The Girlhood Gazette

Nov. 26 update: For Miss Jocelyn and the rest of you who would like to taste this fabulous bread for yourselves:

Mrs. C.’s Irish Soda Bread

Ingredients:
4 cups flour, plus more for kneading
¾ cup sugar
¾ cup raisins
2 Tbsp. caraway seeds (optional)
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. baking powder
1½ cups buttermilk
2 large eggs
3 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted, plus more for greasing pan

Instructions:Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter a baking sheet.
In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, raisins, caraway seeds, baking soda, salt, and baking powder. In a separate bowl, whisk buttermilk, eggs and 2 Tbsp. butter. Stir the wet mixture into the dry ingredients to form a dough.
Knead dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth, about 4 minutes; add more flour as needed to prevent sticking. Form dough into a 9-inch round; place on prepared baking sheet. Brush loaf with remaining Tbsp. of butter. Using a sharp knife, score an X on top of loaf.
Bake until skewer inserted in center comes out clean, about 45 to 50 minutes. Cool on wire rack before serving. Enjoy!

This is one of my absolute favorite breads! It mixes up pretty quickly and has a sweet flavor – sometimes we like to sprinkle the top with turbinado sugar (or other “large chunk” sugar) before baking. YUM!