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Take your taste buds on a journey to the Emerald Isle with my Irish Rosemary Cheddar Soda Bread. We brought this to our friends Irish themed dinner.  I found this recipe over at FOODNESS GRACIOUS and just realized this is the Gerry Spiers’ blog. Check it out he has great recipes and wonderful photography.  We frequently do themed dinner parties’ with our friends, the Purdy’s. (That’s a toungue twister.) The Purdy’s love to experiment and explore food themes just as I do. It is a perfect match. I had it easy this time as I was asked to make appetizers. They made smoked corned beef and a host of sides, each one better than the next. They are great cooks, and like me, can’t make just one thing. How fun!
Irish Rosemary Cheddar Soda Bread
I truly love to make artisan breads.  I have made an ARTISAN BREAD, just stick it in your Dutch Oven and no kneading required and a RYE BREAD among many.  I have never made a soda bread before and frequently seen recipes from my fellow bloggers. What I have seen has looked really good but I thought a lot of people have said not too much good food comes out of Ireland. When it comes to Irish soda bread, they have it all wrong. It is awesome and this recipe is amazing. The cheddar cheese adds both flavor and moisture to the bread. The rosemary adds a really nice herb taste. Don’t use too much rosemary so as to not overpower the bread.
What is the origin of IRISH SODA BREAD?  I learned from reading an article from Abigail’s Bakery that this tradition is not nearly as old as one might think.  Bicarbonate (soda) did not find its way to Ireland until the 1840’s.  Given the poor nature of its people, the soda was substituted for yeast and the ingredients were kept to four.  I added rosemary and cheddar cheese to elevate the traditional recipe. This artisan bread is a bread that you could easily find in a bakery. It was that good. I love the look of the bread. You can see the tinge of orange in the cracks and crevices from the cheese and the green specs from the rosemary. Next time I try this recipe, I am going to try to make it gluten free. I really think it will translate well to a gluten free bread.
The cast of characters.
Ingredients
The building of the bread from the mixing of the ingredients, to the forming of the dough, to the baking.
The Mixing of the Dough through the Baking
The Irish Rosemary Cheddar Soda Bread plated.
Irish Rosemary Cheddar Soda Bread Plated
Irish Rosemary Cheddar Soda Bread
Ingredients
- 4 Cups All Purpose Flour
- 1 Tsp Baking Soda
- 1 1/2 Tsp Cream of Tartar
- 1 Tsp Salt
- 1/2 Tsp Fresh Black Pepper
- 4 Tbsp Fresh Rosemary rough chop
- 4 Cups Sharp Cheddar Cheese shredded
- 2 Cup Buttermilk
- 2 Whole Egg
Instructions
-
Heat the oven to 425 degrees F. Lightly spray a baking tray with non stick spray.
In a mixing bowl fitted with a bread hook, beat together the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, salt, pepper, rosemary and cheese.
In a separate mixing bowl, add the egg to the buttermilk and beat until combined.
Add the buttermilk mixture to the flour and lightly mix through until it becomes sticky and a ball forms.
Dump the dough out onto a flour dusted work surface and roughly knead the dough. Cut the dough in half and shape each piece into an ball shape. If the dough is on the wet side, add some extra flour.
Place the dough balls onto your prepared baking tray. Take a sharp serrated knife and cut an X on top of the soda bread.
Season the top with some more salt and bake in the oven for 25 minutes and the top is golden brown.
Serve and enjoy!
Recipe Notes
The recipe is courtesy of Foodness Gracious and can be found here - httpss://foodnessgracious.com/rosemary-cheddar-irish-soda-bread/
Can’t wait to try it ! Will the dough freeze ok ?
Was thinking of freezing the second one for later use .
Dough is very temperamental. But I know people of have frozen dough with success. I have not tried it. Let me know how it turns out. This recipe was awesome. We brought it to a friend’s house and everyone loved it.
Have you been able to do a G.F version of this bread by chance?
Gillian, great question. I have not and that would be so good. I should have updated for St. Patty’s day. If you try it, I like Bob’s Red Mill GF flour. I will update it at some point soon.
i love baking so this is going in my baking recipe jar
This bread was so good. I truly hope you give it a try. If you do, let me know how it turns out.
The crust and texture of this bread look absolutely perfect, and I love the flavor pairing of rosemary and cheddar! I don’t make homemade breads often enough. This will definitely have to be on our menu soon.
Amanda, you need to give this one a try. It was delicious and quite easy to make for a bread.
I just LOVE soda bread. I grew up in Ireland and my mum would make a fresh loaf of soda bread every Sunday – it was the highlight of the day 🙂 Love the addition of the cheese and rosemary, definitely kicks it up a notch.
So cool. You definitely have more insight into this recipe than I do. The additions were really good.
I’m not much of a baker, but I have managed to make soda bread before! I’ll have to try your version, it sounds delicious!
It is embarrassingly easy. So give it a try.
That’s a gorgeous loaf. I’ve been meaning to try soda bread in general – my grandfather always made it, and I want to keep that tradition alive. I think I’ll give the basic loaf a go for a while, but I ADORE the idea of cheese and rosemary coming into play. Two of my favourite bread additions!
You definitely need to try this for your grandfather. The family traditions in cooking are so cool!
What a wonderful combination of flavors! Thanks for the recipe!
Thx very much Jovita.
Irish soda bread is already delicious, but with cheddar and rosemary?? Sign me up! This looks delicious 🙂
You are signed up!
Soda bread has such an amazing texture. We love it warm from the oven
Nothing better than fresh bread out of the oven.
Love all the ingredients you have put together in this bread. And it sounds so easy to make!
It is super easy since it is no yeast needed.
love the flavors in this soda bread version
Thx so much.
Peter, I’m looking for friends like the Purdy’s. Most of my friends and acquaintances are of the “takeout” dinner companions, and I so appreciate a good home-cooked meal. Your Irish Soda Bread really goes to the next level with the cheddar and rosemary. It’s gloriously rustic! Pour me a glass of wine and let’s dig into that bread — maybe with a good Irish stew!
I know what you mean. We have a couple of friends that we get to cook with but so many people rather have go out for dinner. It can be so much fun to cook together over a glass of wine. I like your idea of an Irish stew.