Irish Soda Bread
With St. Patrick’s day quickly approaching I wanted to get into the holiday spirit a wee bit early and make a loaf of Irish soda bread!
While the more classic version of Irish soda bread consists of flour, baking soda, salt and buttermilk, I simply couldn’t resist baking up a version of this popular bread with a sweet twist. Aside from the added butter, egg, and sugar, take a look at all those beautifully plump raisins studded throughout.
I used the Irish soda bread recipe from simplyrecipes.com. This bread turned out great with a nicely crisp crust surrounding a perfectly tender crumb, and of course plenty of raisins mixed in. So no matter how you slice it this bread will make the perfect addition to your table.
Ingredients: ( yields 1 loaf)
- 4 to 4 and 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 1 teaspoon of baking soda
- 4 tablespoons of unsalted butter, cubed
- 1 cup of raisins
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- 1 and 3/4 cups of buttermilk, shaken
Using your fingers work the butter into the flour mixture until crumbly and some pea sized butter pieces remain. Toss in the raisins.
Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Add the buttermilk and egg to the well and using a wooden spoon mix until the dough becomes to stiff to stir.
With lightly floured hands gently begin to knead the dough in the bowl until a rough and shaggy ball begins to form. If the dough is to sticky to work with add a little more flour. Do not over knead the dough.
Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and shape the dough into a round. Again, make sure not to over work the dough. The dough will be quite shaggy, and slightly sticky, this is good.
Place the dough onto a lightly greased baking sheet. The dough will flatten a bit on the baking sheet. Using a serrated knife score the top of the dough in the shape of an “X” about 1 and 1/2 inches deep. (I used a preheated bread stone to bake my bread. If using a bread stone use caution as it will be extremely hot)
Bake the bread for 35-45 minutes until golden brown and the bottom sounds hallow when tapped. You can also check for doneness by placing a thin skewer into the center of the bread and making sure it comes out clean. Keep a close eye on the bread if you notice it is browning to quickly you can tent it with a piece of foil.
Carefully remove the baking sheet from the oven and allow the bread to cool on the sheet for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes carefully transfer the bread to a cooling rack to further cool.
This bread is good for 1 to 2 days as it tends to dry out quickly. It is best served warm, at room temperature or toasted and topped with a bit of butter.