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Best Irish Soda Bread Ever

Remember back in November when I wrote a post titled Are You Blogging To The Wrong Audience? Then I said I was going to start to post about non-writing-related topics once a week, probably on Thursdays? Well that lasted about a month before I got overwhelmed and regressed to blogging once a week and only about writing and publishing. But this post by blogger extraordinaire Roni Loren reminded me of the necessity of blogging about other things besides writing, and—truth be told—I have about 50 other things I want to blog about, the first of which is my mother’s awesome Irish soda bread. Yes, I’m Irish American. Yes, I love corned beef and cabbage and serve my kids green milk on St. Patrick’s Day. No, I don’t drink Guinness because beer makes me want to barf. (I’m 1/8th French and that part of me drinks wine.)

Our local bakery sells Irish soda bread, but this year we were out of town, so I called my sister and got my mom’s recipe from her and made it myself for the first time ever. It is SO easy and SO good. And you don’t have to wait until next St. Patrick’s Day to make it! Our bakery sells soda bread all year ’round. So here it is:

4 c flour
1 1/2 t baking soda
1 t salt
2 T carraway seeds (optional, but I love them)
3/4 c sugar
1 c dried currants (or raisins, but I prefer currants)
2 T butter, melted
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 c buttermilk

1. Mix the flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl
2. Add the carraway seeds, sugar, and currants
3. Stir in the butter, eggs, and buttermilk

Plop it on a greased pan (I used a round cake pan; the bread will also be round). Attempt to cut a 1.5-inch-deep cross-cut using a serrated knife. Don’t worry if the dough sticks to the knife and your cross-cut is barely visible.

Cook 45-60 mins at 350 degrees (Mine took 50 mins). Take it out, let it sit 5-10 mins in the pan, then remove it to cool on a rack. Eat while warm with butter. Wash down with Irish whiskey or Guinness—or better yet, a cup of tea.

Enjoy!

11 comments to Best Irish Soda Bread Ever

  • m++

    I tried it, and it was indeed delicious! I especially liked the carraway seeds — a very unique addition. Went perfect with the St. Patrick's day feast! Thanks Meghan.

  • Kim Curtis

    You've inspired me! I haven't had soda bread since I was in Ireland. I don't like caraway seeds or currants, but I'll let you know how it turns out 🙂

    • meghancward

      Kim – once I realized our bakery carries it all year 'round, I started buying it every couple of months. But as good as their soda bread is, the homemade kind is better. And you can make it without the carraway seeds and with raisins instead of currants. Our bakery also sells an apricot soda bread, which is REALLY good. I imagine you just substitute the currants with dried apricot pieces. Not sure.

  • This is so funny — you, me, and Roni are all breathing the same blog air because today I wrote a whole post (for next week) about how I bore myself with my usual posts and that I need to do something different. This is great and I look forward to making it!

    • meghancward

      Sierra, my biggest problem is that I don't have enough time to blog twice a week. I have plenty of things I want to write about – modeling, parenting, cooking, exercising, etc. but I wouldn't get any other writing done if all I did was blog. I think the key for me is shorter posts.

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