Name: Rustic Irish Soda Bread with Cranberries and Currants
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 50 min
Total time: 1 h
Yield: 2
Ingredients: 5 cups all-purpose flour; 1 tablespoon baking powder; 1 teaspoon baking soda; 1 teaspoon kosher salt; ½ cup each currants and dried cranberries (soaked in hot water for 10 minutes and drained); 2 ¼ cups low fat buttermilk

Rustic Irish Soda Bread with Cranberries and Currants

One of my all time favorite bread recipes, Irish Soda Bread is a quick bread that doesn't require yeast. Baking soda and baking powder are the leavening agents for this dense yet tender bread flecked with dried cranberries and currants.…

Prep10 minutes

Cook50 minutes

Total1 hour

Serves2

Calories111 kcal

Jump to recipe

A sliced loaf of soda bread with cranberries and currants.

My husband is Irish. He is one of those fair-skinned Irishmen that call his sunburn "an Irish tan." He comes from a large Catholic family that loves its Irish heritage.

So when March rolls around each year, he would like to celebrate St. Patrick's Day all month long. A loaf or 2 of Irish Soda Bread are required eating during the month long Irish celebration.

[feast_advanced_jump_to]

why you'll love this Irish soda bread recipe

An Irish feast of corned beef and cabbage, Irish Lamb Stew with Guinness, or Reuben casserole graces our dinner table at least a couple times during March. All that is need is a loaf of my Irish Soda Bread to complete the meal.

The quick bread is dense yet soft with a sturdy crust.
The combination of dried cranberries and currants adds a tart sweetness to the bread.
It's a super easy to make recipe. I love that it uses baking soda instead of yeast to help the bread rise. No need to wait a couple hours for the bread to rise with this recipe.

ingredients for Irish soda bread

Scroll down to the complete recipe for the exact quantities of the ingredients.

all purpose flour
baking powder
baking soda
kosher salt
currants
dried cranberries
buttermilk

recipe substitutions

Both baking powder and baking soda are used in the recipe. The combo helps the bread rise without adding a salty bitter flavor from too much baking soda.
Currants are a sweet and intense cousin to raisins. Substitute all raisins if you'd like.
Dried cranberries add a sweet tanginess to the bread which I love. You can leave them out and double up on the currants or raisins.
The buttermilk ensures that the bread will be tender. And use any extra buttermilk to make salad dressings, smoothies or fluffy pancakes. If you do not have buttermilk, make an easy substitute. Add 1 tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice to each cup of milk. Let stand 5 minutes before adding it to the dry ingredients

recipe details

Start off by combining the all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, kosher salt, currants and dried cranberries.
Add the buttermilk and stir until the dough is coarse and crumbly. I like to mix this dough by hand. You can also use a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment.
Next lightly flour the counter and turn out the dough. Knead for 2 to 3 minutes or until a rough ball forms. Cut the dough in half and form into 2 round loaves. Cut a large X in to top of each loaf to help the center of the bread bake thoroughly.
Bake the soda bread on a parchment lined baking sheet until golden brown. Give the loaf a thump on the bottom. There will be a hollow sound when the bread is perfectly baked.

I love the bread straight from the oven and generously slathered with butter. Any leftover slices are divine when toasted and served with jam for breakfast the next morning.

expert tips

Irish Soda Bread is an ideal recipe for the novice baker. With only a few ingredients and a quick prep time, the recipe is foolproof.
To insure baking success, cut the traditional cross or "X" in the top of the loaves before baking. The belief is that the X wards off any evil spirits in the upcoming year.
I struggle knowing when bread ready. Using a digital thermometer takes the guess work out of knowing when it is time to pull it out of the oven. The internal temperature of the loaf is 195 degrees F when it is baked to perfection.