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.
If you are looking for a festive addition to a St. Patrick's Day dinner, this quick and easy Irish Soda Bread recipe is for you.
It takes minutes to prepare the dough so why not have some fun by shaping it into a shamrock?
This bread would make a great addition to your meal if you are serving Irish stew or even shepherd's pie.
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.
So, let's make some bread.
Ingredients
all-purpose flour - You don't need to bother with bread flour for this recipe. All-purpose flour has enough gluten to develop a beautiful yeast-free bread.
baking soda - This will provide plenty of lift for your bread.
salt - You need to add flavor and salt is the perfect seasoning.
buttermilk - The acid in the buttermilk will react with the baking soda giving your bread a wonderful flavor and the perfect texture.
Equipment
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.
- 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 the dough is no longer sticky and forms a smooth round ball.
Press dough into the 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.
Variations
You can make your shamrock-shaped Irish Soda Bread festive by stirring some green food coloring into the buttermilk before mixing it into 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.
Related Recipes
You can find all of my festive St. Patrick's Day food ideas, here.
Recipe
Shape a 4-ingredient Irish Soda Bread into a shamrock to celebrate St. Patrick's Day.
- 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
-
Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
-
Pour 4 cups of flour into a large mixing bowl.
-
Add baking soda and salt and stir with a fork to combine.
-
Add 2 cups of buttermilk and stir until well blended.
-
Sprinkle the remaining ¼ flour on your countertop.
-
Pour the soda bread dough out onto your work surface.
-
Knead the dough, working in flour as needed, for about one minute until dough is no longer sticky and forms a smooth round ball.
-
Divide the dough into 4 pieces.
-
Cover a baking sheet with a piece of non-stick aluminum foil or parchment paper.
-
Spray the inside of a 4-inch 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.
-
Remove the cutter and spray it again with cooking spray.
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Place the heart cutter with the point facing into the center just below and to the left of the first dough heart.
-
Press a piece of dough into the cutter.
-
Remove the cutter and spray again with cooking spray.
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Set the cutter below the middle heart on the right side.
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Press a piece of dough into the cutter.
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Remove cutter.
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Press your finger against the indent in each heart to make the groove a little wider and deeper.
-
Roll the remaining 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.
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Anonymous says
I had to laugh at your crepe paper skirt. I've been looking for big sheets of crepe paper for a couple years now & all they sell are the rolls of 3 or 4" wide strips. We used to make a lot of things out of crepe paper. How times have changed?
Being of Irish descent - I HAVE to ask.....they say your luck is in a four leaf clover, but I see way more three leaf clover things. Why is that? Enquiring minds would like to know.
It was very sweet of your grandmother to tell you freckles are angel kisses. Ahhh..... Come on - it had to make you feel a little special.
Thanks for the crepe paper/dance story.
Tavette
Beth Jackson Klosterboer says
Hi Tavette,
I haven't seen large rolls of crepe paper in many years. It really was a clever and inexpensive way for the parents to make the skirts for our show.
It's funny you say that about the clover, I tried to find a small four leaf clover cookie cutter to do a recipe, but had no luck at all. I guess like in real life, they are just hard to find!
My grandmother was a very sweet lady, and she always made me feel special. As a young girl, I just hated my freckles, and nothing would have ever made me feel better about them. Over the years, I've gotten so used to them, that I don't even really notice them anymore. I'm sure my grandmother had the same experience with her freckles. It was nice of her to try to make me feel good about having them. They are part of who I am:)
Maria says
Awwww this is great!!!!! I LOVE Irish Soda bread, and this looks so beautiful and festive, I love it!
Lindy@Itsy Bitsy Paper says
You have some great St. Patty's Day projects on your blog. I hope you will stop by and link them up on my St. Patty's Day Project Parade.
www.itsybitsypaperblog.com
Lyuba @ Will Cook For Smiles says
This is awesome! Great idea and thank you for the recipe!
Beth Jackson Klosterboer says
Thanks Heather. I linked my recipe on your blog. Thanks for allowing me to share the recipe with your readers.
Heather says
How cute! My kids will love it!. I am having a link party featuring bread made from food storage ingredients and I would love it if you would link up this recipe.
http://cookingwithmyfoodstorage.blogspot.com/2011/03/irish-soda-bread-food-storage-link.html
Beth Jackson Klosterboer says
Thanks Christine. I hope you enjoy making some of my fun recipes. I visited your site, and your hats are sooooooooo adorable. I just love the ice cream hat. Very creative.
Christine says
I saw your post over at IShare-Love how creative all your recipes are! I am always looking for those special occassion/holiday recipes and now I know where to find them. I am new follower! Check out my blog if you get a chance (totally different from yours). http://mysweetpotato3.blogspot.com/
Looking forward to your future posts! Christine