St. Patrick's Day Irish Soda Bread Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How do you know when Irish soda bread is done baking? ›

Cover and bake until well risen and golden, 45 minutes. Remove lid and continue baking until chestnut brown, with an internal temperature of 210°F (99°C), 12 to 15 minutes longer.

Reasons for an improperly leavened loaf include: You used too little sodium bicarbonate. This translates into too little CO2. Your baking soda was too old.

It's important to remember no to overmix your ingredients. Irish Soda Bread is a dense bread, similar to a scone, but can easily become dry if overmixed. Quickly add the wet ingredients to a well you've made in the dry ingredients, and mix with your hands or a dough hook until it just comes together.

And finally, don't immediately cut into the Fast Irish Soda bread when you pull it out of the oven. Although this bread is best served warm, cutting into it too quickly will turn the bread gummy.

You're looking for a dough that's soft but not overly sticky or wet, and that holds together enough to make a loaf that can hold its shape on the sheet pan. If the dough is dry and crumbly, add up to 1/2 cup additional buttermilk, a tablespoon or so at a time, until it comes together.

Why is my brown soda bread doughy in the middle? This is likely due to not baking the bread long enough, or at a hot enough temperature.

If you've ever tried Irish soda bread and not liked it, don't go running off yet! Chances are good that the bread you ate suffered from one of three common problems: improper amount of baking soda (a gross, salty-bitter taste), over cooking (a dry, chalky texture), or undercooking (a soggy, doughy center).

8 reasons why your bread dough is not rising:

Yeast needs to be warm - not too hot, not too cold. Yeast is too cold If the other ingredients are too cold, it could cause some of the yeast to die. Was the dough kneaded properly? Dough may not have been kneaded enough.

To fix dough that won't rise, try placing the dough on the lowest rack in your oven along with a baking pan filled with boiling water. Close the oven door and let the dough rise. Increasing the temperature and moisture can help activate the yeast in the dough so it rises. You can also try adding more yeast.

Tightly wrap your leftover bread and place it in an airtight container. There's no need to refrigerate. As for how long soda bread lasts: Irish soda bread tends to dry out faster than other breads. The bread will be good for 3-4 days or up to three months if frozen.

What's the best way to eat Irish soda bread? ›

The traditional way of serving your Irish soda bread is serving the loaf while it's warm with butter. Spread a thick layer of your butter on the slice and revel on the hearty flavor exploding in your mouth.

Irish soda bread is best eaten fresh, but it can be kept for a few days if stored properly. Here are some tips on how to keep your bread fresh: Wrap the bread tightly a large beeswax wrap to prevent it from drying out. You can also store your bread wrapped up in a beeswax wrap in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Why does my Soda Bread not cook in the middle? The reason why your soda bread isn't cooking properly is very often that your oven isn't calibrated correctly. Check your oven or adjust your temperature with the next try until you get it right. Baking is as much an art as it is a science.

If you feel like you have to knead the dough together, don't knead more than 5-6 times, max. Too much kneading will create a hard dense crumb on the bread. Rule of thumb with no yeast breads, the less kneading the softer the crumb.

Setting the Oven Temperature Is Too Hot

If your oven runs hot, your bread is likely to brown and bake up on the outside before the center has a chance to fully cook. Invest in a simple oven thermometer to help verify the temperature. Make sure you have other bread baking essentials in your kitchen, too.

Remember the golden rule. You can undercook bread but you can't really overcook it unless you have a mind to. Remove from the oven when you are happy the loaves sound hollow and are cooked all through. Place on trivet to cool.

Seriously, as with all breads that do not have yeast, you won't want to overwork your dough. If you feel like you have to knead the dough together, don't knead more than 5-6 times, max. Too much kneading will create a hard dense crumb on the bread.