Around St. Patrick’s Day, I start getting the itch to make soda bread. When I was a kid, my dad always made corned beef and cabbage, and sometimes I’d try to make a loaf of bread dotted with raisins. But time no longer makes sense to me. Is it still March? What week is it? When am I?
So here we are near the end of April, and I am finally getting around to making soda bread. This one is worth the wait. The chocolate isn’t sweet so much as earthy, and the bites with date are sweet and juicy. It makes a great breakfast, smeared with salted Irish butter and served with hot coffee. This is not a tea kind of house.
The Recipe
3 1/3 cup of AP flour
2 tbsp of cocoa powder
2 tbsp of granulated sugar
1 tsp of baking powder
1 tsp of salt
1 1/4 cup of buttermilk
1 large egg
2/3 cup of chopped dates
Zest of 1 lemon
Preheat oven to 425.
Whisk dry ingredients together.
Stir chopped dates into dry ingredients to ensure even distribution.
Add lemon zest.
Beat egg and buttermilk together.
Add wet ingredients to dry. Mix with a wooden spoon or spatula until just combined.
Turn dough onto a floured surface and form into a rough circle. Let rest 10 minutes.
Move dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Slash dough in cross pattern across the top of the loaf.
Bake at 425 for 10 minutes, then drop the temperature to 400 and bake for 30 minutes.
Let cool 30 minutes. Then eat!
Notes & Substitutions
Dried cherries would work well instead of the dates. I would err on the side of a wetter dried fruit than a full-on raisin. That said, if you soaked your fruit first to rehydrate a little, you’re free to use anything.
Orange zest was what I looking for, but I found we only had lemons. When life gives you lemons, zest them.
This isn’t a big time commitment, which is what makes soda bread a great weeknight baking project. And I still got a crusty, chewy bite. Go forth and bake (quick)bread!