Best Soda Bread With Walnuts And Raisins Martha Rose Shulman Recipes

EASY IRISH SODA BREAD

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a baking sheet. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, raisins, caraway seeds, baking soda, salt, and baking powder. In a separate bowl, whisk buttermilk, eggs, and 2 tablespoons butter. Stir the wet mixture into the dry ingredients to form a dough.
• Knead dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth, about 4 minutes; add more flour as needed to prevent sticking. Form dough into a 9-inch round; place on prepared baking sheet. Brush loaf with remaining tablespoon butter. Using a sharp knife, score an X on top of loaf.
• Bake until skewer inserted in center comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool on wire rack before serving.

WHOLE WHEAT SODA BREAD WITH RAISINS (SPOTTED DOG)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a sheet pan with parchment. In a large bowl, mix together flours, soda, salt and brown sugar. Swish mixture around with your hands to distribute salt and soda through the bread. Add raisins and toss mixture together to coat raisins with flour.
• Beat egg and place in a measuring cup. Add buttermilk; the liquid in the cup should measure about 1 3/4 cups.
• Make a well in the middle of the flour mixture. Pour egg/buttermilk mixture into the well. Working from the center of the bowl in concentric clockwise circles, with fingers outstretched, stir buttermilk mixture into flour mixture. (You can use a rubber spatula instead if you don't like getting dough on your hands.) This should take about a half a minute at most. Dough will be sticky and ragged.
• Dust your work surface with flour, clean and dry your hands and dust with flour. Scrape out dough and very quickly and gently pat it into a 1 1/2- to 2-inch-high round and tuck the bottom edges under. (Alternatively, place in a lightly buttered 10-inch round cake pan.) Place on parchment-covered baking sheet. Moisten a knife and cut a deep cross across top of bread.
• Place in oven and immediately turn the heat down to 400 degrees. Bake 40 minutes, until the loaf is dark brown and makes a hollow sound when tapped. Remove from oven, wrap loosely in a kitchen towel (to soften the crust) and place on a rack to cool.

IRISH SODA BREAD (WITH RAISINS)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• In a large bowl sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and sugar. Using a pastry blender or fingertips, work the shortening into the flour until the consistency is the same as that of small peas. Stir in the raisins and caraway and mix to distribute evenly. Gradually stir in the buttermilk, 1/4 cup at a time, using only enough to allow the dough to come together. Knead the dough for 1 to 2 minutes. Shape the dough into a round loaf and place on a greased baking sheet. Cut an X on the top and over the sides of the loaf. Bake for 45 minutes or until the bread sounds hollow when tapped. Cool on a rack.

BROWN SODA BREAD WITH OATS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 2 1/2-inch bread pan.
• In a large bowl, mix together flours, steel-cut oats, rolled oats, brown sugar, salt and sifted baking soda. Mix well with your hands.
• Make a well in the center of flour mixture. Pour in buttermilk. Working from the center of the bowl in concentric clockwise circles, with fingers outstretched, stir buttermilk into flour mixture. (You can use a rubber spatula instead if you don't like getting dough on your hands.) This should take about a half a minute at most. Dough will be quite moist. Use a rubber spatula to scrape into bread pan and smooth out the dough to fill pan evenly ( the pan will be filled only about halfway.)
• Place in the oven and bake 40 minutes, until dark brown and a tester inserted comes out clean. Remove from pan and cool on a rack.

IRISH SODA BREAD

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
• In a food processor or large bowl, mix all dry ingredients together.
• Add butter or margarine and mix until texture resembles coarse meal.
• Add egg and enough milk to make a soft dough.
• Knead or process until smooth.
• Divide into two loaves. Place each in a greased 9-by-5-inch loaf pan, and bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until golden.

SODA BREAD BUNS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a large rimmed baking sheet.
• In a large bowl, whisk together flours, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Using a pastry cutter or your fingers, work in butter until mixture forms coarse crumbs. In a small bowl, whisk together buttermilk and egg. Stir wet mixture into dry one until they just form a moist dough. Stir in currants and caraway seeds.
• Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Shape into a 7-inch round about 1-inch thick. Cut into 8 wedges. Using lightly floured hands, roll each wedge into a ball and transfer to the prepared baking sheet. Using kitchen shears, snip a small "x" into the top of each bun. (You can also use a knife.) Brush tops with a little buttermilk, and dust lightly with flour.
• Transfer baking sheet to oven. Bake until buns are golden brown and firm, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool 10 minutes before serving.

SKILLET IRISH SODA BREAD SERVED WITH CHEDDAR AND APPLES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 10-inch oven-proof skillet and line with parchment or waxed paper.
• In a bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda. In a separate bowl, combine the buttermilk, eggs and 2 tablespoons melted butter. Add wet ingredients to dry and stir until just combined. Do not overmix. Stir in the raisins or currants and caraway seeds.
• Pour batter into skillet. Brush top with remaining butter. Bake until golden and firm to touch, about 1 hour. Cool 10 minutes before slicing and serving with Cheddar and apples.

IRISH BROWN SODA BREAD

Steps:

• Heat oven to 425 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, sift together the whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, salt and baking soda. Use your fingertips to work the butter into the flour mixture.
• In a small bowl, beat the egg and buttermilk together. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and stir to combine with a wooden spoon. Dough should be soft but not sticky; add a bit more all-purpose flour if necessary.
• Put dough on a lightly floured board and knead together gently, just enough to form a round loaf. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet and cut a deep cross on top.
• Bake for 15 minutes, then turn heat to 400 degrees and bake for 30 minutes more, until nicely browned. To tell whether it's done, thump the bottom of the loaf with your fingertips; it should sound hollow. Remove from baking sheet and cool on a rack. Let cool to room temperature before slicing, if possible.

SODA BREAD WITH WALNUTS AND RAISINS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment. Sift together the flours, baking soda and salt and place in a wide bowl
• Make a well in the middle of the flour, add the walnuts and raisins and pour in the buttermilk. Using a wide rubber spatula, a wide wooden spoon or your hands mix in the flour from the sides of the bowl to the center, turning the bowl and sweeping the flour from the sides into the buttermilk. Mix until the buttermilk, raisins and walnuts have been incorporated into the flour, then scrape out onto a lightly floured work surface. The dough should be soft and a bit sticky. Flour your hands so it won't stick to them.
• Gently and quickly knead the dough, only enough to shape it into a ball, then with floured hands gently pat it down to a 2-inch high round. Place it on the parchment-lined baking sheet and cut a 1/2-inch deep cross across the top. You shouldn't let too much time lapse between the time you add the buttermilk to the flour and the moment you put the loaf into the oven.
• Bake 40 to 45 minutes, until the loaf responds with a hollow sound when tapped on the bottom. Remove from the oven, wrap loosely in a cloth or kitchen towel, and cool on a rack.