Irish Soda Bread

I've only been cooking things from boxes and mixes lately; but for the double feast today, I thought I'd break with my current trend and make Irish Soda Bread.

Because of Holy Week next week, Sts. Joseph and Patrick both have their days today. I'm sure most people will probably still celebrate St. Paddy's on Monday, though! I've loved soda bread ever since somebody brought some into work years ago and I ended up eating most of it! This recipe is really easy, and hard to mess up:


Irish Soda Bread

INGREDIENTS
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/3 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 cups buttermilk
1/4 cup butter, melted


DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
Combine flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and baking soda. Blend egg and buttermilk together, and add all at once to the flour mixture. Mix just until moistened. Stir in butter. Pour into prepared pan.
Bake for 65 to 70 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the bread comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. Wrap in foil for several hours, or overnight, for best flavor.


You can add in some raisins, too, I suppose - I didn't because I didn't think of it, but I bet it would be yummy. (Recipe courtesy of allrecipes.com)

Happy St. Paddy's Day, everybody!