This recipe was originally posted as part of The Weekend Project. Click here to see the St. Patrick's Day meal.
INGREDIENTS
4 cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup granulated sugar
1¼ tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
4 Tbsp. butter, cubed
1 egg, beaten
1¾ cups buttermilk
2 cups raisins
PREPARATION
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease a baking sheet.
• In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and baking soda.
• Cut in the butter until the pea-sized clumps form and the butter is incorporated.
• Stir in the egg and buttermilk until the dry ingredients are fully incorporated and a shaggy, wet-looking dough forms. Add more buttermilk as needed to incorporate all of the dry crumbles. Mix in the raisins.
• Divide the dough in half and form each half into a ball. Place the loaves onto the baking sheet. Bake 50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cover the loaves with foil if they darken too quickly or they raisins begin to burn.
• Soda bread will keep 2 to 3 days at room temperature in a ziptop bag or covered with plastic wrap.
This article appears in Guide to Beer 2014.