Have a Yummy St. Patrick's Day

I don't have a drop of Irish blood in me, but Glen is a wee bit o' the Irish. We both look forward to the traditional corned beef and cabbage dinner with little potatoes and sweet carrots we harvest from our garden beds. Irish soda bread is an easy non-yeast bread that's tasty with all those juices. Here's a delicious recipe that includes raisins for a bit of sweetness to go with the salty meat. It's quick and easy to make!

Irish Soda Bread

Ingredients

4 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon kosher salt

4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter

1 cup raisins

1 tablespoons caraway seed (optional)

1 3/4 cups buttermilk

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 F. Butter and flour a large baking sheet.

Sift together flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl. Cut in butter with a pastry cutter or your fingers until the butter is pea-sized lumps. Add raisins and caraway, then add buttermilk and stir just until dough is evenly moistened but still lumpy.

Transfer dough to a well-floured surface and gently knead with floured hands about 8 times to form a soft but slightly less sticky dough, then form into a ball. Pat dough ball into a domed 8-inch round on baking sheet. Cut a 1/2-inch-deep X on top of each loaf with a sharp knife. Bake in the middle of oven until golden brown and bottom sounds hollow when tapped, 45 to 55 minutes. Transfer to rack to cool completely.