Irish Soda Bread Shamrock Recipe

Celebrate St. Patrick's Day by baking a traditional recipe with a twist. It's so easy to make this shamrock-shaped Irish Soda Bread using just four ingredients.

Serve and Irish Soda Bread Shamrock with dinner this St. Patrick's Day

Growing up with a head full of curly red locks and a face spotted with freckles, people were always asking if I was of Irish descent.

My Nana (grandma) was Irish and very proudly so, but my gene for the vibrant colored hair came from my Polish grandfather.

The freckles, however, were directly linked to Nana who always told me these spots were angel kisses and that I must be very special to have been kissed so many times. Lucky me!

I always knew she was full of blarney.

That's me dressed up for our school's Hat's Off To Ireland performance.

At home we celebrated St. Patrick's Day with traditional Irish food and my favorite part of the meal was always the Irish Soda Bread.

My go-to bread recipe happens to be for Irish Soda Bread as it only requires four ingredients and takes just a few minutes to prepare.

This bread is rather dense compared to bread made with yeast, but I love the crisp exterior and moist interior. The flavor is mild and can be enjoyed with or without butter and is wonderful dipped in the broth of Irish stew.

I found it rather easy to shape this bread into a shamrock by using a heart-shaped cookie cutter but I'm sure you can shape it by hand as well.

Irish Soda Bread Shamrock

You'll Need:
all-purpose flour
baking soda
salt
buttermilk

Special Equipment Needed:
4" heart-shaped cookie cutter
baking sheet (cookie sheet)
non-stick aluminum foil
non-stick cooking spray
pastry brush

Instructions:

• Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Pour 4 cups of flour into a large mixing bowl.
• Add 1 teaspoon of baking soda and 1 ½ teaspoons of salt and stir with a fork to combine.
• Add 2 cups of buttermilk and stir with a fork until well blended.

Knead dough.

• Sprinkle the remaining ¼ flour onto your work surface and place your dough on top.
• Knead the dough, working in the flour as needed, for about one minute until dough is no longer sticky and forms a smooth round ball.

Press dough into heart cutter.

• Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces.
• Cover a baking sheet with a piece of non-stick aluminum foil or with a piece of parchment paper or regular aluminum foil lightly coated with baking spray.
• Spray the inside of your heart-shaped cookie cutter with cooking spray.
• Set the cutter in the center top of the baking sheet.
• Press one piece of dough into the heart cutter and pat it down to shape it into the heart.
• Remove the heart cutter, leaving the dough in place.
• Spray the inside of the cutter again with cooking spray.
• Place it with the point facing into the center just below and to the left of the first dough heart.
• Fill the cutter with dough and shape it into a heart.
• Remove the cutter and spray again with cooking spray then repeat creating a heart on the opposite side.

Shape shamrock.

• Press your finger against the indent in each heart to make the groove a little wider and deeper.
• Roll the 4th piece of dough into a log and shape into the shamrock stem - pointed at the top and wider at the bottom.
• Place the pointed end in between the three hearts and curve the bottom to one side.
• Brush the remaining 2 teaspoons of buttermilk over the surface of the dough.
• Bake for 20 minutes then rotate the pan 180 degrees to ensure even browning of the bread.
• Bake for an additional 18-22 minutes until the crust is a deep golden brown.
• Allow the bread to cool a bit before serving.
• Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Make your shamrock bread green.

You can make your shamrock-shaped Irish Soda Bread festive by stirring some green food coloring into the buttermilk before mixing it into the flour, soda, and salt.

One of my readers sent me a picture of her green loaf of bread. I thought it was such a fun idea for St. Patrick's Day.

Printable Recipe

Print

Irish Soda Bread Shamrock

Prep Time

20 mins

Cook Time

40 mins

 

Shape a 4-ingredient Irish Soda Bread into a shamrock to celebrate St. Patrick's Day.

Course: Bread

Cuisine: irish

Keyword: bread

Servings: 12

Author: Beth

Ingredients

• 4 cups all-purpose flour plus ¼ cup
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 ½ teaspoons salt
• 2 cups buttermilk, plus 2 teaspoons to brush over top

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Pour 4 cups of flour into a large mixing bowl.
3. Add baking soda and salt and stir with a fork to combine.

4. Add 2 cups of buttermilk and stir until well blended.

5. Sprinkle the remaining ¼ flour on your countertop.

6. Pour the soda bread dough out onto your work surface.

7. Knead the dough, working in flour as needed, for about one minute until dough is no longer sticky and forms a smooth round ball.
8. Divide the dough into 4 pieces.

9. Cover a baking sheet with a piece of non-stick aluminum foil or parchment paper.

10. Spray the inside of a 4-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter with cooking spray.

11. Set the cutter in the center top of the baking sheet.
12. Press one piece of dough into the heart cutter.
13. Remove the cutter and spray it again with cooking spray.

14. Place the heart cutter with the point facing into the center just below and to the left of the first dough heart.

15. Press a piece of dough into the cutter.
16. Remove the cutter and spray again with cooking spray.
17. Set the cutter below the middle heart on the right side.
18. Press a piece of dough into the cutter.
19. Remove cutter.
20. Press your finger against the indent in each heart to make the groove a little wider and deeper.

21. Roll the remaining piece of dough into a log and shape into the shamrock stem - pointed at the top and wider at the bottom.

22. Place the pointed end in between the three hearts and curve the bottom to one side.
23. Brush the remaining 2 teaspoons of buttermilk over the surface of the dough.
24. Bake for 20 minutes then rotate the pan 180 degrees to ensure even browning of the bread.
25. Bake for an additional 18-22 minutes until the crust is a deep golden brown.
26. Allow the bread to cool a bit before serving.

Recipe Notes

Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

This recipe post was originally published on Hungry Happenings on March 15, 2011.

If you enjoy making this soda bread shamrock, you might also like these other St. Patrick's Day recipe ideas...

These shamrock-shaped crackers are super easy to make using store-bought pie dough. They are topped with Parmesan cheese and a wee bit of green parsley.

Make mint-flavored shamrock shakes and serve them in cute edible white chocolate cups decorated with smiling shamrocks. This treat is sure to make anyone smile. See the recipe to make these Shamrock Shakes in Candy Cups with Smiling Shamrocks.

Go all out and make these adorable Chocolate Leprechaun Hats. You can fill them with candy, chocolate mousse, or peppermint mousse.

You can find all of my festive St. Patrick's Day food ideas, here.

• Author
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Beth

Hi, I'm Beth Jackson Klosterboer, a professional chocolatier & baker, cookbook author, and event planner. I love sharing recipes for happy occasions here on Hungry Happenings. I also create easy fudge recipes to share at HowToMakeEasyFudge.com, rice krispie treat recipes at HowToMakeCerealTreats.com, and easy cookie recipes at HowToMakeEasyCookies.com

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