Deliciously golden and crusty on the outside and tender, fruity – almost scone-like – in the middle. Serve it warm with a smearing of butter and a cup of tea for a happy breakfast. This Fruit Soda Bread is a no-knead, no prove bread – ready in an hour.
Warm fruity bread for breakfast without having to get up at 5am to get it ready for breakfast!
This bread requires no yeast, no kneading and no proving time. You can have it out of the oven and cooling in an hour.
I’ve always loved fruit toast or teacakes for breakfast, spread with some creamy salted butter. The shop-bought stuff is nice enough, but this is a real luxury and surprisingly easy to make. A simple case of mixing your dry ingredients, mixing your wet ingredients, combing them together into a rough cob shape and giving it an egg wash before sticking it in the oven. The result is a beautiful, rustic-looking bread like this!
Table of Contents
📋 Ingredients
Dry Ingredients – We’re using a mix of plain (all-purpose) flour, caster sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Wet Ingredients – We’re using two large eggs, butter milk, and warm (not hot) melted butter.
Raisins – I love this recipe with large, juicy raisins because it adds the most amazing burst of sweetness, however, you can use whatever small dried fruit you would like (sultanas, juicy dried cranberries and dried blueberries are great swaps).
📺 Watch how to make it
***Full recipe with detailed steps in the recipe card at the end of this post***
- In a large bowl, mix all the dry ingredients together.
- Then, whisk the egg in a small bowl with a fork, then separate one tbsp of the egg into a separate container (this is the egg wash). Add in the rest of the wet ingredients to the remaining egg.
- Pour the wet mix into the dry mix and stir until you get a sticky dough.
- Form the dough into a ball and place it on your pre-prepared baking tray. Make a cross score on the top of the dough ball with a sharp knife and brush with the egg wash.
- Place in the oven and cook until golden, once cooked take out of the oven and leave to cool before serving with butter.
Pro Tip
I’d recommend using the fattest, juiciest raisins you can find to get a nice burst of chewy stickiness with each mouthful.
It’s also great toasted the next day (and will even just about stretch to a third day, toasted).
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Pin It🍽️ What to serve it with
- Serve this slathered with salted butter and a lovely cuppa!
The kids love it – they call it cake bread, and they love just ramming handfuls of the unbuttered bread in their mouths as a quick breakfast, before running off to school or college!
🍲 More fantastic sweet breads
? Frequently Asked Questions
This bread will keep for 2 days, wrapped in baking parchment and placed in a sealed container at room temperature.
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Fruit Soda Bread
Ingredients
- 500 g (4 cups + 2 tbsp) plain (all-purpose) flour plus a little extra for sprinkling the baking sheet
- 100 g (1/2 cup) caster sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 200 g (1 cup) juicy raisins or other dried fruit if you prefer
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 large eggs
- 250 ml (1 cup + 2 tsp) buttermilk
- 50 g (3 tbsp + 1 tsp) melted butter just melted – not boiling hot – as this will scramble the eggs
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 175C/350F (fan). Take a baking sheet and sprinkle with a small handful of flour
- In a large bowl, combing the flour, caster sugar, baking powder, baking soda, raisins, and salt. Give everything a mix. This is your dry mix.500 g (4 cups + 2 tbsp) plain (all-purpose) flour, 100 g (1/2 cup) caster sugar, 2 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp baking soda, 200 g (1 cup) juicy raisins, 1/4 tsp salt
- Break the eggs into a cup and whisk gently with a fork for a few seconds. Pour all but 1 tbsp. of the egg into a separate bowl. Add in the buttermilk and melted butter and mix. This is your wet mix.2 large eggs, 250 ml (1 cup + 2 tsp) buttermilk, 50 g (3 tbsp + 1 tsp) melted butter
- Pour your wet mix into your dry mix and stir until you get a nice sticky dough. Don’t overmix or you’ll end up with tough bread. If you don’t mind getting a bit sticky, you can do this stage with your hands. Form the dough into a rough cob or ball shape and place on your prepared baking sheet.
- Using a sharp knife, make a large cross in the middle – cutting about 1 inch into the bread. Using a pastry brush, give the whole loaf a egg wash using the reserved egg. Place in the preheated oven and cook for 40-45 minutes until the bread looks golden.
- Take out of the oven and leave to cool for 10 minutes before cutting up and serving with butter, or toasting and serving with butter.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This recipe was first published in September 2014, updated in January 2020 with some housekeeping and then again in February 2025 with housekeeping, updated photos and a video.
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Bonjour super recette, alors mon pain n’était pas dur du tout, plus tôt trop friable, dommage car difficile à couper…. Sinon excellent. Merci pour cette recette si vous avec une astuce pour qu’il soit plus compact? Et qu’est ce que la poudre à pâte ? Bien à vous.
Easy recipe to follow – i made my own buttermilk (again from your recipes) – and added lemon zest to the mix aswell.
It was delicious served warm with butter, although i feel is like a large rock cake so not sure if this is correct or if i did something wrong.
Happy with the result though 🙂
Thanks
Is the oven temp for fan please?
Fabulous recipe, favourite in the house now.
I made this with for a lazy Saturday morning breakfast and it was so easy and tasty.
I love irish soda bread! Actually I’m sharing mine soon, but it’s the basic version. I make it a lot because it’s so easy! Yours looks very fancy and fab 🙂
Thanks Nagi. I’ll be sure to keep an eye out for your version 🙂
I had no idea that you can make bread without yeast!! Genius recipe!
Glad you like it Ami 🙂
Never thought about turning a soda bread into a delicious dessert. Looks amazing and such a great idea! All it needs is a cup of tea and the afternoon snack is set.
Dessert/snack/breakfast/supper – I’ll eat it anytime 🙂
Love soda bread, it looks delicious.
Thanks Suzanne, it didn’t last long…
This looks amazing! I suppose it’s the baking soda that makes it rise instead of yeast?
Thanks Ahu. I believe it’s the soda reacting with the buttermilk that causes the rise. The soda is very alkaline whilst the buttermilk is very acidic. That’s about the limit of my scientific knowledge on the subject though 🙂