Irish Soda Bread Recipe

In honor of my Irish heritage, I make Irish Soda Bread every year for St. Patty's Day, so I thought I would share the recipe if anyone else wants to make some for their family. My mom always made it for us as well when we were growing up, and here's the recipe she shared with us:

IRISH SODA BREAD
One hundred fifty years ago it was common to make bread using baking soda rather than yeast in parts of rural Ireland. That's where Irish soda bread gets its name.The practice of using baking soda started out of necessity. Yeast won't make dough rise unless the baker uses "strong" flour, which was scarce in parts of Ireland. Baking soda, however, could be counted on to leaven bread. The baking soda has to be combined with something acidic in order to do its magic. In this case, we've used buttermilk. So, not only is this a historic and tasty recipe; it's pretty foolproof, too.

Ingredients
2 cups white flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
4 tbsp. butter, chilled
1 cup raisins (you can make w/o raisins if you like)
1 1/2 cups buttermilk or plain yogurt

Directions: Heat the oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, combine the dry ingredients.
Cut in the butter until it is pea-sized. Stir in the raisins and buttermilk or yogurt. Turn the dough onto a floured surface, knead 1 minute, and shape into a disk. Cut an "X" in the top and bake on a greased baking sheet for 45 to 50 minutes. Makes one 8-inch-wide loaf or 2 small loaves.

*My mom's tips for this recipe: The chilled butter: I take a steak knife and shave off pieces of butter from the 4 TBSP. Hunk and then I just mix it into the flour mixture by rubbing with my fingertips and tossing the flour mixture as I go so the butter pieces get better incorporated into the mix. I never use 1 tsp. salt...more like a half teaspoon. I never use a half cup sugar, but about 3-4 tablespoons less. After I cut the X in the loaf, I rub buttermilk all over the surface of the loaf. I often make 2 smaller loaves, instead of one big one. That way you can give one away on St. Patrick's Day!