Irish Soda Bread

Ingredients:

4 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

3 tablespoons sugar

4 tablespoons melted butter

1 egg (beaten)

2 cups buttermilk

1 1/2 cups raisins or dried cranberries (optional)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Mix dry ingredients together. In a separate bowl, mix buttermilk, butter, and egg. Add to dry ingredients. If you would like to add raisins, add 1 1/2 cups raisin with the dry ingredients. Knead gently until smooth. Shape dough into a ball and place onto greased baking pan. Pat into a 7 round loaf. Cut a cross about 1/4 deep across the top. Brush top with milk. Bake about an hour, or until golden brown.

At Christmastime, I used dried cranberries instead of raisins for a festive flair.

This is more of a sweet than savory bread; it is phenomenal toasted with Irish butter.