Nana Dot's Irish Soda Bread Recipe

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease 2 baking sheets.
Stir together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and sugar in a large bowl until evenly blended. Cut in the butter using a pastry blender or your hands until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Stir in the raisins, currants, and caraway seeds, then make a well in the center and pour in the milk and vinegar. Stir with a spoon until the dry ingredients are moistened.
Turn the dough out onto a well floured work surface, and knead gently 8 to 10 times. Divide the dough into two balls, and place onto the prepared baking sheets.
Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C), and bake until the top of the bread is golden brown, about 15 minutes more.

Reviews (78)

~S~

Mar. 17, 2008

"I have never had Irish Soda Bread before, so I have nothing to compare this to. This was very much like a big, yummy, buttery biscuit. I didn't have caraway seeds or currants, so I only used raisins. ..." See moreI made one round with the raisins, and one without, because some of my family doesn't like raisins. I liked the one with the raisins better. They gave it a nice mildly sweet flavor. Maybe it was my oven, but I found that I needed to increase the baking time about 5-7 minutes and I had to drape foil over the bread for the last 10 minutes or so, to prevent over-browning. All in all, this was good."

Sara in SF

Mar. 18, 2009

"Loved it! I made two different recipes for Irish Soda Bread and far-and-away preferred this one for the following reasons: 1. Texture. This was so light and flaky. The other one I made was very hea..." See morevy and dense. 2. Quick cooking time: Only 30 minutes! (I did need an additional 5 minutes.) 3. Round loaves: I like my Irish Soda Bread in round loaves, not in loaf pans. This makes 2 round loaves, so we ate one and gave the other away!"

Ally

Feb. 16, 2010

"Best soda bread recipe I've made from this site. Saves really well as long as you have it covered. Toasts wonderfully. As far as traditional goes, because this recipe is one of the only ones to not ha..." See moreve eggs in it, it is a bit closer to 'traditional' Irish Soda bread (which is just buttermilk, flour, soda, and salt). If you ask me, this variation is much more flavorful, but a lot closer to the right texture. As far as dried fruit goes, I had a neighbor who immigrated from Ireland who made soda bread with currants in it all the time."

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