St. Patrick's Day Dinner - Irish Soda Bread

St. Patrick's Day Dinner is not complete without Irish Soda Bread.  This recipe is from my friend's Irish grandmother and I am so glad it was shared with me.  It is full of raisin and has no caraway seeds, which I love because I do not like caraway seeds. You can add them if you like them.  It has a great flavor and that crumbly texture that you want in Irish Soda Bread.  Serve with softened Irish butter and you have a delicious treat.

Takes 5 minutes to prepare and 1 1/2 hour to bake.

Ingredients:

5 cups flour
5 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
1 stick softened butter
1 - 1 1/2 cups raisins
1 1/2 -2 cups milk (any kind you have except skim)

Here's how:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Spray a large round or oval casserole dish with cooking spray.  Set aside.

Combine all of the dry ingredients in the bowl of a mixer.

Turn on the mixer and add the butter.  Mix until combined and crumbly.

Add raisins.

Dry ingredients, butter and raisins added.

Pour in one cup of milk and let it incorporate.  Add remaining milk until the mixture pulls away from the sides and is thick and sticky.  It should not be the entire 2 cups of milk.  It should be about 1 3/4 cups.  This dough will be heavy.

Dough all combined.

Put the mixture in the casserole dish. 

Dough in greased casserole dish

Place the dish in the oven and bake for 1 1/2 hours.

Remove from the oven, let cool about 10 minutes.  Turn the casserole dish over and remove the bread.  Let the bread cool in a rack or towel on counter. Serve slightly warm or room temperature.

Serve with softened butter.