Copywriters' Kitchen

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No-Knead Irish Soda Bread Recipe

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Made with traditional ingredients—but with more egg and milk than classic Irish soda bread—this recipe yields a golden eggy loaf topped with a sugary crust.

The key to No-Knead Irish Soda Bread’s success is a light hand when mixing. As you would guess from its name, you don’t knead the dough at all. In fact, you just mix dry ingredients into wet.

About wet ingredients: Unless you feel like making buttermilk biscuits next day—never a bad idea—you don’t need to buy a quart of buttermilk to make this soda bread.

Instead “clabber” sweet milk by adding a teaspoon of lemon juice or vinegar.

In yet another example of Copywriters’ Kitchen laziness, we make this bread using just two large Pyrex measuring cups and one mixing implement.

Without all those bowls, measures, whisks and wooden spoons to clean I save a lot of time. Time I spend eating extra slices of this bread slathered in sweet butter.

No-Knead Irish Soda Bread

5 tablespoons butter
3½ cups flour
1¾ cups plus 2 tablespoons Demerara or plain sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1¾ cups buttermilk
1½ cups raisins
2 eggs

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

  2. Grease an iron skillet or 10” baking pan with 1 tablespoon butter.


  3. In bowl or large 8-cup measuring cup, mix flour, 1¾ cups sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt, blending well.

    4. There's less clean up when you use a large Pyrex cup to measure and mix ingredients.
    There's less clean up when you use a large Pyrex cup to measure and mix ingredients.

  4. In a second bowl or 4-cup measuring cup mix 2 tablespoons melted butter, buttermilk, raisins and eggs. If you eyeball ingredients carefully, you can mix them all in one measuring cup, sparing yourself a lot of clean-up, see photos below.

    5. Melt butter in 4-cup Pyrex measuring cup.
    Melt butter in 4-cup Pyrex measuring cup.


    Add milk—eyeball it to see that milk—not butter—comes to 1¾ cups level.
    Add milk—eyeball it to see that milk—not butter—comes to 1¾ cups level.


    Add 1½ cups raisins to bring level of mixed ingredients to just past 3¼ cups. Adding raisins to the wet ingredients makes raisins extra plump.
    Add 1½ cups raisins to bring level of mixed ingredients to just past 3¼ cups. Adding raisins to the wet ingredients makes raisins extra plump.


    Crack eggs right onto top of mixture...
    Crack eggs right onto top of mixture...


    ...and beat eggs well, blending with milk, butter and raisins.
    ...and beat eggs well, blending with milk, butter and raisins.

  5. Swiftly dump milk/raisin mixture into flour mixture. Mix with a few quick strokes.

    6. Blend wet and dry ingredients quickly—but be sure to scoop down underneath to bottom of cup to incorporate flour. Use as few strokes as possible and don't worry about a few patches of flour.
    Blend wet and dry ingredients quickly—but be sure to scoop down underneath to bottom of cup to incorporate flour. Use as few strokes as possible and don't worry about a few patches of flour.

  6. Spoon dough into the skillet or baking pan.

    7. This recipe creates a wet dough.
    This recipe creates a wet dough.

  7. Pour remaining two tablespoons butter over the top of the dough and sprinkle with two tablespoons Demerara or plain sugar. Note: Even if you use less expensive white sugar for the dough, try to splurge on Demerara for the top of the bread. It’s subtle molasses taste and distinctive crunch are impossible to imitate.

  8. Slide into oven and bake for 30-40 minutes until tester comes out clean.

    9. Check bread after 30 minutes and remove from oven as soon as inserted toothpick comes out clean.
    Check bread after 30 minutes and remove from oven as soon as inserted toothpick comes out clean.


    Serves 10.

3 Comments. Please leave another.

  1. Thank you for the recipe! I made it for Thanksgiving using whole wheat flour instead of white flour and it was great. I love the idea of baking it in the iron skillet – it keeps warm so much longer.
    Olivia

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