Irish Soda Bread

Irish Soda Bread is a traditional Irish bread made with flour, salt, baking soda and soured milk. The recipe was introduced to Ireland in the 1840s as a method of baking leavened bread using the soft wheat indigenous to Ireland.

Fast Facts

1. Introduced to Ireland in the 1840s¹
2. Basic soda bread is made with flour, salt, baking soda and soured milk
3. Made with baking soda and not yeast²
4. Yeast is not effective in leavening soft wheat²
5. The baking soda and milk combine to create soda bubbles

Soda bread came about as an invention of necessity in Ireland. Ireland's climate is not conducive to growing hard wheats that are usually used in bread making.¹ Ireland's domestic wheat was mostly of the soft, starchy variety that does not respond to yeast leavening.² Combining baking soda with the lactic acid in milk, creates soda bubbles that work to leaven Ireland's soft wheat.³

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