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This Irish Soda Bread is studded with chocolate chips, made with brown sugar and paired with a delicious honey butter. Make this on St. Patrick’s Day and enjoy a day of celebration.
I’m going to be completely honest and say that St. Patrick’s Day is one of those holidays that I don’t celebrate. I never have. I don’t drink green beer, I don’t eat Irish food, I don’t pinch people (please don’t touch me ever lol) and I always forget to wear green. But I do love bread. And I love Irish soda bread, along with homemade irish cream.
What Is Irish Soda Bread?
Irish soda bread has the most humblest of beginnings. It was made during time when it was difficult to access high-quality ingredients. It was simple: low-protein flour, “soda” aka baking soda (for leavening), soured milk and…umm…that’s it!
This is what I like to call reworked Irish soda bread. It has a bit of cold grated butter, some rolled oats for texture. And instead of raisins, I added chocolate chips because I love myself.
Ingredients You’ll Need for Chocolate Chip Irish Soda Bread
- Baking soda. This is the key ingredient in Irish Soda bread. This is where the soda part comes in. This is going to be our leavening.
- Buttermilk. Traditionally “soured” milk would be used. But in place of this, we’re using buttermilk. It creates a really tender delicious crumb in this.
- Rolls oats. I love the texture of rolled oats in these.
- Chocolate chips. I’m using milk chocolate here but feel free to use dark chocolate, semi sweet or you can even use raisins.
For the rest of the ingredients, please see the recipe index card below!
How to Make Chocolate Chip Irish Soda Bread
- Mix the dry ingredients together. There’s all-purpose, dark brown sugar, baking soda and salt.
- Grate the cold butter. And then mix it into the flour mixture. As a result, the butter is going to give this soda bread a nice flaky quality and texture.
- Add the rolled oats and chocolate chips.
- Pour in the buttermilk. I love using buttermilk because it gives a nice tang.
- Form the dough into a ball.
- Score the top.
- And then bake the Irish Soda bread.
- Mix up some honey butter and serve it alongside the slightly cooled Irish Soda Bread.
Recipe Tip
- How to add raisins. I love raisins. I have matured 🙂 If you want to, you can add raisins in place of chocolate chips. If you want to get crazy, you can soak the raisins in whiskey for 10 minutes or so, drain them and then add them.
- Make these into scones. If you want to, you can roll out the dough into a 1 1/2 -inch thickness and stamp out scones. And they’ll look similar to my Irish Soda Bread Scones.
- Make it ahead. You can make this Irish bread dough, form it into a round and then freeze it on a baking sheet for 1 hour. Transfer to a freezer-safe plastic bag and then bake from the freezer. You might need to add about 5
- to 7 minutes to the baking time.
More Cozy Bakes to Make
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To Make the Soda Bread:
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Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment; set aside.
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In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, brown sugar, baking soda and salt. Using a box grater, grate the butter into the dry ingredients and mix quickly, being sure the butter is broken up into pea-sized bits. Next, add the rolled oats and chocolate chips; toss them gently in the flour mixture so they are evenly distributed.
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Create a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in the buttermilk. Using a wooden spoon, mix it together until it forms a shaggy ball. Drop the soda bread dough onto a lightly floured counter and knead a few times, being sure to not over handle it, which will result in tough bread. Form the soda bread into a 1 1/2-inch thick disc.
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Using a knife, score the top, forming an X, and brush it with the egg wash OR you could always use buttermilk.
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Transfer the soda bread to the baking sheet and bake for 40-45 minutes, and until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Serve warm with plenty of honey butter.
To Make the Honey Butter:
- You can make this irish bread dough, form it into a round and then freeze it on a baking sheet for 1 hour. Transfer to a freezer-safe plastic bag and then bake from the freezer. You might need to add about 5 to 7 minutes to the baking time.
Serving: 6g | Calories: 424kcal | Carbohydrates: 58g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Cholesterol: 41mg | Sodium: 414mg | Potassium: 139mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 15g | Vitamin A: 495IU | Calcium: 83mg | Iron: 3mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
