This is a traditional yeast-free Irish soda bread that has been around in this basic form for over one hundred years. This bread is perfect for St. Patrick's Day meals or any time you want an authentic Irish soda bread to serve with dinner. Moist and filling, this is a dense bread for hearty meals like beef stew.
On a cold, wintry night or a chilly, rainy day, Irish soda bread goes with the comfort foods that warm you from the inside out.
Irish Soda Bread Recipe
Ingredients:
1 stick butter
2/3 cups sugar
2 eggs, beaten
4 cups white flour
3 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 cup currants or raisins
Directions:
1. Cream together butter and sugar. Add the eggs and mix well.
2. In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.
3. Add the flour mixture, one cup at a time, to the buttermilk. Stir.
4. Add currants or raisins and mix well.
5. Grease loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees F for 60 minutes or until tester comes clean.
6. Butter top of bread while it is still hot.
Tips for Baking
Baking should be fun! For some people, though, it ends up rather stressful. If baking has you pulling your hair out, no need to worry! Check out these tips to make the process easier for you.
Give yourself time. If you try to bake within a short window, you'll be rushed and pushed. This will lead to you making mistakes, which isn't good! When possible, give yourself time to bake. A good rule of thumb is to give yourself an extra 20 minutes on top of the total prep and bake time. This will account for any delays or mistakes. If this is your first time with a recipe, bump that up to 30 minutes.
Take your time. Now that you've given yourself time, use it! There's no need to rush through the baking process. It should be enjoyable for you. Take your time to go through the recipe, following each direction carefully. This is especially true on your first or second attempt with a recipe. It'll take you time to get used to a new recipe, so taking your time will help you avoid mistakes.
Don't be too hard on yourself for mistakes. Every baker, even professional ones, make mistakes. It's simply part of cooking. You might accidentally use too much of this, or too little of that. You might forget to turn the timer on while your creation is baking, causing it to burn. Whenever you make a mistake, don't let it deter you from trying again! Simply learn from it and then move on! Dwelling on your baking mistakes will only hurt you.
Have your kids help you! Letting your kids help you with baking is great. It will create so many fond memories between you all, while teaching them important life skills that they'll need to be successful. Make sure your kids are well-versed in kitchen safety, and that they are able to actually do the tasks that you need to do for the recipe. Having help in the kitchen will also take some of the pressure off of you, letting you enjoy yourself more!