This Lavender Lemon Irish Soda Bread combines the rustic charm of traditional soda bread with the bright, zesty flavor of lemon and the subtle, floral notes of lavender.
It’s an easy, no-yeast bread that’s perfect for adding a touch of romance to your table, whether you’re enjoying it with a cup of tea, serving it as part of a special brunch, or gifting it to friends.
Table of Contents
- Love this recipe
- 🗝️ Key takeaways: why this recipe is your new favorite
- 🧾 Gather your ingredients: what you'll need
- 📖 Make it your own: yummy variations
- 🔪 Step-by-step guide: instructions for success
- 🍴Must have tools: essential equipment
- 🥫 Leftover love: how to store and reheat lemon lavender Irish soda bread
- Marye's Tip o' the day
- 💭 Insider tips: things to know
- 👩🍳 Let's answer those questions: FAQs
- 📚 More Southern comfort: related recipes you'll love
- 🍽️ No waste: creative ways to repurpose
- 📞 Wrapping it up: the last word
- 📖 Recipe
- Lavender Irish Soda Bread
- 💬 Comments
Save this recipe by clicking on the ❤️ heart on the right-hand side of the screen or in the recipe card.
🗝️ Key takeaways: why this recipe is your new favorite
- This easy Irish soda bread is melt-in-your-mouth buttery with just a hint of citrus. It's unique and delicious!
- I love this for brunch or as an accompaniment to tea in the afternoon. It's delicious with lighter meals like chicken or fish.
- Lavender should be used with restraint - more is not better! Too much and your soda bread will taste like you licked your grandma's perfume bottle. Measure carefully!
This lemon lavender Irish soda bread recipe is anything but stodgy and traditional!
It's a little daring but results in a delightful, buttery quick bread that's just sweet enough to be perfect with a cup of coffee or tea.
The touch of tangy lemon and lavender boosts it up to tearoom level perfection - a delicious addition to your spring brunch table for Easter or Mother's Day.
🧾 Gather your ingredients: what you'll need
This is an overview of the ingredients. You'll find the full measurements and instructions in the green recipe card (printable) at the bottom of the page.
📖 Make it your own: yummy variations
- If you don't have lavender, or prefer not to get it, it's fine to omit.
- Orange may be substituted for the lemon - leave the lavender out.
- A half a cup of white chocolate chips makes this very, very decadent!
🔪 Step-by-step guide: instructions for success
This is an overview of the instructions. Full instructions are in the green recipe card at the bottom of the page. Click on the image to see it full size.
Stir dry ingredients together.
Grate in the butter.
Mix in the buttermilk, lemon juice, and vanilla.
Pat into a round loaf, slice a cross in the top, sprinkle with sugar and bake.
🤫 Marye's secret for zhuzhing it up -
Sometimes I top this with lavender sugar or vanilla sugar instead of plain sugar. You can buy specially flavored sugars at culinary shops, Amazon, or make it yourself.
zhuzh: verb. To make something more interesting or attractive
🍴Must have tools: essential equipment
- grater
- heavy baking sheet or cake pan
- parchment paper
- mixing bowls
- measuring spoons and cups
🥫 Leftover love: how to store and reheat lemon lavender Irish soda bread
This simple quick bread will be fine for 2 days or so at room temperature. Cover or wrap in plastic wrap.
You can also freeze it for up to 3 months. Just wrap in plastic wrap then aluminum foil. Thaw on the countertop or heat in the oven for a few minutes when ready to serve.
Marye's Tip o' the day
Be sure you are buying culinary grade lavender!
💭 Insider tips: things to know
- Use the largest side of the grater to grate the butter.
- Make sure the butter is super cold, almost frozen, before grating.
- If your kitchen is warm put the butter and flour mixture in the freezer for 30 minutes before mixing in the buttermilk mixture and baking.
- You could spread a simple confectioner's sugar lemon glaze on it while it's still warm if you wanted a sweeter loaf.
👩🍳 Let's answer those questions: FAQs
Have other questions? Ask me in the comments!
But really, Irish soda bread is like a It tastes like a big biscuit or giant scone. The crust is crumbly and the inside is soft and fluffy with a buttery biscuit-like flavor.
Yes! It's delicious sliced and toasted with butter and jam.
It's a tradition. People used to believe a cross on top of the bread would protect from wayward fairies and ward off evil.
