Grandma’s Irish Soda Bread

 Welcome to my favorite Irish Soda Bread recipe. I shared this no yeast bread recipe on my blog a few years ago and decided to revisit with fresh new pictures and a video tutorial. This recipe is my grandmother’s. She passed away in 2011, 2 weeks before I started this food blog. I dedicated my 1st cookbook to her. Full of energy and the creator of the best homemade pie crust on earth, she would be in her 90s today. St. Patrick’s Day is her birthday.

Does the thought of homemade bread send you running for the hills? Sometimes homemade bread feels daunting, but you’re in luck today. Irish soda bread is a quick bread made with baking soda, not yeast. Like my easy no yeast bread, this is a shortcut bread that doesn’t skimp on flavor. (If you want a yeast bread, I recommend my sandwich bread recipe!)

Ingredients

 1 and 3/4 cups (420ml) buttermilk*

1 large egg (optional, see note)

4 and 1/4 cups (515g) all-purpose flour (spoon & leveled), plus more for your hands and counter

3 Tablespoons (38g) granulated sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

5 Tablespoons (70g) unsalted butter, cold and cubed*

optional: 1 cup (150g) raisins

Instructions

Preheat oven & pan options: Preheat oven to 400°F (204°C). There are options for the baking pan. Use a regular baking sheet and line with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat (bread spreads a bit more on a baking sheet), or use a seasoned 10-12 inch cast iron skillet, or grease a 9-10 inch cake pan or pie dish. You can also use a 5 quart (or higher) dutch oven. Grease or line with parchment paper. If using a dutch oven, bake the bread with the lid off.

Whisk the buttermilk and egg together. Set aside. Whisk the flour, granulated sugar, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl. Cut in the butter using a pastry cutter, a fork, or your fingers. Mixture is very heavy on the flour, but do your best to cut in the butter until the butter is pea-sized crumbs. Stir in the raisins. Pour in the buttermilk/egg mixture. Gently fold the dough together until dough it is too stiff to stir. Pour crumbly dough onto a lightly floured work surface. With floured hands, work the dough into a ball as best you can, then knead for about 30 seconds or until all the flour is moistened. If the dough is too sticky, add a little more flour.

Transfer the dough to the prepared skillet/pan. Using a very sharp knife, score an X into the top. Bake until the bread is golden brown and center appears cooked through, about 45 minutes. Loosely cover the bread with aluminum foil if you notice heavy browning on top. I usually place foil on top halfway through bake time.

Remove from the oven and allow bread to cool for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. Serve warm, at room temperature, or toasted with desired toppings/spreads.

Cover and store leftover bread at room temperature for up to 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. We usually wrap it tightly in aluminum foil for storing.

BIBINGKA (COCONUT RICE CAKE)

 Soft and fluffy bibingka baked in banana leaf lined muffin tins. This is an easy homemade version of the popular Filipino coconut rice cake traditionally cooked in clay pots.

October is Filipino American History Month (FAHS). The first Filipinos arrived near what is now Morro Bay, California back in October 18, 1587 aboard a Spanish ship. (YES. They arrived 33 years before the English Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock!)

INGREDIENTS

frozen banana leaves, as needed to line molds or tins

melted unsalted butter, for brushing

180 grams rice flour*

45 grams all-purpose flour

24 grams (2 Tablespoon) baking powder

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

4 large eggs, room temp

300 grams granulated sugar

13.5 oz can full-fat coconut milk, well-shaken

57 grams unsalted butter, melted

block cream cheese, thinly sliced, as needed for topping

 

INSTRUCTIONS

Thaw frozen banana leaves at room temperature. Or, quickly thaw them under cool running water. Rinse banana leaves to remove any dirt or dust. Pat dry with paper towel or cloth kitchen towel.

If necessary, remove thick rib that runs down the center of banana leaf. Use scissors or sharp knife to cut banana leaf to fit baking vessel.

Use kitchen tongs to hold banana leaves. Pass over an an open flame (such as gas stove burner) several times until banana leaf is shiny and deep green. Repeat will all banana leaves. Set aside.

