My mother-in-law gave me an old recipe book from a Catholic church fundraiser from a few decades ago. Inside are two soda bread recipes written by a Father Seamus. With an Irish name like that, I knew the recipe had to be good!

The problem was the book failed to mention a cooking time or temperature, so I had to work that part out all on my own. After spending some time playing with the recipe, it’s a crowd favorite amongst my friends as well with myself. Wherever you are, Father Seamus, thanks for the great soda bread recipe!

 

Ingredients:

4 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 cup sugar (optional)

1/2 cup butter, cut into cube and slightly softened

1 1/2 cup raisins

1 large egg

1 3/4 cup buttermilk

1 tablespoons caraway seeds (optional)

 

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Lightly grease and flour 2 pie pans or 8″ round cake pans

Combine 4 cups of the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and baking soda in a bowl either by hand, or in the bowl of a standing mixer using the paddle attachment.

Add butter with pastry blender if mixing by hand, or mix with the paddle attachment until mixture looks crumbly.

Mix in caraway and raisins.

Beat egg into the buttermilk.

If using a stand mixer, take off paddle and put on dough hook.  Add egg-buttermilk mixture to the dry mixture, mixing until it comes together.  Batter will be sticky.  Sprinkle dough with 1/4 cup of flour and knead for about 2 minutes, adding a little more flour if necessary. Turn out onto floured board.   If you are hand mixing, mix in the liquids and add the flour a little at a time (about 1/4 cup) until dough can be handled without sticking to your hands

Turn it out onto a floured board and knead until smooth

On the floured board, divide dough in half and shape into round loaf.

Place loaves in prepared pans. Do not press it down.

Using a sharp knife, cut crosses 1/2 inch deep into each loaf

Bake 45-50 minutes at 375 degrees.

Cool on a rack for at least an hour before cutting.

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Quick Tip: You can omit the caraway seeds if you don’t like that flavor.

Recipe and image courtesy of: Kitchen Catharsis