Not your typical bread, Irish Soda Bread is more like a big, delicious scone, and it’s one of our favorite St. Patrick’s Day food traditions! Try your luck with this family-friendly recipe and get your kids involved in the baking process — it’s just as fun to make, as it is to eat! Serve your Irish Soda Bread warm and freshly baked, with a pat of salted, sweet cream butter or a bit of jam. So good, it’s like finding gold at the end of the rainbow!

Ingredients:

• 4 cups of flour
• 1/3 cup of sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons softened butter
• 1 1/4 cups of buttermilk
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1 cup of raisins

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease a baking sheet with butter and set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add the softened butter, buttermilk and egg and mix with a wooden spoon until the dough begins to form (add extra buttermilk if the dough is too dry, or extra flour if the dough is too sticky). Gently fold in the raisins.

Lightly flour a large cutting board, and transfer your dough from the bowl to the floured board. Knead the dough slightly and form it into a round loaf. Place the loaf on your prepared baking sheet and cut an X into the top of the dough using kitchen shears.  

Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake for 45 minutes or until golden brown and baked through. Use a cake tester or insert a toothpick in the center of the bread to test for doneness. Place your loaf on a baking rack to cool slightly before serving.

If you prefer savory to sweet, cut the sugar to 1 tablespoon and omit the raisins. Instead, add a tablespoon of caraway seeds to the mix and follow the same directions. You can also split your dough into 4 smaller, individual loaves and cut the baking time accordingly.

Bring a little luck to your kitchen this year, and celebrate with homemade Irish Soda Bread — a St. Patrick’s Day tradition. Irish Soda Bread has a soft, cake-like texture, and will only last a few days before it dries out. But it will probably be long gone by then. After all, little leprechauns just can’t resist it! So if you don’t eat it all, your kids surely will — especially if they helped make it! Happy St. Patrick’s Day from TheRTAStore!

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