- Cut an X on the top with a sharp knife about ¼-inch deep.
Baking:
- Carefully remove the Dutch oven from the oven and place the prepared soda bread inside and cover it.
- Now bake the bread covered for 25 minutes at 425deg F.
- And then remove the lid and bake it again for ten more minutes at 425 deg F or until the crust is crisp and brown.
- Allow it to cool before slicing.
- Serve warm with butter or pair it with a soup or stew.
Notes
- You can bake the bread the cast iron pan for 30 to 35 minutes uncovered as well.
- The amount of buttermilk depends upon the quality of the flour. So add little by a little while kneading. If the dough is bit sticky and watery, add more flour.
Nutrition
I am not a nutritionist. The nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. It varies depending upon the product types or brands.
How to make the buttermilk? Thanks
I usually churn my yogurt for the buttermilk. You can use a store-bought one as well.