Posts Tagged ‘Brown Soda Bread’

Blarney Scones

Monday, March 15th, 2010

sodabread web

 
I can’t imagine Saint Patrick’s Day without Irish soda bread. I start baking it around March 1—about the same time the lit-up shamrock goes up on the side of the house–so my family can get into the holiday spirit at breakfast each day.
 
This year we’re eating a slightly healthier version than my usual soda bread, the recipe for which I published last year.
 
I have always made soda bread with white flour, but my neighbor Mary Stuart Cosby urged me to try a brown version, and now I’m hooked. She suggested this recipe, which is adapted from King Arthur Flour.
 
KAF suggests using its Irish-style wholemeal flour, a coarsely ground flour that sounds a bit like old-fashioned American Graham flour. I don’t have any (next year I’ll order some in advance!) so I’ve been using KAF’s white whole-wheat flour. The whole-wheat flour gives the bread a lovely nutty flavor.
 
Of course, the bread would be even healthier if we could resist slathering Kerrygold butter all over it! So far we haven’t been able to make ourselves pursue health to that degree, however.
 
By the way, I must admit that I didn’t make up the name “Blarney Scone.” That honor goes to one of my favorite grocery stores, Trader Joe’s, which is selling small rounds of soda bread under that name this month.
 
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Brown Soda Bread
 
Ingredients:
 
2-1/2 cups whole-wheat flour
1-1/4 cups bread flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) sweet butter, cut into small pieces
1 cup raisins (Mary Stuart suggested cutting them in half to distribute them better; I got lazy and didn’t do this, but I think it’s a good idea)
1-1/3 cups buttermilk
1 egg
 
Instructions:
 
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
 
In a bowl combine the flours, the sugar, the baking soda, and the salt. Cut in the butter; then stir in the raisins.
 
In a separate bowl or measuring cup whisk together the buttermilk and the egg. Stir this mixture into the flour just until combined.
 
Divide the dough into two clumps (they will be a little sticky) and knead each one briefly on a lightly floured board until they hold together as balls. Place them on the prepared sheet.
 
Break the bread for 15 minutes; then reduce the heat to 375 and bake for an additional 20 to 25 minutes, until it is golden brown. Makes 2 small loaves.
 
blarneybyselfweb

 

 

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