Irish soda bread

Ingredients

• 4 to 4 ½ cups flour
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 4 Tbsp butter (softened)
• 1 cup dried berries (either raisins, blueberries or currants)
• ½ cup pumpkin seeds
• 1 large egg, slightly beaten
• 1 ¾ cups buttermilk

You may like

Butternut burgers (without bread!)

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
• Whisk together flour, sugar, salt, baking soda in a large mixing bowl.
• Work the butter into the flour mixture using either your fingers or two knives until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the dried fruit.
• Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Add the beaten egg and the buttermilk to the well and stir with a wooden spoon until the dough is too stiff to stir.
  
• Turn mixture onto a floured surface and gently knead until it forms a rough ball. Do not over-knead. Shape into a round ball.
• Place in a lightly greased cast iron pan and place the dough into the pan. Using a serrated knife, score the top of the dough with a deep X shape. The scoring of the bread with an X allows the heat to get into the center of the dough and thoroughly cook the bread.
• Bake 35-40 minutes until the top of the bread is golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes. Remove from the pan. Irish soda bread is best served immediately or within a day or two. We served ours with a marscapone cheese with smashed fresh blueberries.

Report a mistake in the recipe text