A Snowstorm and some Scones

I know it's a bit early for St. Patrick's Day, but I've been craving soda bread and  I haven't been home to bake, so here goes - one of my favorite repeats.

St. Patrick's Day is coming

You know St. Patrick's Day is coming when even the Italian bakeries have Irish Soda bread in the window!

I gave in and bought a loaf last week, rather than baking one, but I ate it all and St. Patrick's Day is not until Friday. I thought that, combined with the Blizzard that Wasn't (really) was a good excuse to pull out last year's post about soda bread scones!

Just the thing to enjoy with a cup of tea (Irish Breakfast of course) on a cold, snowy/icy day!

Irish Soda Bread Scones 

Years ago, when I walked my daughter to school before my walk to work, I would pass a coffee shop that sold to-die for soda bread scones. I've been craving them lately so here you go.

Disclaimer - this recipe is adapted from one given to me by a mother at my school who baked me the loaf form of this every Christmas and St. Patrick's Day for as long as her children were in the school. When they graduated, she gave me the recipe.

The recipe is very simple:

You start with 4 cups of sifted flour. I imagine you could use any flour (or a mix).  I used King Arthur's white.

 

Next you add 1/2 a cup of sugar. I used coconut palm sugar which gave the bread a lovely grainy look because the sugar has a brownish color.
Next add 1 tsp. baking powder and 1 tsp of salt. (I only used a shake of salt and I used low sodium baking powder).

1/3 of a cup of butter gets cut into the dry mixture. The recipe recommends using a pastry blender or fork to evenly distribute.

Next up - 1 cup of seedless raisins (or dried cranberries for a nice variation) and my favorite part - 2 tablespoons of caraway seeds!

Confession. I messed up this next part because I added the baking soda in with the dry ingredients. It did not cause any problems.

You're supposed to mix 1 tsp baking soda with 1 1/3 cups of buttermilk and 1 egg in a small bowl. You add this to the dry mix and knead gently.

See the dark specks from the coconut palm sugar?

At this point you could form it into a loaf, but instead I shaped it into scones. Likewise, the loaf should ideally go in a cast iron pan. I used parchment paper. ;)

The result was about 15 wonderful scones that kept nicely in the refrigerator in a ziplock bag.

They may be Irish, but I think you'll enjoy them all year long - especially when you sub cranberries (or some other fruit).

St. Patrick's Day is coming

You know St. Patrick's Day is coming when even the Italian bakeries have Irish Soda bread in the window!

I gave in and bought a loaf last week, rather than baking one, but I ate it all and St. Patrick's Day is not until Friday. I thought that, combined with the Blizzard that Wasn't (really) was a good excuse to pull out last year's post about soda bread scones!

Just the thing to enjoy with a cup of tea (Irish Breakfast of course) on a cold, snowy/icy day!

Irish Soda Bread Scones 

Years ago, when I walked my daughter to school before my walk to work, I would pass a coffee shop that sold to-die for soda bread scones. I've been craving them lately so here you go.

Disclaimer - this recipe is adapted from one given to me by a mother at my school who baked me the loaf form of this every Christmas and St. Patrick's Day for as long as her children were in the school. When they graduated, she gave me the recipe.

The recipe is very simple:

You start with 4 cups of sifted flour. I imagine you could use any flour (or a mix).  I used King Arthur's white.

 

Next you add 1/2 a cup of sugar. I used coconut palm sugar which gave the bread a lovely grainy look because the sugar has a brownish color.
Next add 1 tsp. baking powder and 1 tsp of salt. (I only used a shake of salt and I used low sodium baking powder).

1/3 of a cup of butter gets cut into the dry mixture. The recipe recommends using a pastry blender or fork to evenly distribute.

Next up - 1 cup of seedless raisins (or dried cranberries for a nice variation) and my favorite part - 2 tablespoons of caraway seeds!

Confession. I messed up this next part because I added the baking soda in with the dry ingredients. It did not cause any problems.

You're supposed to mix 1 tsp baking soda with 1 1/3 cups of buttermilk and 1 egg in a small bowl. You add this to the dry mix and knead gently.

