Irish Soda Bread (Spotted Dog)

Soda bread it a traditional Irish food, however my soda bread is modernized and Americanized. Actually most soda bread recipe’s you will see these days are not truly traditional. Click here to see a full explanation of a traditional soda bread. A traditional Irish soda bread has no sugar, eggs, or raisins and was probably not made with white flour.A basic soda bread needs flour, baking soda, some salt, and buttermilk. Interestingly enough, a soda bread with raisins is called “Spotted Dog”. So, I’m not claiming that my soda bread traditional, but I am claiming that it is yummy. It’s like a giant drop biscuit with the sweetness of raisins and it is delicious warm with a little bit of butter. 

Ingredients:

• 4 to 4 1/2 C. flour
• 2 TBSP. Sugar
• 1 tsp. Salt
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 4 TBSP. butter
• 1 C. raisins
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1 3/4 C. buttermilk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 F. Mix together 4 C. of the flour, sugar, salt, and soda in a large mixing bowl.

2. Using a pastry cutter, two knives, fingers, or the whisk attachment of an electric mixer, work the butter into the flour mixture until it is mixed with the flour and in tiny pieces. Add the raisins.

3. Make a well in the center of the flour. Add the beaten egg and buttermilk and mix with a wooden spoon. You don’t want to over mix it, so just mix until the flour is moistened. Once the it got to stiff to stir, I used my hands to incorporate all the flour. The dough should be a little sticky and kind of shaggy. Don’t over knead.

4. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased baking sheet. Mold it into a round blob. Score the top of the dough by cutting and X into the dough about an inch and a half deep. I went a little too deep and it formed strange peaks. The scoring is just to help it cook all the way through in the center.

4. Bake until golden brown and hollow sounding when tapped on the bottom. Stick a skewer in the center. If it comes out dry, its done. About 35-45 minutes. If the top starts to brown, but the inside is still gooey, cover the top with tin foil.  Let cool for a few minutes. Slice and serve warm with butter.

Recipe followed very closely from Simply Recipes