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This mini Irish soda bread is a no-yeast loaf with a crisp crust and tender crumb. Made with simple ingredients, it’s easy to prepare and perfect served warm with butter or alongside soups and stews.
Featured Comment
“I have made this many times exactly how you wrote it. It is very, very good.”
– Donna
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- No Yeast Needed: Simple to make with clear, easy steps.
- Quick to Prepare: Fresh bread that bakes in under an hour.
- Versatile: Delicious with soups, stews, or a pat of butter.
- Customizable: Add currants, caraway seeds, or adjust sweetness.
- Traditional: Brings the taste of Irish heritage to your table.r table.
Irish Soda Bread is one of my favorites for its simplicity and tradition. This mini version has a crisp crust, tender crumb, and balanced flavor. With buttermilk for a slight tang, you can mix, shape, and bake – no yeast or long waits required.
Serve this small loaf of Irish Soda Bread with a bowl of Irish stew for one or colcannon for one or enjoy it with your morning tea or coffee topped with a dollop of homemade refrigerator jam.
Ingredients
If you have any ingredients leftover from this small Irish soda bread recipe, check out our Leftover Ingredients Recipe Finder.
- All-Purpose Flour: Forms the base of the bread, giving it structure and softness. Use a gluten-free all-purpose blend if needed.
- Granulated Sugar: Adds light sweetness. Reduce or omit for a less sweet loaf.
- Salt: Brings out the bread’s flavor.
- Baking Soda: Reacts with buttermilk to make the bread rise. Make sure it’s fresh.
- Cold Salted Butter: Adds richness and moisture. If using unsalted butter, add an extra pinch of salt.
- Raisins, Currants, or Caraway Seeds (Optional): aisins or currants give a sweet chew; caraway seeds add mild spice. Leave out if you prefer. Extra raisins can be used in small batch hermit cookies, small batch oatmeal raisin cookies or small batch cream scones.
- Egg Yolk: Adds richness and golden color. Save the white for egg white recipes like small batch meringues or mini Texas sheet cake.
- Buttermilk: Provides acidity to work with baking soda for lift. No buttermilk? Mix ½ cup milk with 1 tablespoon lemon juice or white vinegar; let sit 10 minutes. Leftover buttermilk can be used in mini buttermilk pie, buttermilk quick bread, small batch butter swim biscuits, or chicken nuggets for one.
Recipe Variations
Try these tasty soda bread variations:
- Fruit-Filled: Add raisins, currants, or other dried fruit.
- Herb-Infused: Stir in chopped fresh herbs like rosemary or thyme.
- Seed-Topped: Sprinkle sesame, pumpkin, or sunflower seeds on top before baking.
- Cheesy: Mix in shredded cheddar or Parmesan.
How To Make Irish Soda Bread
These photos and instructions help you visualize how to make a small loaf of Irish Soda Bread. See the recipe box below for ingredient amounts and full recipe instructions.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda.
- Cut in cold butter until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs. Stir in raisins if using.
- In a small bowl, whisk egg yolk and buttermilk, then pour into the dry ingredients.
- Gently mix until just combined. Turn onto a lightly floured surface, knead briefly, and shape into a round loaf.
- Place on a baking sheet and score a ½-inch-deep “X” on top with a sharp knife.
- Bake in a preheated oven for about 40 minutes, until golden and hollow-sounding when tapped on the bottom.
Expert Tips
- Mix Well: Blend dry ingredients thoroughly before adding buttermilk for even flavor and texture.
- Handle Lightly: Keep the dough shaggy, not smooth. Minimal handling makes the bread tender.
- Score the Top: Cut a deep “X” to help the bread bake evenly.
- Check Early: Start checking a few minutes before the bake time ends, as ovens vary.
Frequently Asked Questions
Irish soda bread is a quick bread made without yeast. It uses baking soda and buttermilk for leavening, resulting in a tender and flavorful loaf with a crisp crust.
No. This bread rises from the reaction between baking soda and buttermilk, so no yeast or proofing time is needed.
Yes. Mix ½ cup milk with 1 tablespoon lemon juice or white vinegar and let sit for 10 minutes before using.
Wrap the cooled bread tightly in foil or plastic wrap and store at room temperature for up to 2 days.
Yes. Wrap the cooled loaf in plastic wrap and foil, then freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature before serving.
RELATED: Best Soup Recipes For One
Ways To Use Leftover Ingredients
If you have any ingredients leftover from this Irish soda bread recipe, check out our Leftover Ingredients Recipe Finder or you might like to consider using them in any of these single serving and small batch recipes:
RELATED: Single Serving Comfort Food Recipes
If you’ve tried this small Irish soda bread recipe or any recipe on One Dish Kitchen please let me know how you liked it by rating the recipe and telling me about it in the comment section below.
Also, if you take a picture please tag us on Instagram (@onedishkitchen) we’d love to see it!
