I have been making this recipe almost three-quarters of my life. My Irish Soda Bread is a recipe that I am known for and make all-year-round. Wait until you taste how much better this is that what you are most likley accustomed to. THIS is the BEST Irish Soda Bread recipe!
I have been making (and eating) Irish Soda Bread for as long as I can recall. I remember it being available from time to time in my house growing up. I remember my Grammy, mom and aunts making it often.
My Irish Soda Bread Recipe has so many accolades. My readers just love it! It’s gone viral over the years on TikTok. It has been featured in a number of publications as well, including TODAY. And, Joe Yonan, the Food Editor of The Washington Post, once told me that it was “amazing” and “the prettiest Irish Soda Bread he had ever seen” as he enjoyed a big slice.
If that doesn’t make a girl feel great, well then I don’t know what does!
However, its all the comments here and on other social media from everyday people over the last 16 years saying THIS soda bread recipe is their go to, their favorite, reminds them of their Irish granny’s, is a family tradition now, etc. Those testimonies make me feel amazing.
It seems like everyone has some version of Irish Soda Bread floating from either a relative or friend. I am ½ Irish, so at family gatherings, I ate the obligatory slice. To my developing palate, the bread was dry and not that flavorful. So, I would pile on the butter – after all butter like bacon, makes everything better lol!
It wasn’t until my 2nd cousin, Rosanne, came for a visit to my Grammy’s (after she had married and moved to Boston) that I tasted something different in a soda bread.
But THAT bread was one to remember! It was almost cake-like. Sweet and light and all I knew was that “I” wanted more…I needed more!! So, after I polished off about 4 slices I knew it would stay in my life. I tinkered and tinkered until I replicated it and have been making it ever since. This Sweet Irish Soda Bread is moist and cake-like, its wonderful!
Years ago I was lucky enough to spend an afternoon in New York City with the incredible Darina Allen (a visionary top chef and cookbook author from Ireland and owner of the world-renowned Ballymaloe Cookery School). As she made her Irish Brown Bread next to me, she said “in the US (as compared to Ireland) our milk/buttermilk does not have enough fat in it to replicate Irish baking correctly. She said to “always add cream to any type of soda bread”. As well as brown bread, scones etc. I made that adjustment to my Sweet Irish Soda Bread recipe after that and never looked back!
I tried it, loved it and updated my recipe. Another thing Darina said was to “always let the faeries out” by making a cross or an “x” over top your dough before it heads into the oven. Just so happens, I have always done that, however hearing someone else say it, especially someone from Ireland, makes my Irish heart sing!
After all, when I spent a summer in Ireland as a teen, they did put little dishes of milk on the step at night “for the fae”.
Ingredients needed
- Flour (AP)
- Sugar
- Baking soda, baking powder & salt
- Butter
- Buttermilk & heavy cream
- An egg
- Raisins
How to make the BEST Irish Soda Bread
- The beauty of this recipe is that all ingredients are tossed into a bowl and combined. That’s it! It’s easy and forgiving.
- Live a cast iron pan or other oven safe pan with parchment paper, plop your dough into it, sprinkle the decorators sugar or sugar in the raw overtop and then mark a cross to let the faeries out.
- Pop it in a 350 degree preheated oven on the middle rack and bake for 60-90 minutes (depends on circumference of your pan).
- It makes a BIG loaf. (See photo above, that is a loaf cut in half).
- You can choose to bake it in two smaller loaves.
Can you see in the above photo, how much more moist the actual bread looks than what you might typically come across?? And the sugar on the top? Oh yeah, THAT right there is my Sweet Irish Soda Bread!
This sweet Irish Soda Bread recipe is so close to how my relatives over in Donegal have made it for decades. This Irish soda bread recipe uses raisins, which I recommend for both flavor and texture.
I love the history of this Irish Soda Bread bread in my family. Knowing that my siblings, children, friends and even family over in Donegal make it. I make mine in my cast iron skilled brought over by my great grandmother that’s well over 100 years old.
Let me tell you, there is almost nothing on this earth as good as a slice of this Irish Soda Bread warm from the oven, almost too hot to handle, smeared with butter (Especially Kerrygold Butter). Pour yourself a “cuppa tae” as my relatives in Ireland would say and enjoy a moment or two of pure bliss!
Tips
- Do not overmix the dough, stir until just incorporated.
- If you have a cast iron pan, use it for making this Irish Soda Bread. However if you do not, its a-ok! Just use any oven safe pan with sides or even a cake pan.
- Do not use a loaf pan, it just will not come out right, its too deep.
- If you have a scone pan, you can use that as well, see my Raisin Scones recipe here.
- Do line with parchment paper. This is a heavy loaf, so having the ability to lift it out it the way to go. Plus, it makes cleanup easier.
- Do follow the recipe exactly if you can, adding the heavy cream really does make a difference.
- If sugar is a concern, you can cut it down by ¼ to ½ cup. It will still bake up fine.
- If you can do add the sugar on top before baking. It’s looks lovely, sparkling after bakes and it gives the crust a wonderful crunch a tickle of sweetness.
Variations
- Swap raisins for the traditional currants or caraway seeds (I prefer raisins for this specific soda bread).
- If you dislike raisins (gasp!!) You can use dried cherries, or cranberries or even dried blueberries for this. Check out my popular fresh Cranberry Soda Bread recipe.
Storage
- This holds up well. Wrap leftovers in parchment paper and then again in foil or plastic wrap. It will last at least a week stored in a cool dry place. When ready to enjoy a slice, warm it up just a bit in the microwave or in toaster oven.
I hope you LOVE this soda bread as much as my family and friends do! This recipe is a little piece of my heart. Taithneamh a bhaint! XO Colleen
Recipe originally published in 2009. Updated in 2025.
Irish Recipes to try
Sweet Irish Soda Bread
Recipe for the BEST Irish Soada Bread the way some of my realitives make it in Ireland