Irish Soda Bread

Thank you Camille for finding, testing, and sharing this recipe with me!

Authentic Irish Soda Bread Begin by preheating the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit so that it is ready for your bread straight away. You will need the following ingredients to make authentic

Irish Soda Bread

4 1/2 cups of flour
1 egg
¼ cup of sugar
3 teaspoons of baking powder
½ a teaspoon of baking soda
¼ teaspoon of salt
1 stick of softened butter (about ¼ of a pound)
2 cups of buttermilk
1 cup or so of raisins (you can use regular or golden raisins)

* Butter a cookie sheet (or some flat pan) and lightly flour it.

* Mix together in a large mixing bowl the flour, sugar, baking soda and baking powder.

* Cut in softened butter into the flour mixture.

* Stir in raisins.

* In a separate bowl lightly beat the egg into the buttermilk.

* Add the egg and butter milk mixture into the flour mixture by hand, mixing in a little at a time and being careful to avoid over mixing.

* Turn out on a lightly floured board and briefly knead to form a smooth dough.

* Shape into a high, round ball.

* Place onto a baking pan.

* Slash a cross or x shape across the top of the dough.

* Bake at 350F 50 to 60 minutes.

* It is done when it is nicely browned. Tap to see if it sounds hollow if so it is done.

*** The only thing I really changed on here was the flour. It was SO sticky it clearly needed more. So it was 4 cups. I'm guessing I added about 1/2 cup more. I just did it until I could actually get a "smooth" ball.