Irish Soda Bread

All my ingredients to make Irish Soda Bread ! I'm excited because this will be the first year in all my married years that I've been able to sit down and make it for my family. Since St. Patricks Day is also our wedding anniversary its been tough to plan a Irish meal for that day. So I decided to start our traditional Bread making on the 15th instead!

Preheat your oven to 375
Yes I used Craisins instead of currants...what do you expect...this is Arizona not Ireland
Mix all your 5 dry ingredients together
Melt your stick of butter about 25 second in the microwave
Whisk your wet ingredients
Mix dry and wet ingredients together
Take off your rings and wash your hands cause its Kneading time
Separate into two loaves and place into pans

Cooling on Racks right out the oven
Smelling the finished product ....oh yum

2 cups all Purpose flour

2 cups Whole wheat flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 tbsp sugar

1 cup currants

1 3/4 cup buttermilk

1 stick of butter

1 egg

Preheat Oven to 375 degrees. Grease two 8 inch cake pans. Stir first 5 ingredients in large bowl. Stir in currants. Whisk buttermilk, butter and egg in small bowl. Add to dry indregiants. Take off your rings and wash your hands to KNEAD mixture briefly in bowl until dough comes together . Divide dough into 2 pieces. Shape into round loaves. Transfer to prepared pans using sharp knife, cut an Cross on the surface of each loaf, about 1/2 inch deep. Bake about 50 min. Turn loaves onto racks to cool.

This classic Irish QUICK BREAD uses baking soda (as the name implies) as its LEAVENER. It's usually made with buttermilk and is speckled with currants and caraway seed. Before baking, a cross is slashed in the top of the loaf. The purpose of the cross, legend says, is to scare away the devil.