I made Irish Soda Bread one time, right after Gabriel and I got married. It was a dismal gluten-free recipe failure, and I never tried it again. But…
With Saint Patrick’s Day coming up, and thinking about all things Irish, I decided, five-ish years later, to give it another crack.
Apparently I’ve learned some about baking since then, because guess what? This time it turned out pretty good!
The crust is a little bit like our gluten-free, yeast free sandwich bread. Nice and thick, but a lot crunchier.
This recipe though, is much more, well, soda bread like. A tighter crumb, and not as flexible. It’s amazing the impact a slightly different mix of flours can have!
I don’t particularly care for raisins or caraway seeds, so of course, I left them out of my soda bread. Am I missing out on the complete Irish experience doing that? I hope not!
This would be a really awesome addition to chicken noodle soup, or really, anything involving gluten-free egg noodles!
Gluten-Free Irish Soda Bread
Ingredients
- 1 cup milk
- 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 extra large egg
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 2/3 cups gluten-free flour mix
- 1 teaspoon guar gum
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar or honey
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 cup currants or raisins (optional)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons caraway seeds (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400F.
- Place a small, lightly oiled cast iron skillet in oven to preheat.
- Combine the milk with the lemon juice and let sit 2-3 minutes to coagulate.
- Add egg and beat.
- Add baking soda and set aside to let the baking soda start to work.
- Add the flour blend, xanthan gum, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt to the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Pulse several times to combine. Add butter and process until it’s the size of small peas. (of course, you can also do this using a pastry blender or fork.)
- Transfer the flour mixture to a large bowl. Stir in the currants and caraway seeds until it’s evenly combined. Make a well in the center of the flour and add the wet ingredients, stirring just until combined. Make sure to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl well while stirring.
- Scrape dough into hot skillet, and working quickly, use a rubber spatula to shape dough into a dome. Lightly dust the top of the loaf with flour.
- Place skillet of dough back into the oven.
- Turn the oven down to 375F. Rotate the bread 180 degrees halfway through the baking time. If it browns too quickly, cover it with aluminum foil.
- Bake for 45 – 55 minutes, until the bread has baked through. If you have an instant read thermometer, the internal temperature should reach 200F.
- Let cool slightly on a wire rack before serving. Naw, just kidding, I think eating bread while it’s still hot enough to melt butter is one of life’s greatest joys!
But hot or cold, enjoy!
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Should I leave out the guar gum if my flour has xanthan gum in it?
Thanks
Yes!
This looks delish! I have pinned it to save it to make later. I love being able to pull it up at the store & grab the ingredients. I am gluten-free and so this will be a staple for us. I am going to peruse your site for more goodies. Thanks!
Hi! Yours looked so delish, I’m sad because mine came out very, very dry. I’m going to try again (how can I resist your scrumptious pictures?) but I have 2 questions….1) could it be my eggs? Do you have your own chickens bc I’ve found farm fresh eggs are much bigger than even XL at grocery (what I used) & 2) butter- room temp or from fridge? THANKS!!!!!
Hmmm, I wish I knew what went wrong! 🙁 I *do* use farm eggs, but don’t think they’re all THAT huge, and yes – cold butter. Sorry I didn’t make that more clear to begin with.
Thanks for linking up at our Gluten Free Fridays Party! I have tweeted and pinned your entry to our Gluten Free Fridays board on Pinterest! 🙂 I can’t wait to see what you share next time!
-Cindy
Hi there, do you know whether any non-dairy milk would work with this receipt please? I’m allergic to dairy products 🙁
Many thanks
Coconut milk (like the stuff in the grocery store dairy case – not the really thick canned stuff), or almond milk should work well.
This was simple and yummy. I did use soy milk and extra butter and omitted xanthum gum since my mix had it. You can do so much with it. I added raisins and I think k if I add more sugar, cinnamon, cranberries and raisins it will be a great holiday bread.
Made it. Had it with soup. Didn’t last long. So total success. A little on the sweet side – think I would add less sugar.