skillet irish soda bread
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Let’s start with the obvious: this is not a traditional Irish soda bread recipe. Instead, this is an effortless skillet Irish soda bread, with a buttered and sugared topping that gives way to a tender center studded with dried cranberries and golden raisins. Perhaps authenticity is overrated?
Perfumed with orange zest, this skillet bread is irresistible still warm from the oven and makes a fine breakfast along with good butter and jam. What this recipe lacks in tradition, it makes up for in sheer deliciousness. If you’ve never made soda bread before, I encourage you to start here and never look back – you’ll be devouring this bread all weekend long.
Skillet Irish Soda Bread
- Yield: 1 10-inch loaf, 12 servings
Ingredients
Bread
- 3 cups flour
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1 Tbsp aluminum free baking powder
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 3/4 cups low-fat buttermilk, at room temperature
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- 1 tsp orange zest
- 1 cup dried cranberries
- 1/2 cup golden raisins
Topping
- 1 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- 1 Tbsp sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F and grease a seasoned 10-inch cast iron skillet. Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in a large bowl; make a well in the in the center of the mixture. Whisk together buttermilk, egg, melted butter, and orange zest in a medium bowl. Add to flour mixture and fold in just until almost incorporated; gently fold in cranberries and raisins.
- Pour batter into prepared skillet and smooth with an offset spatula. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for about 35 minutes, until top and edges are golden and set, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 to 15 minutes in the skillet before using a thin spatula to loosen bread from skillet and invert onto a cooling rack. Let cool to slightly warm before serving.
Notes
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen
Nutrition
- Calories: 260
- Carbohydrates: 50
Keywords: skillet bread, soda bread
This bread was delicious! My dad absolutely loved it. It stayed moist for a good week. I kept it in a ziplock bag and sliced it off. It was delicious plain but as it got a little older we loved it toasted with orange marmalade. It was just fantastic. Thanks for such a great & fun recipe to bake in a cast iron skillet.
Thanks so much, Debbie! Glad to hear such great feedback! 🙂
Delicious treat, Laura! I will definitely give it a try!
Oh, this looks so delicious, Laura. I’d love a slice right now!
What a brilliant idea to make this in a skillet!
I think this is a wonderful version of Irish soda bread! I find it gets a bit dry when it’s on the second or third day so cranberries are a really nice addition.