Irish American Soda Bread Recipes

IRISH SODA BREAD

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and place a rack in the center of the oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or butter it lightly, and set it aside.
• Place the caraway seeds on a cutting board and sprinkle with a few drops of water to keep them from sliding around. Use a chef's knife to roughly chop the caraway seeds a bit so that they are not all whole seeds. Place the seeds in a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add the rye flour, sugar, currants, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and mix on low speed for a few seconds until combined. Cut the butter into 8 to 10 pieces and add it to the flour mixture; paddle for 20 to 30 seconds on low until the butter is somewhat broken down but there are still pieces about the size of grapes.
• In a small bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, creme fraiche, and whole egg until thoroughly mixed. With the mixer running on low, pour the buttermilk mixture into the flour mixture and paddle for another 10 to 15 seconds, until the dough just comes together. There will probably still be a little loose flour at the bottom of the bowl.
• Remove the bowl from the mixer. Gather and lift the dough with your hands and turn it over in the bowl so that it starts to pick up the loose flour at the bottom. Turn the dough over several times until all the loose flour is mixed in.
• Dump the dough out onto the prepared baking sheet and pat it into an 8-inch circle about 1 inch thick. Whisk the egg yolk lightly in a small bowl with a fork. Use a pastry brush to brush the egg wash evenly over the entire top of the dough. Score the dough into 8 wedges as you would cut a pizza. (At this point the soda bread can be tightly wrapped in plastic wrap and frozen for up to 1 week. Add 5 to 10 minutes to the baking time.)
• Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, rotating the baking sheet midway through the baking time, until the entire circle of soda bread is golden brown and firm when pressed in the center.
• Remove from the oven and immediately smear the butter evenly over the entire top surface. Let cool on the baking sheet on a wire rack for 30 minutes, then slice the soda bread along the scored lines into wedges and serve.

AMAZINGLY EASY IRISH SODA BREAD

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease a large baking sheet.
• In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt and margarine. Stir in 1 cup of buttermilk and egg. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead slightly. Form dough into a round and place on prepared baking sheet. In a small bowl, combine melted butter with 1/4 cup buttermilk; brush loaf with this mixture. Use a sharp knife to cut an 'X' into the top of the loaf.
• Bake in preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Check for doneness after 30 minutes. You may continue to brush the loaf with the butter mixture while it bakes.

IRISH AMERICAN SODA BREAD

Steps:

• In large bowl,whisk together flour,baking powder,baking soda, splenda and raisins.
• In separate bowl whisk together egg beater,buttermilk and melted butter.
• Quickly stir wet ingredients into dry ingred.
• Pour batter into greased 9x5" loaf pan.
• Bake bread in preheated 375 degree oven 45 minutes to an hour or till cake tester comes out clean.

IRISH AMERICAN SODA BREAD

Steps:

• 1. Preheat oven to 350°F 2. Grease an 8 ½ x 4 ½ inch loan pan 3. Sift together: flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt 4. Stir in: raisins and caraway seeds 5. Whisk together in another bowl: egg, and ⅔ cup buttermilk. (Add up to ¾ cup buttermilk to get the right consistency,) and soft, room temperature butter. 7. Add all liquid ingredients above to dry mixture and stir until the dry ingredients are moistened. The batter will be stiff but sticky. Scrape the batter into the loaf pan and spread evenly. 7. Use a sharp knife to slash a large X about ½ inch deep on top of batter. 8. Bake until golden brown, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. 9. Transfer bread to a rack to cool, let cool in pan on rack for 5 to 10 minutes before un-molding to cool completely on the rack.

TRADITIONAL IRISH SODA BREAD

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• In a large bowl, combine all dry ingredients and stir together. Add buttermilk and mix with a large spoon (or with your hands, shaping your fingers into a "claw") until the dough comes together. You might need two tablespoons more or less buttermilk depending on the weather. The dough should be moist, but not so sticky it is very hard to handle.
• Shape into a round and place on baking sheet. Cut an X into the top with a sharp knife and bake for about 45 minutes, until dark golden. A toothpick will come out clean.
• Cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes before slicing.