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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Another bake sale, another batch of Irish Soda Bread. If I didn’t know better I’d say the recipe had an addicting chemical. Folks can’t get enough!
i made this on st patricks day to go with my corned beef and cabbage. yum. love it with the currants
I’m Irish – just found my way to your website via Pinterest and really enjoying it. This looks like a good variation, although personally I’ll probably stick with our traditional flour, buttermilk, bread soda, raisins, sugar one (no eggs, butter or caraway seeds), simply because it’s traditional but this looks good.
If you wanted to make it more authentic, you could knead quickly and shape into a dome shape, then cut a cross deeply into the top, place on a floured board and bake. Great site!
I made this for St. Pattys Day for the first time and everyone loved it. I made it recently and tried dried cranberries, it worked very well too.
Can’t wait to try this recipe! Iv’e got the list made and am going shopping tomorrow.
A little past St. Patty’s Day, but I like the addition of currants! I’ve only had soda bread with and without raisins, so I’ll have to give this a try.
I only make soda bread this time of year but will not wait until next year to make this again. This bread was delicious and will definitely be making it again real soon.
I knew this looked familiar when I saw it! I have made this from the New Basics cookbook. It is quite yummy. I am already into my second batch. I am not Irish, but love the food. Thank you again for another great recipe to make and share.
Ohhh those currants are such a wonderful addition! I think currants are less overpowering than raisins. Looks delish I’m sure your family enjoyed!
I was going to try a different recipe this year for a soda bread. But this looks much better, so I will be making this one instead—thanks!!!!