NOTE: This is make the banana leaf more pliable and easy to work with. Be careful not to burn the banana leaf.

Grease giant muffin tin with melted butter. Press banana leaf into muffin tin cavity to line the mold. Brush banana leaf with melted butter. Set aside and prepare batter.

Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C).

Sift together rice flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk eggs until yolks are broken. Add sugar. Use an electric hand mixer or a sturdy whisk to beat eggs and sugar until smooth. Add coconut milk and melted butter. Beat together until well combined.

Add half of dry rice flour mixture. Stir to combine. Add remaining rice flour mixture. Mix until batter is smooth and there are no dry streaks of flour.

Add 1/2 cup portions of batter into prepared giant muffin tin. Bake for 20 minutes. Add slices of cream cheese on top of each bibingka. Bake for another 10-15 minutes until cakes are set and toothpick inserted in cake comes out clean.

Unmold bibingka from giant muffin tin. Bibingka is best served warm, fresh from the oven.

RECIPE NOTES

RICE FLOUR:

Rice flour is milled from medium grain or long grain rice. It is usually sold in RED labeled packaging. 

Do not use glutinous rice flour, which is made from short grain rice. Glutinous rice flour uses GREEN packaging.

This is helpful when the labels are not written in English.

RED= Rice Flour

GREEN = Glutinous Rice Flour 

Rice flour will create airy sponge cake- like texture. Glutinous rice flour will result in dense, sticky cake. 

BANANA LEAF:

Banana leaves were traditionally used to line the clay pot vessels that bibingka was baked in. The banana leaf imparts a distinct flavor that is difficult mimic. If you cannot access banana leaf, I suggest adding 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract to the batter.

Frozen banana leaves are available at well stocked supermarkets and widely available at Asian or Latin markets.

You may use parchment paper or cupcake liners in place of banana leaf. 

YIELD: 

Giant muffin tin will yield about 14 portions

Standard muffin tin will yield about 21 portions 

Batter can also be baked in one 9-inch to 12-inch cast iron skillet, two 8-inch round cake pans, or two 8-inch square pans, or one 9 x 13-inch casserole dish

UBE MILK BREAD

 Since 2015, this Japanese Milk Bread has consistently been one of the most popular recipe posts on my site.

After making it countless times, I’ve finally created a new milk bread variation!

Ube. I’m sure you’ve heard of it by now. With the increasing popularity of Filipino cuisine, ube is finally making it’s mainstream debut. 

INGREDIENTS

Starter:

1/3 cup (45 g) all-purpose flour, or bread flour

1/2 cup (120 ml) whole milk

1/2 cup (120 ml) water

Dough:

2 1/2 cup (325 g) bread flour

1/4 cup (60 g) granulated sugar

2 1/4 teaspoon (7 g) dry active yeast

1 Tablespoon milk powder*

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 large egg, whisked

1/2 cup (120 ml) whole milk

1/4 cup (60 g) unsalted butter, softened

Ube Dough:

2 cup (260 g) bread flour

1 package (4 oz / 115 g) ube powder

1/3 cup (70 g) granulated sugar

2 1/4 teaspoon (7 g) dry active yeast

2 Tablespoon milk powder*

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 large egg, whisked

1/2 cup + 2 Tablespoon (150 ml) whole milk

1 1/2 teaspoon ube extract

1/4 cup (60 g) unsalted butter, softened

 

INSTRUCTIONS

Starter:

In a medium pot, whisk together flour, milk, and water. Set over medium heat. Stir often, making sure to pay attention to the bottom edges of the pot. Cook for about 5 minutes, until the mixture has thickened to the consistency of mashed potatoes. 

Remove from heat and transfer to a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, allow wrap to lay directly on top of starter mixture. Allow to cool to room temperature.

Dough:

In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together bread flour, sugar, yeast, milk powder and salt. Attach dough hook to mixer. Add in half of cooled starter mixture (about 1/2 cup), egg, and milk. Knead on low speed for 5 minutes. Scape down bowl to ensure thorough mixing.

