Twelve Days of Irish Recipes: Granda Bread
Written by Ciaran on Dec 04, 2025 | 0 Comments
We're sharing one of our own recipes each day as part of our 12 Days of Christmas offers, inspired by that traditional carol and the funny Irish version, Christmas Countdown.
From Christmas morning breakfast through to after dinner drinks, the My Irish Jeweler team are sharing their recipes that make the season bright (and tasty).
Irish Soda Bread, aka Granda Bread.
Soda bread is a year-round staple in many Irish homes and graces the table at breakfast, lunch, and dinner throughout the holidays!
Many will say Irish soda bread is best served with butter and jam, along with a hot cup of tea, for a simple, delicious, and filling breakfast or snack. This certainly holds strong memories for me as a child - I would have this as a treat in my Granda's house.
But this versatile bread is also the perfect accompaniment to a warming soup for a light Christmas lunch, or a smart but simple appetizer served with wild Irish smoked salmon.
Here is one of my favorite soda bread recipes that we use at home. It tastes just like the “Granda Bread” of my childhood. Easy to put together in a few minutes and baked in less than 40 - even a novice baker like myself can manage it!
And if you are feeling adventurous, you can also add any number of things to the mix to give it an entirely different flavour: raisins for something sweet, thyme and a sprinkling of cheese for savoury, or seeds for some added crunch. You can also use a mixture of white and wholemeal flour to give you a brown soda - delicious. You can absolutely make it your own!
Granda's Irish Soda bread.
Ingredients
- 450g or 1lb white flour (Go for a half and half 225g white flour and 225g wholemeal flour if you want a brown loaf)
- 1 level teaspoon salt
- 1 level teaspoon of bread soda/baking soda/bicarbonate of soda (all different names for the same thing)
- 350-400ml or 12-14fl oz approx. buttermilk or sour milk. (If you don't have either of those, you can make it by adding a tablespoon of lemon juice to milk and leaving it to stand for 5 minutes.
Method
- Sieve all of the dry ingredients together in a bowl and make a little well in the center for the milk.
- Pour most of the milk in and holding one side of the bowl with one hand, use your other hand to mix the flour in from the sides of the bowl into the well. Gemma's PSA holds here too - make sure you have taken off your jewelry first!!
- Add in more milk as you go if you need it. The mix should be soft, but not too wet and sticky .
- Tip the mix out onto a well-floured work surface. Knead it gently to bring it together. Be gentle, though, you don't want to overwork the dough!
- Clean and dry your hands before shaping the dough into a round about 2.5cm or 1 1/2 inches tall on a lined baking sheet or a seasoned cast-iron pan.
- Cut a cross into the top of the loaf using a sharp knife. This is supposedly to let out any lingering fairies or spirits, but happily also helps the loaf to cook through!
Bake the loaf hot to start - 230ºC or 450ºF for 10 minutes - After those 10 minutes, turn the oven down to 200ºC or 400ºF and cook for 30 minutes, or until it looks nice and brown on top.
- Take it out and allow it to cool on a wire rack. You know it's cooked through if you hear a hollow sound when you tap the bottom. Leave to cool before serving.
- If you are having it for breakfast or lunch, serve it with good Irish butter and jam, or a chunky stew or soup.
- And if you are going for an Irish appetizer, serve with a generous spread of cream cheese, topped with wild Irish salmon, a squeeze of lemon and a sprinkling of herbs to garnish if you are feeling fancy!
- Leftover bread, if there is any, can be wrapped and stored at room temperature for a few days or in the fridge for a week.
A woman in this incredible photo from the National Folklore Archive shows us all how it's done!
Photo Credit: Image and data © National Folklore Collection, UCD.
What's Next?
Check back in with us tomorrow for Day 5 of our Twelve Days of Irish Christmas, or open door number 4 of our 12 Days of Christmas offers! And, of course, if you need any help selecting a gift for yourself or a loved one, please do get in touch.
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Ciaran
My Irish Jeweler
Born in Co. Antrim and reared in Dublin, I was fascinated with Gaelic culture from an early age. I suppose it's not surprising given my mother inherited a grá for the Irish language from my grandfather, an Irish school headmaster. And that grá continues! My brother and sister are now Gaelic teachers here in Ireland, my niece is an award winning Irish dancer, and I proudly work to share Irish culture through our Irish and Celtic Jewelry at My Irish Jeweler!
I love researching and reading about the history of Irish design. It's at the core of what we do here at My Irish Jeweler. I find much of it so interesting that I have to share what I find. I hope you enjoy it!
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