Keto Irish Soda Bread is a delicious low carb, grain-free alternative to the original. This tender almond flour bread has a crusty exterior and sugar-free dried cranberries in place of the traditional currants.
It’s almost March and you know what that means. Everyone starts thinking about shamrocks and leprechauns, and this tender keto Irish soda bread.
What, what? You aren’t laser-focused on minty green keto desserts, corned beef and cabbage, and cocktails made with Keto Irish Cream? Why ever not?
Okay, fine. I get it, St. Paddy’s Day is fun but it’s not the most widely recognized of holidays. But even if you don’t mark the occasion at all, I highly recommend this keto quick bread recipe. It’s delicious any old time!
What is Irish Soda Bread?
Don’t feel put out if you’ve never heard of soda bread. It’s simply a quick bread made with baking soda as the leavening agent, rather than baking powder or yeast.
Many cuisines have their own version of soda bread, as it’s faster and easier to make than yeast-leavened dough. And baking soda, or sodium bicarbonate, is inexpensive and easy to procure.
Irish soda bread comes in various forms, but the one that most people know on this side of the pond is lightly sweetened and contains raising or currants.
It’s a wonderful rustic-style bread that has a soft and tender center and a crusty exterior. And that shaggy looking exterior always reminds me of a giant scone!
Ingredients
Classic Irish soda bread takes flour, baking soda, butter, and buttermilk. The acid in the buttermilk reacts with the soda to create little bubbles that cause the bread to rise.
For a keto version, we obviously need to change a few of these ingredients. Here’s what you need:
- Heavy cream
- Apple cider vinegar: this replaces the acid in the buttermilk
- Almond flour
- Coconut flour
- Protein powder: helps to replace the gluten in wheat flour
- Sweetener: just a little adds the right flavor
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Butter
- Egg whites
- Sugar-free dried cranberries (optional)
How to make keto Irish soda bread
I took my cues for this recipe from one by Ina Garten. Her soda bread takes some egg, which helps give it more structure. I utilized egg whites to make the bread a little lighter as well.
- Sour your cream: Buttermilk is a little too high carb for keto, but adding some vinegar to heavy cream is a great substitute.
- Whisk the dry ingredients: I used mostly almond flour with a touch of coconut flour to get the right consistency.
- Grate in the butter: I love this trick for distributing cold butter throughout dough. I used it in my keto apple scones too, and it gives a more flaky consistency.
- Stir in the egg whites and soured cream: The dough will be shaggy and somewhat sticky.
- Chop the dried cranberries: If you decide to use them, it’s best to chop them up more finely. This gives better distribution throughout the bread, and makes it less likely to tear when you cut into it.
- Form into a loaf: The dough will spread a bit so shape into a high, round loaf.
- Cut a deep X into the center: You may need to wet your knife so it doesn’t stick to the dough too much. The cuts help the center cook through properly.
- Bake 20 minutes: You need the initial blast of heat from the oven to make the bread rise properly.
- Turn off the oven: Let the bread sit inside another 30 to 40 minutes to cook through. If you keep the oven on the whole time, it may brown too much. Once the top is nice and firm, with no sponginess underneath, the bread is done.
- Let cool completely: Keto Irish Soda Bread is very fragile when it first comes out of the oven so let it cool completely to firm up.
Frequently Asked Questions
Coconut flour would require changing the entire recipe, so I recommend using sunflower seed flour instead. You can use it 1:1 to replace the almond flour.
Try using coconut milk in place of the heavy cream.
Absolutely! This keto Irish soda bread does not rely on the sweetener for consistency so anything you like best should work. You can also leave out the sweetener entirely, if you prefer.
This bread is great with anything! I like mine lightly toasted with a little butter. It’s only mildly sweet so it also goes well with soups and stews.
Storage Information
Because it is quite moist, you should store keto Irish soda bread in the fridge, tightly wrapped. It will last for up to a week.
You can also freeze it for several months.
Keto Irish Soda Bread Recipe
Ingredients
- ½ cup cream
- 1 ½ tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 2 cups almond flour
- ¼ cup unflavoured whey protein powder (or egg white protein powder)
- 3 tablespoon Swerve Brown
- 2 tablespoon coconut flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup butter chilled
- ⅓ cup sugar-free dried cranberries chopped (optional)
- 2 egg whites
- 1 tablespoon melted butter to brush the top
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325ºF and line a baking sheet with a silicone mat.
- In a small bowl, combine the cream and vinegar. In a large bowl, whisk together the almond flour, protein powder, sweetener, coconut flour, baking soda, and salt.
- Grate the cold butter into the dry ingredients and stir to distribute. Stir in the dried cranberries, if using.
- Stir in the cream mixture and the egg whites until well combined. Transfer the dough to the prepared baking sheet. With wet hands, form into a high, round loaf. Brush all over with the melted butter.
- Use a sharp knife to cut a large X in the center of the loaf. Place the baking sheet on the second highest rack in the oven and bake 20 minutes, until the outside is turning golden brown.
