Irish Soda Bread Shamrock Recipe- Hungry Happenings (2024)

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
bakingsheet (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.

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