Gluten-free Irish Soda Bread

Name: Irish Soda Bread {Gluten-free}
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 55 min
Total time: 1 h 40 min
Yield: 10 servings
Ingredients: 3 cups (375g) good quality all-purpose gluten-free flour blend*; 1 tsp. xanthan gum; 1/4 cup sugar; 1 tsp. baking soda; 1 Tbsp. baking powder; 1/2 tsp. salt; 1/2 cup (1 stick =8 Tbsp.) cold, unsalted butter; 2/3 cup currants or raisins; 1 cup buttermilk; 1 egg, room temperature; 1 Tbsp. melted butter; 1 Tbsp. buttermilk

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March 16, 2015 by Michelle Palin ~ My Gluten-free Kitchen 44 Comments

Thanks for sharing!

Easy to make, hearty and flavorful gluten-free Irish Soda Bread that goes great alongside any meal. We enjoy it around St. Patrick’s Day and throughout the year!I think I only had Irish Soda bread once or twice before going gluten-free. Since mastering this recipe, I’ve had several times in the past year! If you are looking for an easy to make, yeast-free bread that is great to serve with soup, gluten-free chili, gluten-free beef stew, or any hearty main dish, this gluten-free Irish Soda Bread would be a great choice!

A few years ago I made three Irish Soda Bread recipes to bring to a potluck. Everyone tried them and gave me feedback and this one was the clear winner. I’ve made it with the currants and without – it is great both ways. I preferred using currants over raisins, since they are smaller, but you could also use raisins. I’ve got texture issues with raisins!

Our small group from church has a potluck dinner each year near St. Patrick’s Day. I was asked to bring this gluten-free Irish Soda bread again this year, and thankfully I made two loaves, because it all got eaten! A couple of the other people in the group are wheat-free, but the rest are all “regular” eaters and all loved the bread. You definitely won’t miss the gluten in this!

We really enjoyed this served with butter or honey butter too. YUM!

Notes on ingredients for this Gluten-free Irish Soda Bread:

Flour: I’ve tested this with three different gluten-free flour blends with great success. Maninis Multi-Purpose Flour Blend, available at your local store or from Amazon, Gluten Free Mama’s all-purpose almond flour blend available from Amazon, and recently I tested it as well with gfJules all-purpose gluten-free flour with success too! While the dough with gfJules was a little stickier to work with, I honestly couldn’t tell any taste or texture difference in the two baked loaves. I can definitely recommend you use whichever flour blend you have access to or want to order. I highly suspect that other good quality gluten-free flour blends will work well in this recipe as well. I just wanted to specifically mention the ones I’ve tested it with so far. I simply cannot test every blend available, but please do try with your favorite blend and comment to let others know!
Raisins or Currants: You can use raisins or currants. I opted to use Zante currants. They are made from tiny grapes and I’ve found that while I dislike raisins, I do like Zante currants. Why? They are so small that they add just a bit of flavor without a weird mushy texture that you can get from raisins. They can sometimes be found in a box near the raisins and dried cranberries at your local store, though I admit I had to go to 2 stores before I could find them here locally! You can also order online – I get them here at nuts.com now. Note that Zante currants are not actually currants, which is why I specified what they are called.
Buttermilk: Buttermilk in the U.S. is gluten-free. If you don’t wish to buy buttermilk, you can make your own buttermilk at home.

I recommend baking your loaf on a cookie sheet with a sheet or parchment paper on it. If you don’t use parchment paper yet when you bake, I highly recommend it! With most recipes, it saves you from having to grease any pans at all, plus no cleaning up! You can buy these pre-cut parchment paper sheets from Amazon.

I’ll be making it again for St. Patrick’s Day. It would be great served with Corned Beef and Cabbage if you’ve got that on the menu. It would also go great alongside this Cauliflower Shepherd’s Pie. Honestly, I haven’t even planned the rest of my St. Patrick’s Day menu, but I do know I’ll be making this bread again!

If you try this, I’d love to hear what flour blend you used successfully and what you served your delicious loaf with! Enjoy!