Get a Quick Recipe Overview
Mini Irish Soda Bread
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon cold salted butter cut into small pieces
- ¼ cup raisins (optional)
- 1 large egg yolk
- ½ cup buttermilk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C).
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda.
- Cut in cold butter until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs. Stir in raisins if using.
- In a small bowl, whisk egg yolk and buttermilk, then pour into the dry ingredients. Gently mix until combined.
- Turn onto a lightly floured surface, knead briefly, and shape into a 4-inch circle. Tip: Add a little more flour if the dough is sticky.
- Place on a baking sheet and score a ½-inch-deep “X” on top with a sharp knife.
- Bake in a preheated oven for about 40 minutes, until golden and hollow-sounding when tapped on the bottom.Tip: If the top browns too quickly, cover with aluminum foil.
- Let the bread cool slightly, then serve warm or at room temperature.
Notes
- Mix Well: Blend dry ingredients thoroughly before adding buttermilk for even flavor and texture.
- Handle Lightly: Keep the dough shaggy, not smooth. Minimal handling makes the bread tender.
- Score the Top: Cut a deep “X” to help the bread bake evenly.
- Check Early: Start checking a few minutes before the bake time ends, as ovens vary.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Just made this today for St Patrick’s Day. I made colcannon too for the first time. They were both very good. Thanks for the recipe
3/17/24
Happy St Paddy’s Day, I made this today! Turned out great, the only change I made was I added a quarter of a teaspoon of baking powder. Thank you for the recipe!☘️🍀🇮🇪❤️
I was very excited to try this recipe for my St. Patrick’s Day dinner. I’m not sure what I did wrong, but my dough was more like a batter. I followed the instructions and measured the ingredients exactly to the recipe. The dough in the bowl was very wet, not resembling shaggy dough. I had to add a bit more flour to stiffen it enough to form it. It appears to have baked nicely, the bottom is a tad moist and somewhat cake like. Any suggestions would be great as I’m going to give this another go.
Baking can sometimes be a bit unpredictable, but let’s see if we can troubleshoot.
Your dough turning out more like batter instead of being thick could be because of a few simple things. First, check the flour you’re using. Different kinds of flour soak up liquids in different ways. If the flour isn’t exactly what the recipe asks for, it might change how the dough turns out.
Your local weather or how high above sea level you are can also affect your baking. If it’s really humid or you’re in a high place, you might need to tweak how much liquid or flour you use.
Since you mentioned the dough was very wet, it’s possible that there was a bit too much liquid in the mixture. When you try the recipe again, you might want to add the liquid gradually and stop when the dough reaches the desired consistency.
The way you measure ingredients is super important too. For flour, make sure you’re gently spooning it into the measuring cup and leveling it off. If you scoop directly from the bag, you might end up with too much.
Finally, check your oven’s heat. If the bread is a bit moist at the bottom, it might need to bake longer, or the oven might not be hot enough. An oven thermometer can help you make sure the temperature is just right.
Delicious and easy. Followed recipe and did add a tiny bit more flour. Crumb is tender and light.
I made today, As Written, Only thing I did different was sprinkle with Sugar, Absolutely Delicious, and Perfect size.
For your Soda Bread I do not have Buttermilk so what should I use instead of Buttermilk.
Will greatly appreciate your suggestion.
Thank you for a quick reply.
Buttermilk is essential for its reaction with baking soda, which helps the bread rise. If you don’t have buttermilk, you can create a homemade version by combining ½ cup (112 milliliters) of milk with 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar. Let it sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes before using.
Love your mini recipes. There’s just me so they’re perfect. Eager to give the colcannon and Irish soda bread a try. Keep it up.
As a huge fan of Irish Soda Bread, yours is a hit! I love that this is a small size recipe and adding the egg yolk for tenderness is genius. I read the tiny tweaks of others and added 1/4 tsp. cream of tartar to help a bit with the rise and lowered the cooking temperature to 375 degrees. I pulled it when the interior reached 180 degrees, and it only took about 25 minutes; however, my toaster oven runs hot.
Mini Irish Soda bread
You did not include caraway seeds. I want to include them. How many seeds should I put in this small bread?
If you’d like to make Irish Soda Bread with caraway seeds, I would add 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon (depending on your preference) of the seeds.
I’ve tested a few dozen soda bread recipes over the years and the best ones have had baking powder, as well as baking soda, in the dough. This one doesn’t. The bread rose beautifully, the crust was nice and craggy without being hard, but the crumb, despite being soft and moist, was a bit bready/dense. I followed the recipe, using 120 grams flour, and the dough wasn’t sticky. My baked bread looked just like the one pictured with the recipe. It was golden brown and tested done in 28 minutes. My oven is accurate. I keep 2 oven thermometers in it to keep an eye on the temperature. The next time I make this I’ll add some baking powder to see if it lightens the crumb.