Winter to Spring/Irish Soda Bread Recipe

It's that time of year again. Spring is always a trick time of year. One day, rainy, windy, all you need is to curl up next to a fire to keep yourself warm and the next, sun is up, birds are singing. Actually, we all are longing for warmer weathers lately. After St. Patrick's Day, spring is not far behind. It has been chilly for the last a couple of days here. It has put me into the mood to bake. Irish soda bread was on the top of my baking list as promised my son and it came out delicious! 

Irish Soda Bread
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
A half stick(4 tbsp) butter
(cut into cubes, room temperature)
1 large egg
3/4 cup buttermilk
A handful of raisins

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. In a small bowl, whisk egg and buttermilk. Grab a pastry brush and dip it into the egg before adding to buttermilk. Set the covered brush aside. Stir into mixture(dry ingredients) and fold in raisins.

Knead on a floured surface for a minute. Shape into a round loaf and place on a greased baking sheet/ or place in a loaf pan. I doubled the quantity of dough and made two loaves this week. Cut a 1/4-in. deep cross in top of loaf. Brush over loaf with egg.

Bake at 375° for 35 minutes
Yield: 6-8 servings.

It does not have caraway seeds in it. Aria doesn't like it. I only put raisins in the mix. He is a raisin monster and loves this bread, especially sliced with butter on top :-)

Wishing you guys a happy spring!