- Turn off the oven and let the bread sit inside until the top is firm to the touch and not spongy, another 30 to 40 minutes.
- Remove and let cool completely before cutting into slices.
S says
This was delicious! It came out more moist and tender than I expected, held together well after it cooled, and had just the right amount of sweetness. I couldn’t find dried cranberries, so I subbed chopped dried cherries and–Wow! They were great! This recipe’s a keeper. Thank you!
Carolyn says
So glad it worked out!
M. says
This is fabulous and a real treat with a cup of tea!!! Thank-you so much for the recipe. Do you think that this can be made with allulose in order to avoid the sugar alcohols?
Carolyn says
Probably!
Gina E says
OMG!!! This was amazing!!! I’m so excited, it came out great!!! Thank you so much for a great recipe!!!
Carolyn says
Great to hear!
Patrice Antczak says
Let me just say, this is amazing! Your recipes are always good but man, this is spot on! Made exactly as written. Came out PERFECT!
Thank you again for your time and money experimenting, perfecting and passing on these amazing recipes!
Patrice
Patrice Antczak says
PS- I used the egg white protein powder you give as an option to the whey protein powder. And 1/2 the sugar, I used lankanto brown. Just wanted to be transparent to what I did, both were your options given so I still consider that as made as exactly as you wrote it. Lol. Perfection!
Carolyn says
Great to hear!
Yolanda Kerstens says
I do not have whey protein powder, can I use and extra egg white?
Thank you for this wonderful recipe!
Carolyn says
Extra egg whites will throw off the liquid/dry ratios and your bread won’t cook through properly.
Patty Marks says
I can’t believe how delicious this turned out! However, my bread did not bake thoroughly and I accidentally had my over at 350°.
April says
Hi! My local grocery store has a version of Irish soda bread that has a very coarse sugar sprinkled on top. I love that! Do you know of any coarse ground keto sugars that could possibly be used on top?
Thank you!
Carolyn says
No, i don’t.
Phyllis Lindburg says
I made this today. Mine spread a lot more than yours. I used carton egg whites. Wondering if that would cause the difference? Can I add a little more coconut flour or bake it in a cake pan. Than you,
Phyllis
Carolyn says
It definitely can affect it since the proteins are more broken down in carton egg whites. Experiment a little with your ideas!
Beth says
Can the protein powder be omitted?
Carolyn says
Not if you want your bread to rise properly. 🙂
Charla Spinler says
Could you use a Paleo baking blend?
Carolyn says
Since I don’t bake with it, I really can’t guide you. I suspect it won’t bake the same way.
Donalee says
I made this and LOVED IT❣️ Will definitely make again 😊
Jo says
Will a roasting pan work? Most times I don’t have access to an oven.
Thank you
Carolyn says
I am not sure what you mean. This recipe needs to be baked in an oven… no matter what kind of pan it’s in.
MomResa says
My oven has a fan that cools the oven once it’s turned off. How do I cook the Soda Bread recipe? Can I set it on a very low temperature instead of turning the oven off? If so, what temperature would you recommend? Thank you for all your amazing recipes!!
Carolyn says
Yes that should work. Try 175 or 200F. The lower the better.
Teri says
I just made this and non-keto family loves it as much I do! Been searching for an easy go-to bread with nice taste and texture, that might also hold up as sandwich slices. Wondering if this may be it! Has anyone tried it in a metal loaf pan with or without success?
I made the round loaf exactly as directed, only changing Brown Swerve to granular Swerve and omitting cranberries, because I did not have either, and it made some delicious bread!
Just not tall enough to make into sandwiches.
Thank you, Carolyn!
I subscribe to your YouTube and thoroughly enjoy your content.
Carolyn says
Not sure how it would fare but it would be a delicious experiment! 😉
Susan Sheaffer says
Can I bake this in a Dutch oven?
Carolyn says
I haven’t tried… I guess you will need to experiment!
Diane Carole says
I will be trying this, except for adding caraway seeds which I have always had in my Irish soda bread! Thanks for passing this on 😉
Carolyn says
I love caraway! I will try that next time too.
Lydia says
This bread is delicious and the texture is so light. I’d like to try it as a savory bread with herbs, by decreasing the Swerve sweetner,but what can I replace it with ? I was thinking replace 2 Tbsp swerve with 2 Tblsp almond flour. Or is there another ingredient I should use to substitute ? Thank you
Carolyn says
You don’t need to replace the sweetener with anything, just omit it.
Anthony says
Question on how to make a bread less dense: I made prosciutto bread with almond flour. The taste was good but it was denser than one made with wheat flour. Is there anything you can suggest to make it less dense? Anything I can do or add? Protein powder, collagen powder, etc.
Carolyn says
Protein powder and more baking powder.
PJ says
So to make the bread lighter, add baking powder in addition to the baking soda? Or do you mean just add more baking soda? Thanks for the recipe…plan to make this soon!
Carolyn says
Sorry, that should have said more baking soda.
Stacy Pozucek says
We love this bread! Wondering if anyone has tried doubling the recipe. I’d like to make a larger loaf