⏲️ Marye's time saving hacks -
Since this freezes so well I like to make several loaves at once and freeze a few.
📚 More Southern comfort: related recipes you'll love
- Lemon Blueberry Scones are full of ripe blueberries and tangy lemon flavor.
- Orange Banana Bread is a sweet banana bread with a delicious citrus flavor.
- Apple Fritter Bread tastes just like apple fritters but so much easier!
🍽️ No waste: creative ways to repurpose
Lemon lavender soda bread disappears fast but if you happen to have some go stale on you it's still got some uses!
- Make crumbs of it, blend with butter and sugar to make a streusel topping for cobblers and pies.
- Cut it into squares and make croutons for salads that contain citrus fruit. For example, spinach & mandarin orange salad.
- Make a yummy bread pudding!
📞 Wrapping it up: the last word
Soda bread is a quick bread that's been around a long time. It's a comfortable, cozy bread that you'd expect to find in farmhouse kitchens where the stone floors were worn and pitted with use. Just about every family with even a molecule of Irish blood running through its veins has a recipe for it!
I love this lemon lavender bread recipe because it's a quick, delicious way to get bread on the table and, with the lemon and lavender in it, it's sweet and unique.
It always brings a smile to the family's faces when they see it on the table!
Anything with lavender and lemon in it is necessary for spring holidays, as far as I'm concerned!
While this is delicious for St Patrick's Day I think of it more as an Easter or Mother's Day recipe because between the lemon and the lavender the flavor is a bite of spring. But honestly I love it all year long.
It's delicious warm with a little honey butter or orange marmalade!
If you click on the number of servings in the recipe card you can adjust the measurements up or down for the exact number of servings you need.
If you love this recipe please comment below and give it 5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
📖 Recipe
Lavender & Lemon Irish Soda Bread
Print Pin Recipe Save Recipe Rate RecipeIngredients
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup white sugar
- 2 tablespoons grated lemon peel
- 1 tablespoons lavender buds
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ cup butter, ,chilled in the freezer for 10 minutes
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- Sugar for dusting
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Spray 8-inch-diameter cake pan with nonstick spray, or butter it. Or just use parchment on a cookie sheet. This bread is super forgiving.
- Whisk flour, sugar, lemon zest/peel, lavender buds, salt, and baking soda in large bowl to blend.
- Grate butter into the dry ingredients.
- Mix with a fork until the butter is evenly mixed in the dry ingredients.
- Make well in center of flour mixture.
- Mix the buttermilk, lemon juice, and vanilla.
- Add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture.
- Stir to blend.
- Using floured hands, shape dough into ball.
- Transfer to prepared pan and flatten slightly.
- Cut a cross shape in top of dough.
- Sprinkle dough with sugar.
- Bake bread until brown and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 30 to 40 minutes.
- Cool bread 10 minutes.
Notes
- If you don't have lavender, or prefer not to get it, it's fine to omit.
- This bread stores about 2 days at room temperature.
- You can freeze it for up to 3 months.
- Orange may be substituted for the lemon - leave the lavender out.
- Use the largest side of the grater to grate the butter.
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition information is estimated as a courtesy. If using for medical purposes, please verify information using your own nutritional calculator. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
This recipe has been tested several times. If you choose to use other ingredients, or change the technique in some way, the results may not be the same.
First published January 2, 2008. Last updated September 2, 2024 for better images and more tips and helps.
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Lavender Irish Soda Bread
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Bella says
Love this recipe...and actually, I used Simply orange juice to sub for lemon juice and zest. Then I added dried cranberries, because orange flavor complements those so nicely. And I kept the lavender in. It came together so well and was gone by the end of the evening. 🙂 Kudos to you for finding the correct amount of lavender! A little goes a long way, so it's often challenging.
Marye says
That sounds delish!
Gery says
Just wondering? instead of Lavendar flowers could you use essential oil in place with a couple of drops?
Marye says
I've never tried that way, Gery - I use essential oils but I've never cooked with them.
Megan says
Can I add fresh mint or fresh lemon mint? If I go with the orange instead, would a chocolate cream cheese go well with it?
Marye says
I think so - that sounds great. Give it a try!
Eileen Kelly says
I make Irish Soda bread about 3-4 times a week, yes a week. I love this bread. The addition of the lavender is a fabulous twist.
Marye says
Thanks Eileen!