Karena's Irish Soda Bread

Two years ago at my office we had a young lady, Karena, on our AmeriCorps staff who had Irish roots through and through.

For St. Patty's day that year she brought in a loaf of her Irish Soda Bread, a recipe she grew up with and has been made in her family for years.

I have never found a good Irish Soda Bread recipe, and it's one of my favorite things! After some begging, I convinced Karena to share the recipe with me - which she gladly did.

I'm so happy she did - it's just fantastic - it makes a ton, but that just means you get lots so eat and share with other people.

And yes, being how far behind I am in blogging, I made this last St. Patty's day - and it's almost that time again - so figured I should share it with all of you!

Karena’s Irish Soda Bread Recipe

Ingredients:

4 cups All-Purpose Flour
1 cup white sugar
2 ½ Tablespoon Baking Powder
1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1 Teaspoon Salt
2 Tablespoons Caraway Seeds
¼ cup butter (melted)
2 cups raisins
2 cups Buttermilk
1 egg

(1 ½ cup Milk and 2 Tablespoons lemon juice can be substituted for buttermilk-pour milk in separate bowl and add lemon juice—let sit for 10 minutes and allow curdling.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, sugar, and caraway seeds. Mix buttermilk with egg and pour in with dry ingredients. Mix well—add up to ½ cup more flour if needed for bread like consistency. Knead in raisins and melted butter. Let rise for 15 minutes and shape on baking pan.

Bake for 45-60 minutes at 350 until center is cooked and top is browned.