Happy St. Patrick's Day! Last year I baked a full loaf of Irish soda bread using my Grandma Moran's recipe; this year I decided to mix it up a little bit and make mini Irish soda bread loaves. Apparently true soda bread is only made up of four ingredients: flour, salt, baking soda, and buttermilk. I added a smidge of sugar as well as some raisins, because, well, that's the way I like it! The mini loaves turned out a little more rustic than I was going for (I was in a bit of a rush to get the bread in the oven before the start of Top Chef All-Stars); luckily, though, they still taste great!
Mini Irish Soda Bread Loaves (printer-friendly version)
makes 8 mini loaves
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups organic pastry flour
1 teaspoon raw sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 - 1 1/2 cups organic low-fat buttermilk
1/2 cup organic raisins
1 tablespoon caraway seeds [optional]
1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
2. Wash raisins in cool water, drain well, and toss with some flour to coat. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, whisk (or sift) together the flours, sugar, baking soda, and salt.
4. Stir in floured raisins and caraway seeds, if using. [I forgot to add them at this point, as you'll see in the image.]
5. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture.
6. Add the buttermilk.
7. Stir with a wooden spoon until ingredients are just moistened. Add additional buttermilk if necessary. [Aha, there are the raisins!]
8. Turn dough out on lightly-floured board. Knead until smooth -- about one minute. Add additional flour as needed.
9. Shape dough into a ball, about 6-8 inches in diameter. Make about 6-8 mini balls out of the larger round.
10. Place the dough balls on the prepared baking sheet. Use a knife to make a cross on the top of each dough ball down to within one inch of the bottom. [I was not as aggressive with my crosses as I should have been -- don't be afraid to cut deep into the dough!]
11. Bake 10 minutes at 450 degrees. Then decrease the temperature to 400 degrees and bake 10-15 minutes more.
12. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.
13. Serve with butter. Note: It's best to eat (or share!) the mini soda breads within one day of baking.
(adapted from this recipe)
(adapted from this recipe)
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