Add softened butter and continue to knead on low speed for 5 minutes until butter is integrated into dough. Increase speed to medium and knead for another 5 minutes until dough is smooth and pulls away from the sides of the bowl.

Transfer dough to a lightly greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 1 hour, or until dough is doubled in volume. Meanwhile, make ube dough.

Ube Dough:

In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together bread flour, ube powder, sugar, yeast, milk powder and salt. Attach dough hook to mixer. Add in 1/2 cup of cooled starter mixture, egg, milk, and ube extract. Knead on low speed for 5 minutes. Scape down bowl to ensure thorough mixing.

Add softened butter and continue to knead on low speed for 5 minutes until butter is integrated into dough. Increase speed to medium and knead for another 5 minutes until dough is smooth and pulls away from the sides of the bowl.

Transfer dough to a lightly greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 1 hour, or until dough is doubled in volume.

Assembly:

Grease two 9x4 or 9x5 inch loaf pans or pullman loaf pans. If desired, line with parchment paper for easy bread removal. Set aside.

Work with cream colored dough first. Punch down risen dough. Transfer to a lightly floured work surface. Divide dough into 8 equal parts. (Use a bench scraper and kitchen scale for ease and accuracy.) Roll each part into a ball. Cover dough with plastic wrap as you work to prevent dough from drying out or forming a skin.

Next, work with purple colored (ube) dough. Punch down risen dough. Transfer to a lightly floured work surface. Divide dough into 8 equal parts. (Use a bench scraper and kitchen scale for ease and accuracy.) Roll each part into a ball. Cover dough with plastic wrap as you work to prevent dough from drying out or forming a skin.

Grab one cream colored dough ball. Flatten or roll out dough to a length of about 8-inches and 5-inches wide. Grab a purple colored ball and repeat rolling. Place purple dough over cream dough. Starting at the shorter end, roll dough into a log.

Place log seam side down into prepared loaf pan. Repeat process until loaf pan has a total of four logs. Cover loaf pan with plastic wrap and let rest for 30-45 minutes at room temperature until dough has doubled in volume and. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Repeat this process with the remaining balls of dough. See notes for instructions on how to make the marbled dough for pullman loaf pan.*

Remove plastic wrap. Lightly brush the top of the dough with heavy cream. Bake in preheated oven for 35-40 minutes until the top of the bread loaf is golden brown and the internal temperature of the bread is at least 190 degrees F. Be sure to rotate bread midway through baking for even coking.

Let bread cool in pan for 5 minutes. Unmold bread from pan and allow to cool to room temperature on wire rack. Once cool, slice bread using serrated knife. 

EASY CHOCOLATE CHIP BANANA BREAD RECIPE

 Easy chocolate chip banana bread loaded with nearly 2 cups of full sized chocolate chips, is the ultimate chocolate lovers dream! Decadent and a perfect balance of sweet and totally filling, try this recipe for banana bread while its still HOT out of the oven.

You probably won’t have any left tomorrow...just sayin. 

This recipe for chocolate chip banana bread is so moist, so delicious, and SO full of chocolate chips, its the ultimate recipe.

And if you are anything like me, you weasel out a slice while this bread is still hot out of the oven! 

INGREDIENTS

3 ripe bananas

⅓ cup butter, melted

½ cup sugar

1 egg, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon baking soda

 pinch of salt

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 cup chocolate chips plus additional for top

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 350.

To get started on this recipe for the ultimately moist chocolate chip banana bread, first prep your bananas by adding 3 ripe bananas and melted butter in a bowl. Mash down until all the big lumps of banana are gone. We have a pampered chef Mix N Chop that works great for this!

Now add your white sugar, vanilla, baking soda and mix well - use a spatula. 

Add in flour - make sure you do not over fill your measuring cups and leveling off with a knife before dumping into the bowl. Mix well. Your batter should be thickening up. 

After all of the flour is fully incorporated, which should just take a few minutes of hand stirring, add in 1 cup of chocolate chips. 

Pour batter in the loaf pan and scrape off any extra batter from the sides of the bowl. 

