Irish soda bread

No raisins, just biscuity deliciousness

Growing up, I never understood the allure of soda bread. Now I'm obsessed. I even like it with raisins, which isn't the norm for me — I usually hate raisins in bread. But this recipe is raisin-free, easy, and so yummy with a baking powder biscuit sort of taste. Who can resist a big biscuit!? I use St. Patrick's Day as my yearly excuse to make this bread, and it hardly lasts through the night.

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IRISH SODA BREAD

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:
DOUGH
4 cups flour
4 TBS sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 TBS baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, softened 
1 cup buttermilk
1 egg

GLAZE
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup buttermilk

WHAT YOU'LL DO:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a large baking sheet.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and softened butter. As you mix, the butter should be evenly distributed without any large lumps. Stir in 1 cup buttermilk and lightly beaten egg until combined. Use your hands to work the dough together in the bowl.   

3. Turn the dough out on to a lightly floured surface. (I use a cutting board dusted with flour, then slowly take the crumbly dough from the bowl to the cutting board one handful at a time so as to make as little mess as possible!) Briefly knead the dough and form into a round loaf. (It might look crackly and crumbly — that's okay!) Place the loaf on the prepared baking sheet.

4. In a small bowl, combine melted better and buttermilk for the glaze. Brush the entire loaf with this mixture. Use a sharp knife to cut an "X" in the top of the loaf. 

5. Bake in preheated oven 45 to 60 minutes, or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. (I baked for about an hour because I kept removing the loaf to brush with more glaze, as is recommended in the original recipe. If you don't brush with more glaze throughout baking, check the loaf at 30 minutes.) 

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In writing up this recipe, it just dawned on me: I accidentally used twice as much softened butter when I made this bread yesterday. Oops! But let me tell you: It was amazing. So I guess you could add 1/2 cup softened butter, or a whole cup! You can't go wrong.