Hubby and his parents went to Ireland in 2007 and when he came back of course we  had to discuss the food!!! The one thing that he raved about most of all was the Soda Bread that they served at all the restaurants. It is a very simple bread. Very dense and filling. He said that his tour guide, actually a family friend who was driving them all over Ireland, told him that this bread has fed the people of Ireland for over 1000 years!  Of course, I had to scour the internet for recipes for this bread. I had to try it! I found one recipe that was good, but he said not exactly right. So I searched again. BOOM! Found the perfect recipe!

Fast forward from 2007 to 2009 when hubby and I got married. He was still so in love with what he had experienced in Ireland that I decided that we were going to have an Irish themed wedding. One of the things to be included was the Soda Bread. My BFF and her hubby were here from Indiana and together She and I made 12 to 14 loaves of this bread. 13 of them made it to the reception. The other loaf was devoured by the guys as we were slaving over the hot oven! The family friend who acted as tour guide while they were in Ireland is the brother of another family friend who is from Dublin but lives in Cullman. We asked him to speak at our wedding. It was very nice of him to deliver a very nice speech in his Irish brogue. We were very grateful. After he finished his speech he came up to me and said…”That bread is EXACTLY what we eat all the time  in Ireland, it is what I grew up on!” And then he said…”Do you think it would be possible for me to take a loaf home with me?” ABSOLUTELY!!! I was so flattered that a true Irishman loved my bread so much!

I have lost count of how many loaves of this I have actually made over the years! We love it with vegetable soup and my husbands Grandpa’s stew. I made it the other night along with Shepperd’s Pie. I will share the recipe for Shepperd’s Pie soon! This bread only has 4 ingredients and is SOOOOOOO easy to make! Here is how you do it!

IRISH SODA BREAD

2 cups all purpose flour

2 cups wheat flour

2 cups buttermilk

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 450

In a large bowl put in dry ingredients, mix, and make a well in the center. Pour buttermilk in the well and mix until all ingredients are mixed together.( You can also just pour all ingredients into your kitchenaid and mix with your bread hook.) If mixing by hand in a bowl, it will be very sticky. Just form a ball with the dough and place it on a baking sheet that has been sprayed with non-stick spray. Sprinkle he top with a little bit of flour and just kind of spread it around over the top. Take sharp knife and cut a deep cross into the top of the bread. Cutting probably 2/3 of the way into the bread. It will look like this!

Bake at 450 for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temp to 400 and bake for another 15 minutes. I usually make two loaves at a time and still bake for the same amount of time with two loaves on one cookie sheet.

Give this easy bread a try! It is soup season and this will go perfectly with any soup you are serving!

Enjoy!

Jo