Cheddar Chive Gluten-Free Irish Soda Bread
This delicious Cheddar Chive Gluten-Free Irish Soda bread is super easy to make and a true wow-factor in flavor. We use sharp cheddar, chives and walnuts to flavor our bread, but you can get creative and use your favorite herbs, cheeses, nuts and seeds (or how about bacon??) to change up this basic recipe.
Irish soda bread is traditionally a non-yeasted bread, meaning it gets its rise from the reaction of baking soda (and powder) with buttermilk (acid). It’s important to mix until incorporated but not over mix – this will lead to a tough bread. It’s also important to watch your ratio of liquid in this recipe. We tried many and prefer to slowly add our 2nd half of buttermilk until the mixture just comes together and is shaggy rather than stiff, and not overly wet.
Many soda bread recipes online specify baking in a cast iron skillet or dutch oven. We tried this both ways and found no different than on a baking sheet lined with parchment – which is far easier as well! If anything, baking on a sheet increased the airflow around the loaf and allowed it to rise and cook better.
If you find your bread getting too brown toward the end of cook time simply put a piece of foil gently on top (not around the bread, just resting on it). We do this for the last 5-10 minutes depending on how our oven is behaving that day!
Because measuring is inaccurate we highly encourage the use of a kitchen scale.
If you are celiac or gluten-free for a medical reason (like we are!) do make sure your baking soda, powder and xantham gum are gluten-free (many are).
Happy baking! Let us know how you like our Cheddar Chive Gluten-Free Irish Soda bread!
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Gluten-Free Cheddar & Chive Irish Soda Bread
Ingredients
- 42 g unsalted butter about 3 tbsp
- 4 oz block sharp cheddar cheese
- 3-4 tbsp fresh chives, chopped (we used 4 tbsp)
- 2-4 tbsp walnuts, chopped (we used 3 tbsp)
- 420 g all-purpose gluten-free flour we used Better Batter
- 1 1/2 tsp xantham gum (omit if your all-purpose blend contains it)
- 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
- 2 tbsp cane sugar (you can omit if sugar-free)
- 480-500 g buttermilk around 2+ cups
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375 F. Line a large baking sheet with 2 sheets of parchment
- Grate the butter and place back in fridge to chill
- While butter is chilling, chop your 4 oz cheddar into smaller pieces, about 1 cm square. Chop chives. Chop walnuts. Set all back into fridge
- In a large bowl combine your flour, xantham gum, baking powder, baking soda, cream of tartar, and sugar. Whisk to combine
- Add your grated butter and mix in gently – I use my hands for this and crumble it into the mixture
- Add your cheese, walnuts and chives and stir to combine
- Now stir in gently about 200-250 g buttermilk (or half). Your mixture will start to come together. Gradually add buttermilk until the mixture is fully combine but not soaked — it took about 480 g buttermilk for us but anywhere up to or near 500 g seems to work as well. A wetter bread simply will not rise as well but will taste great
- Transfer dough to your parchment and shape into a disk, slightly mounded toward the center, about 9 inches in diameter. (Wetting your hands helps immensely with this.) Using a sharp knife or a pastry cutter, slash an X in the dough about half way through and from edge to edge
- Bake at 375 F for 30 minutes. Then, increase oven temperature to 400 F and bake an additional 15. Cover with foil and bake an additional 5 minutes or until about 200 F in the center or browned throughout. Every oven is different — you may need an additional 5-10 minutes
- Remove from oven and leave to cool on baking tray for 15 minutes before removing to wire rack to cool. Slice and enjoy! We wrap ours leftovers (if there are any!) in foil and leave on the counter for a few days. You can also freeze
Notes
- The bread’s
Nutrition
