Irish Soda Bread with Caraway Seeds and Raisins

by Joy // March 6, 2015 // Comments off

Irish Soda Bread with Caraway Seeds and Raisins – perfect for your next St. Patrick’s Day celebration, or anytime!

St. Patrick’s Day is right around the corner, and fittingly so, I’ve been in the mood for some delicious Irish (or Irish inspired) food. Earlier this week, I shared my Slow Cooker Guinness Steak and Black Beans Chili, and today I’m sharing this recipe for Irish Soda Bread with Caraway Seeds and Raisins, which is a wonderful accompaniment to the chili.

I love Irish Soda Bread, it is so delicious, yet so easy to make. I wanted to try a new recipe this time and I knew I wanted it to include caraway seeds. I found this recipe at allrecipes.com, it includes both caraway seeds and raisins and sounded delicious. It came out beautifully, all puffed and golden brown on the outside and it is indeed delicious!

The main change I made was to reduce the amount of raisins, from what the original recipe called for, and I think this way, there is the just the right balance between the caraway seeds and the raisins. I also soak the raisins before adding them to the batter, this way the raisins stay plump and juicy while baking.

Also, note that this recipe calls for sour cream — I use light — thus, the dough is wetter than that of a more traditional Irish Soda Bread.

This Irish Soda Bread with Caraway Seeds and Raisins is perfect for a St. Patrick’s Day dinner, party or other celebration. This beautiful loaf would also be wonderful for a brunch buffet for Easter, or anytime, and is great to take to a potluck.

This Irish Soda Bread with Caraway Seeds and Raisins is wonderful served along side a bowl of Slow Cooker Guinness Steak and Black Bean Chili; it is also wonderful with Crock Pot Apple and Brown Sugar Corned Beef & Cabbage.

A slice of this Irish Soda Bread with Caraway Seeds and Raisins is delicious toasted with a pat of butter, wonderful for breakfast with a cup of coffee or as a snack with a steaming mug of tea any time of day!

Irish Soda Bread with Caraway Seeds and Raisins

Prep Time: 35 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour, 45 minutes

Yield: 1 loaf - 12 servings

Irish Soda Bread with Caraway Seeds and Raisins

Irish Soda Bread with Caraway Seeds and Raisins – perfect for your next St. Patrick’s Day celebration, or anytime!

Ingredients

2 cups raisins
water (for soaking raisins)
4 cups all-purpose flour
½ cup white sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon caraway seeds
2 large eggs
1 ¼ cup buttermilk
1 cup light sour cream

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9-inch round cake pan.
Place raisins in small bowl, fill with water just until raisins are covered. Soak raisins in water for at least 10 minutes. When raisins are done soaking, drain raisins in a colander, discarding water.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Add raisins and caraway seeds to flour mixture and whisk to combine.
In a medium bowl, add eggs and lightly beat with a whisk.
Add buttermilk and sour cream to eggs and whisk together to combine.
Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and stir together with a spatula to combine, until flour is just moistened.
Lightly flour your hands and knead dough in bowl about 10 to 12 strokes. Dough will be sticky.
Gather dough into a ball and place in the prepared pan. Pat dough down to ensure evenly positioned in pan.
Let dough sit for 10 minutes. Cut a 4 inch x ¾ inch “X” in the middle of dough.
Bake in the preheated oven for 65 – 75 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.
Cool pan on rack for 10 minutes. Remove bread from pan, place on rack and cool until ready to eat.
Slice and serve.

Notes

Wrap any leftover bread in foil and store in the refrigerator.

http://joylovefood.com/irish-soda-bread-with-caraway-seeds-and-raisins/