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

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.