Irish Soda Bread Lab123 recipes
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What goes into Irish soda bread

The main ingredient list of all 123 recipes, with names merged so one choice counts once: unsalted and salted butter are butter, light and dark brown sugar are brown sugar, kosher and table salt are salt. Different flours stay apart. Frosting, glaze and other extras are counted on their own at the end.

In short

  • Most irish soda bread recipes use butter (56%); 5% use oil.
  • For sugar, 45% use no sugar at all, 41% white sugar alone, and 8% honey or molasses (with or without sugar).
  • For leavening, 69% use baking soda alone and 26% baking soda and baking powder together.
  • For dairy, 79% use buttermilk alone, 9% milk alone, and 4% yogurt alone.
  • 41% add fruit, 14% cheese, herbs or other savory and 3% nuts; 43% add none of these.

The main choices

Each block sorts every recipe into one group by a single decision. Amounts are the median among recipes in that group, scaled to 500 g of flour, the size of a typical loaf. The recipe named under each group is the one in it closest to the typical loaf on every ingredient.

Butter, oil or both

Each recipe counted once, by the fats in its main ingredient list.

  • Butter only

    median 57 g fat · closest to typical: Irish Brown Soda Bread Recipe (biggerbolderbaking.com)

    54%67 recipes

  • No butter, oil or shortening

    closest to typical: Soda Bread Variation (nigella.com)

    38%47 recipes

  • Oil only

    median 33 g fat · closest to typical: Soda Bread (ricettedalmondo.it)

    5%7 recipes

  • Everything else

    1%2 recipes

Oil includes olive oil (3%).

White, brown or a syrup

Each recipe counted once, by the sweeteners in its main ingredient list.

"With honey or molasses" means any liquid sweetener (honey, molasses and maple syrup), with or without dry sugar. Coarse and cinnamon sugar are usually sprinkled on top, so they do not count here.

Baking soda, baking powder or both

Each recipe counted once, by what it relies on to rise.

  • Baking soda only

    median 7 g baking soda and powder · closest to typical: Irish Brown Soda Bread Recipe (biggerbolderbaking.com)

    69%86 recipes

  • Baking soda and baking powder

    median 15 g baking soda and powder · closest to typical: Rosemary-Parmesan Soda Bread (foodnetwork.com)

    26%33 recipes

  • Everything else

    3%4 recipes

Sourdough starter includes discard, which many recipes add for flavor rather than lift.

Which dairy

Each recipe counted once, by the dairy in its main ingredient list. Butter is counted with the fats.

Yogurt includes Greek yogurt (2%).

Whole eggs, yolks or whites

Each recipe counted once, by the parts of the egg it uses.

A large egg is about 50 g out of the shell, a yolk about 18 g, a white about 32 g.

Which flour

Each recipe counted once, by the flours it combines.

Add-ins

Share of recipes that add at least one of each. A recipe can add several, so the shares do not sum to 100%. 43% add none of these.

  • Fruit41%

    raisins 39% · dried cranberries 3%

  • Cheese, herbs or other savory14%

    cheese 13% · black pepper 6% · onion or chives 4%

  • Nuts3%

    walnuts 3%

  • Spice3%

    cinnamon 1% · allspice 1%

How often each ingredient appears

Share of the 123 recipes that list it at least once, for every ingredient in 5% or more of them. The median amount is among recipes that use it and give a weighable amount, scaled to 500 g of flour; for a flour, it is that flour's share of all the flour in the recipe.

  1. Baking soda100%

    123 recipes · median 6 g

  2. Salt100%

    123 recipes · median 6 g

  3. All-purpose flour93%

    115 recipes · median: all of the flour

  4. Buttermilk82%

    102 recipes · median 424 g

  5. Butter56%

    69 recipes · median 57 g

  6. Eggs44%

    55 recipes · median 50 g (about 1 large egg)

  7. Granulated sugar43%

    53 recipes · median 40 g

  8. Raisins39%

    48 recipes · median 150 g

  9. Baking powder27%

    34 recipes · median 9 g

  10. Whole wheat flour26%

    33 recipes · median 50% of the flour

  11. Cheese13%

    16 recipes · median 159 g

  12. Seeds13%

    16 recipes · median 35 g

  13. Milk12%

    15 recipes · median 358 g

  14. Rolled oats8%

    11 recipes · median 100 g

  15. Black pepper6%

    8 recipes

  16. Honey6%

    8 recipes · median 37 g

  17. Spelt flour6%

    8 recipes · median 63% of the flour

Toppings and extras

6% of recipes (8 of 123) list something beyond the main recipe: a frosting, glaze, filling, crumb topping, a boiling bath or a sprinkle on top. None of it is counted above.

How the ingredients are counted

A recipe uses an ingredient when any line of its main ingredient list names it. Names are merged by the words in them, so “1 cup unsalted butter, softened” and “salted butter” are both butter, and a line that offers a choice (“walnuts or pecans”) counts as the first one named. Canola, vegetable and other neutral oils are one oil; coconut and olive oil are listed on their own.

Lines only for greasing the pan are left out. Lines for brushing, sprinkling or serving, and lines that belong to a frosting, glaze, filling or topping, count as extras.

Amounts come from the grams on each recipe page: printed by the source, or converted from cups and spoons with standard densities. Scaling them to 500 g of flour lets a small recipe and a double batch line up. Percentages are rounded down.