Irish-American Soda Bread
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This Irish soda bread is dotted with currants and caraway seeds. Serve it as you would cornbread—as a breakfast, snack or side dish.
Known in Ireland as a Spotted Dog or Railway Cake, traditional Irish Soda bread is a simple table bread leavened with baking soda instead of yeast and generously “spotted” with currants and caraway seeds. This Irish-American version is a touch sweet — not quite dessert but definitely somewhere in between a cake and a bread. Serve it as you would cornbread — as a breakfast, snack, or side dish.
What you’ll need to make Irish-American Soda Bread
Some traditional Irish versions of this eschew add-ins like caraway seeds and dried fruit, but I think they’re nice additions from both a flavor and texture perspective.
How to make It
Begin by combining 2 tablespoons of the melted butter with the buttermilk and eggs.
Whisk well and set aside.
In another large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and caraway seeds.
Whisk to combine.
Add the liquid ingredients and currants.
Mix with a rubber spatula until just combined.
Grease a cast iron skillet generously with butter. This gives the bread a crisp and golden crust. Don’t worry if you don’t have a cast iron skillet — you can use two 8-inch cake pans.
Transfer the batter to the prepared skillet or pans, smooth with a rubber spatula, and dot the top with the remaining butter.
Bake for 40-50 minutes, or until the top is golden and slightly puffed. Cool slightly and then cut into wedges and serve. This bread is best served fresh out of the oven, but also stays moist if wrapped in an airtight container.
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Irish Soda Bread
This Irish soda bread is dotted with currants and caraway seeds. Serve it as you would cornbread—as a breakfast, snack or side dish.
Ingredients
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
- 3 cups all-purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1¾ teaspoons salt
- 1 tablespoon caraway seeds
- 1¾ cups buttermilk (see note)
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1½ cups dried currants
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F degrees and set the oven rack in the middle position.
- Smear 1 tablespoon of the butter evenly over the bottom and sides of a 10-inch cast iron skillet or two 8-inch nonstick cake pans.
- In a medium bowl, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter and let cool slightly. Whisk in the buttermilk and eggs. Set aside.
- In another large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and caraway seeds.
- Add the liquid ingredients and the currants to the dry ingredients. Fold with a rubber spatula until just combined. Do not overmix.
- Transfer the batter to the prepared pan(s) and smooth the top gently with a rubber spatula. Dot the top with the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter.
- Place the pan(s) in the oven and bake until the bread is puffed and golden brown, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool in the pan(s) and then cut into wedges and serve warm, or transfer the bread to a wire rack to continue cooling. This bread is best served fresh out of the oven, but keeps well if stored in an airtight container.
- Note: If you’d like to make your own buttermilk, check out the easy method here.
- Freezer-Friendly Instructions: The bread can be frozen for up to 3 months. Once it’s completely cooled, wrap it securely in plastic wrap and place in the freezer. To reheat, wrap the bread in aluminum foil and warm it in a 350°F oven until hot.
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (12 servings)
- Calories: 284
- Fat: 0 g
- Saturated fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 20 g
- Sugar: 18 g
- Fiber: 0 g
- Protein: 0 g
- Sodium: 3 mg
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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This was easy to make and we enjoyed it. Made it GF(used Measure for Measure/King Arthur Flour)to share with a gf friend….she liked it too👍
Absolutely the most delicious bread and such an easy-to-make recipe using my cast iron pan. I just finished the last slice (frozen) from St. Patrick’s Day. The taste reminds me of Easter babka without the yeast. I’ll make it again soon to enjoy for breakfast. I also tried the oven method for corn beef on a separate occasion as I was afraid to make it first time for company…..it was tender and so good! I love all of your recipes!
Question please, I tried to change the measure to metric and it did not change the recipe. I was wondering if it was my iPad or the website
Thank you
It wasn’t your iPad – it was on our end. I just fixed it. Hope you enjoy!
I made this for St. Patty’s Day and it turned out great! I loved being able to use the cast iron skillet, which gave it toasty edges. I hate to be one of those people who loves a recipe and notes all the changes they made to it so it is unrecognizable, but I did make a few to stick with my basic philosophy of increasing whole grains, and reducing sugar and fat where I can in a recipe. Hopefully these won’t be viewed as too dramatic! :). My inspiration and validation came from Jenn’s recipe for Irish Soda Muffins! I changed the flour to 2c. whole wheat/1c. white, cut the sugar in half (slightly rounded 1/3c) reduced the salt to 1t., and was stingy on the butter dollops on top. I lightly sprinkled some turbinado sugar on top, like her muffins, to give it a little crunch, and because I only had 1c of currants on hand, and couldn’t find any at the store (thank you Covid!) I chopped raisins for the additional 1/2c needed. It turned out wonderfully! My husband loved it! It rose nicely and had a little nuttiness from the whole wheat. We didn’t miss the sugar at all, as there was enough sweetness from the currants and a little bit of turbinado on top. The reduction in salt seemed just fine; there was enough there to take away that raw taste and to give it just enough savory to keep everything balanced. We’re looking forward to popping leftover wedges in the toaster for breakfast and will definitely be making this again!
I’ve been making this recipe from the New Basics Cookbook for over 20 years now and I found your adjustments spot on! Less butter for the pan and way less cook time than they suggest. Thank you for the recipes- I love your blog. My new go-to!
Great and easy recipe! I turned my leftovers into croutons by adding a couple of tablespoons of Olive oil, Parmigiano reggiano and garlic salt. Cut into cubes and stired around by hand on a cookie sheet and baked @ 275 F until a little less firm that biscotti.
Thanks very much for all your great recipes Jenn