Smooth out (but do not push down) batter so the loaf pan is even. This makes sure one side doesn't over or under cook. 

Layer top of banana bread with as many chocolate chips as you want - we are very generous with ours!

Bake for approximately 50-55 minutes, until a sharp knife pulls out without stuck batter.

Banana bread traditionally takes the full 50-ish minutes to cook. Remember when you have a lot of chocolate chips that the knife or toothpick can pull melted chocolate on it but what you are looking for is the batter to be done. 

See blog post on best ways to store your chocolate banana bread to keep it moist and delicious

APPLE BUTTER BREAD RECIPE

 I know a lot of people dont like major commentary on blog recipe posts, so I have been cleaning them up to be a little more concise.

No bread machine needed for this delicious, moist apple butter bread – a great way to use up the homemade apple butter you have as well as enjoy a dessert bread for breakfast or snack. 

Scroll to the bottom for a printable version of this post, including all measurements and instructions, so you can follow along in your kitchen without being on your phone. 

INGREDIENTS

2 cups ALL PURPOSE flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup oil

2 eggs

1/4 cup milk

1 cup apple butter

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INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 and grease a loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray. Do not forget this part because bread is not easy to get out unless you prepare the pan.

Add all dry ingredients - all purpose flour, baking soda, cinnamon, baking powder and salt in a small mixing bowl and mix well. Set bowl aside.

Now, in a separate bowl, add we ingredients - sugar, oil and eggs to a mixing bowl and mix well.

Add milk and apple butter into wet ingredient bowl and mix well.

Fold in flour ingredients and mix just until batter combined (do not over mix).

Pour apple butter bread batter into prepared loaf pan and bake for 50-60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Its important to note that all ovens are a bit different, so start watching around the 45-50 minute mark and every 5 minutes after. Some times bread comes out without batter on the toothpick but a bit of bread, and that is when I pull it.

Let bread cool ENTIRELY before removing from pan and slicing to serve.

Wrap in plastic cling wrap and then foil around that to keep moist and ready to serve. Leave on counter (not in fridge)

CAST IRON MONKEY BREAD

Cast Iron Monkey Bread made with Cinnamon Rolls, icing glaze and pecan pieces, an easy oven baked monkey bread done in just about 20 minutes!

This easy breakfast bread, complete with extra cinnamon, sugar, and butter, make the most delicious dessert bread that can be served right beside eggs and bacon for that bit of morning sweet tooth.

INGREDIENTS

16 oz can of cinnamon rolls ( I use Annies 17.5 oz Cinnamon Rolls) 

1/2 cup pecan pieces

3/4 cup sugar

2 tsp ground cinnamon

reserved glaze from cinnamon rolls OR maple syrup

1/2 cup melted butter

10 inch cast iron skillet

non-stick cooking spray

INSTRUCTIONS

To get started, first preheat your oven to 350 degrees and prep your cast iron pan by spraying with non-stick cooking spray. If you do not have a cast iron skillet, you can use any 10 inch skillet that can be safely put in the oven. 

Open and separate cinnamon rolls and cut into quarters. I recommend doing this on a cutting board with non stick cooking spray to eliminate any rolls sticking. 

Melt 1/2 cup butter in a bowl. 

Mix sugar and cinnamon to create a cinnamon sugar mixture (plate or bowl is fine).  

Dip quartered cinnamon roll into butter and then roll in cinnamon sugar mixture and add to cast iron skillet. 

Repeat until all pieces of roll is sugar coated. 

Now spread half a cup of pecan pieces on top of cinnamon rolls in skillet. 

Place in oven for 20-25 minutes. 

Remove from oven and spread icing glaze (that came with the cinnamon rolls) on top.

If you do not use the glaze, you can instead top with maple syrup. 

Any time you are baking a bread dessert, its helpful to let it sit 5-10 minutes before serving, as it solidifies the dough and helps it not fall part when you scoop. Also if you are going to pull apart the bread and eat with your fingers, its best to let it cool. That being said, my family usually cannot wait and uses a spoon to scoop out the pecan monkey bread onto a plate and eat with a fork.