Irish Soda Bread

I know I'm a bit late to the St. Patrick's day madness, as I've been watching the shamrock-and-beer-themed posts flying all over Facebook and Pinterest for the past few days. However, Stuart and I celebrated his Irish heritage yesterday in our own foodie way!

Since he's got some Irish blood on his mother's side (with the surname Collins), one of the family traditions that was passed along was the making of Irish Soda Bread. We baked a loaf yesterday using just a few simple ingredients. It's a dense, rustic load of bread that's easy to make and tastes great toasted with butter. For some reason, the taste and texture truly makes me feel like I'm on a farm somewhere in Ireland, enjoying a loaf of bread that I baked from scratch with home-grown wheat. No yeast is involved here, just wheat flour, buttermilk, and three basic pantry ingredients!

 

Irish Soda Bread
*The classic bread of Ireland, traditionally cooked over a peat fire and offered with a cup of tea or a glass of stout.

Ingredients:
3 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 or more cups buttermilk

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400. Grease and flour a baking sheet.
2. Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl. Mix in the buttermilk with a wooden spoon, and add as much additonal buttermilk as is necessary to form a slightly sticky dough.
3. Knead on a floured board (I used a kitchen aid mixer with dough hook attachment) just long enough to form the dough into a round cake.
4. Cut a cross shape about 4 inches long and 1/2 an inch deep on top using a sharp knife, and place on prepared baking sheet.
5. Bake for 30-40 minutes. When done, the bread should sound hollow when thumped on the bottom. If desired, wrap in a dishtowel until cool to prevent a hard crust from forming. Serve warm with butter.