Irish Soda Bread

Irish Soda Bread

Unsalted Butter
Fat Free/ Low Fat Buttermilk
Raisins

Those 3 ingredients need to be added to your grocery list if you do not already have them!  The other ingredients are in your pantry.  Why???  St. Patrick's Day is this Thursday & it's time to bake an Irish Soda Bread!  That yummy bread that's also called Spotted Dog.  Sure, you'll find them in bakeries & grocery stores, but why not bake your own?  Once you bake it the first time it will be a tradition for you as it is for me.

I'll always remember the year I was "googling" for an Irish Soda Bread recipe that used 1 Cup of Buttermilk.  That's all I had in the fridge.  There was the recipe on the blog Charli and Me written by Carol.  Carol shared that this great recipe originally came from the Will O'Glenn Irish Bed and Breakfast in Michigan with Mrs. Biddy Gahan sharing it.  I'm always so happy that all of these kind folks passed it along!  I use unsalted & fat free/ low fat ingredients & it's so good!  Every year I bake this Irish Soda Bread for St. Patrick's Day & also a couple of other times during the year. 

I've learned a couple hints to make this an even easier bread to bake:

• Melt & then cool the Butter before using.
  

• Before placing the sticky dough in the pie plate, rub a little Butter on the palms of your hands.  The dough will then be easier to work with.      

Sticky Dough  ready to be placed in my oven.

Irish Soda Bread
Oven: 400°F, then lowered to 375°F

Total baking time: 40- 45 Minutes

Ingredients:
1 and 1/2 Cups Raisins
1 Cup boiling Water 
********
1 stick Butter - I use unsalted.
2 and 1/2 Cups Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
5 Tablespoons Sugar
1 Cup Buttermilk, can be low fat/fat free 

Method:

1.  Preheat oven to 400°F.
2.  Spray a 8" or 9 " Pyrex Pie Plate with PAM.
3.  In a small bowl combine Raisins and boiling Water.  Let sit while preparing dough.
4.  Melt Butter.  Cool.
5.  In larger bowl, combine Flour, Baking Soda, Baking Powder & Sugar.
6.  Add melted Butter to dry ingredients, stir in.
7.  Add Buttermilk, stir.
8.   Add drained Raisins, stir.
9.   Shape into a ball after placing dough into pie plate.  Dough will be sticky.
10.   Bake 15 Minutes at 400°F.
11.  Lower oven to 375°F.  Bake 25- 30 Minutes longer.
12.  Remove the bread from pie plate after using cake tester or toothpick to test for done and cool on rack.
13.  Cool. 
14. Wait at least 5 hours before cutting into slices and eating.

After cutting the bread into slices, I place it in two sealed Ziploc Bags.

This is a very tasty treat!  Heat a half slice or a slice in the microwave for a few seconds.  Yum!

An added treat is to open the freezer door 3 weeks later & find 2 slices in a freezer bag.  Yes, slices do freeze well.   Will you be adding Raisins, unsalted Butter & fat free Buttermilk to your grocery list?  If you do not have a chance to bake this in the next 2 days, it would be a great treat to bake this weekend!

Enjoy!
Yummy!