Irish Soda Bread

Ok, I know it's almost a week after St. Patrick's day. And lets be honest, what other day do we eat corned beef, soda bread, or stewed vegetables. If you're like me, that's never. My cousin helped me come to this realization a few days ago, Irish food, "pub grub" is really good, but we just don't eat it on a normal basis. It's kind of a shame, because I have always really enjoyed Irish soda bread.

Well, that's somewhat a lie, I actually hated it as a kid. I hated raisins, and it tasted to bland for my solely processed sugar palate. But now I can't get enough of it. The best kind of soda bread is a little chewy on the inside, but perfectly crunchy and crumbly on the outside. So as St. Patty's rolled around, I knew it was time to make my first Irish Soda Bread. 

I did a lot of research actually before I got baking. I found that there are actually two kinds of Irish soda bread, the Irish kind, and the American. The Irish is pretty bland, just flour, salt, buttermilk, and baking soda. I found out that the bread was made up in Ireland because the Irish weren't big on yeast. So when baking soda was discovered the Irish found it was a quick and easy way to leaven bread, without their dreaded yeast. In the US, they Irish immigrants brought over the recipe and of course, the Americans had to add their own flair. They made it sweeter, by adding a little sugar and raisins. Still having the sweet tooth I did as a kid, I prefer the latter. And I decided to be just like those immigrants and add a touch more of Bella into the bread by adding a few more flavors to this one recipe I found and liked on the Food Network site.

So this bread is more of a non-traditional, American-style Irish soda bread. Even though it is not that much sweeter, if you prefer the more traditional bread, just take out the cranberries and honey. But I got a really good response from this recipe. We had a few friends come over for a St. Patrick's day dinner, and it was completely gone by the time everyone left! So enjoy my non-traditional soda bread, even if it's not Saint Patty's day, you can still enjoy the little sprinkle of Irish in everyone. 

Non-Traditional Irish Soda Bread:

3 cups plus extra flour

1/4 cup sugar

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

4 tbsp unsalted butter, slightly cooler than room temperature, cubed

1 cup raisins

1/4 cup dried cranberries

1 cup buttermilk

1 1/2 tbsp honey

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 egg

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a 8 or nine inch round pan with parchment paper, covering all sides and with extras on the top. 

In a large bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until well combined. Rub in the butter with your fingers until all the lumps of butter are gone. Stir in the raisins and cranberries.

In a small bowl, beat the buttermilk, honey, vanilla, and egg with a whisk. Fold into the raisin mixture until a sticky dough forms.

Transfer the dough onto a floured surface. Knead the dough gently, not more than 4 times, until it forms a ball/ round shape. Place dough into the lined pan, and lightly sprinkle the top with flour. Bake at 400 for 15 minutes, then lower the temperature to 350 and cook for about 20 more minutes, or until the top of the bread is browned and a cake tester comes out clean. Serve immediately.

Just a side note-if you do have leftovers, they do not keep well past the first day. I recommend putting the rest in a freezer safe bag and storing it in the freezer. This bread makes a lovely toast. Enjoy!