I came across this recipe on one of the blogs I read, Mommie Cooks. She also happens to be a Tasty Kitchen member, and her recipe box is full of delicious and quick things to make. I love a good quickbread recipe, and the fact that this one takes only about 5 minutes to throw together is a huge plus. All the magic happens in the oven, with hardly any effort on your part. And who doesn’t love a loaf of freshly baked bread? It just screams ‘home’ to me. I made this bread for our Bible study group, and I could almost swear more bread was eaten than the main dish that I prepared to go with it.

Ingredients

(Serves 6)

4 ¾ cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

1 tsp caraway seeds

3 TBS honey

1 egg

1 ½ cups buttermilk

3 TBS butter, melted

Only 4 dry ingredients need to be assembled: flour, salt, baking soda, and caraway seeds.

Mix the dry ingredients together.

I love the flavor that the caraway seeds give this bread. They are nice and strong, so even though the recipe only calls for a teaspoon, that’s exactly the right amount.

And I love, love, love my new flour canister. It’s from WalMart.

It makes the flour-measuring experience so much cleaner than when I measured it straight out of the paper bag and flour poofed all over my countertops, floor, and clothing.

Now gather the remaining ingredients:

No, that’s not a mug of tea or coffee–it’s the melted butter. And don’t tempt me to drink it straight outta that mug, because I won’t!

Unless it’s a double-dog dare.

I’ve never been double-dog-dared before, so I have no idea what would happen were I confronted with a choice. Swallow my pride . . . or drink the butter. Humble myself . . . or drink the golden greasy stuff.

Ah, the mental dilemmas that rage in my mind throughout the day.

Add the egg and honey. . .

. . . pour in the buttermilk (I never have buttermilk on hand, so I used a handy substitution: 2% milk mixed with 1 1/2 TBS of lemon juice) . . .

. . . and stir everything around until the dough is just starting to come together (about 1 minute).

Add in the melted butter . . .

. . . and knead very briefly on a floured countertop, just until the dough holds its shape.

Make sure not to overknead! This step only took me (literally) 15 seconds.

Form a ball, and cut two slits in the top of the ball in the shape of a cross.

Put the dough on an ungreased baking sheet and bake at 350 F for 50-60 minutes.

When you remove it from the oven, test the bread with a toothpick in its thickest part to make sure it’s done.

If the toothpick comes out sticky or has a little dough on it, put the bread back in the oven for another 5-7 minutes and then probe its depths again.

I didn’t test my bread very carefully, so upon cutting it open I encountered a large lump of uncooked dough in the middle. Mercifully, I just popped it back in the oven and all was well–thank heavens for low-maintenance baking recipes such as this one.

Let it cool for a few minutes before cutting and serving.

Slather with butter, if desired.

I desire.

Would you look at that beautiful crust?

I need to put this on the menu again asap.

Click here for printer-friendly version: Irish Soda Bread