See the dark specks from the coconut palm sugar?

At this point you could form it into a loaf, but instead I shaped it into scones. Likewise, the loaf should ideally go in a cast iron pan. I used parchment paper. ;)

The result was about 15 wonderful scones that kept nicely in the refrigerator in a ziplock bag.

They may be Irish, but I think you'll enjoy them all year long - especially when you sub cranberries (or some other fruit).



The predicted snowfall of up to 2 feet of snow didn't materialize for us, but the blizzard served its purpose.  The IKEA blue bag that has been tangled in the tree outside my house for over 6 months finally blew free!

Beautiful void! But we kind of miss the splash of color!

Irish Soda Bread Part 2 - Scones

Last week Kav shared a delicious soda bread recipe. I thought about tagging my scones onto her post, but I decided her post deserved to shine all by itself.

So this week, long after St. Patrick's day has faded into a misty memory, I have my soda bread scones to share. Really, they taste so good, you'll enjoy them any time.

Years ago, when I walked my daughter to school before my walk to work, I would pass a coffee shop that sold to-die for soda bread scones. I've been craving them lately so here you go.

Disclaimer - this recipe is adapted from one given to me by a mother at my school who baked me the loaf form of this every Christmas and St. Patrick's Day for as long as her children were in the school. When they graduated, she gave me the recipe.

The recipe is very simple:

You start with 4 cups of sifted flour. I imagine as with Kav's you could use any flour. I used King Arthur's white.

 

Next you add 1/2 a cup of sugar. I used coconut palm sugar which gave the bread a lovely grainy look because the sugar has a brownish color.
Next add 1 tsp. baking powder and 1 tsp of salt. (I only used a shake of salt and I used low sodium baking powder).

1/3 of a cup of butter gets cut into the dry mixture. The recipe recommends using a pastry blender or fork to evenly distribute.

Next up - 1 cup of seedless raisins (or dried cranberries for a nice variation) and my favorite part - 2 tablespoons of caraway seeds!

Confession. I messed up this next part because I added the baking soda in with the dry ingredients. It did not cause any problems.

You're supposed to mix 1 tsp baking soda with 1 1/3 cups of buttermilk and 1 egg in a small bowl. You add this to the dry mix and knead gently.

See the dark specks from the coconut palm sugar?

At this point you could form it into a loaf, but instead I shaped it into scones. Likewise, the loaf should ideally go in a cast iron pan. I used parchment paper. ;)

The result was about 15 wonderful scones that kept nicely in the refrigerator in a ziplock bag.

They may be Irish, but I think you'll enjoy them all year long - especially when you sub cranberries (or some other fruit).

Irish Soda Bread with Guest Kav Rees

It's that time of year again...

I have Yankee Belle Regular, Kav Rees, here today to share a soda bread recipe just in time for St. Patrick's Day.

Nothing says Happy St. Patrick’s Day like Irish Soda Bread and it’s super easy to make. Prep time is about 10 minutes, baking time 40…within an hour you can be serving piping hot slices slathered with butter. Yum. But be prepared…soda bread doesn’t taste like yeast bread. It’s denser and saltier. You either love it or you hate it. I happen to LOVE it enough to make it all through the year. Maybe that’s the reason I haven’t conquered yeast bread yet. Soda bread is just so easy!

Why the cross on the top of the loaf?

Do you want the practical, superstitious or religious answer? Okay – I’ll give you all three:

Practical – it allows the heat to get through the thickest part of the bread so it cooks evenly

Superstitious – to let the devil out of the bread

Religious – symbolic blessing of the bread and giving thanks

Here’s the recipe – and stay tuned for a rare photo of yours truly – yes in the flesh. I believe it is the only image of me on the internet – a real Yankeebelle exclusive.

Irish Soda Bread

4 cups Flour (I used spelt, you can use all-purpose whole wheat or white or a mix)

1 ½ tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

2 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp butter

1 ½ cups buttermilk or sour milk

You can add raisins if you like --- as much as you like

Mix dry ingredients and cut in butter. Make a well and add milk as needed to make a soft dough. There’s a point where you have to dive in with your hands and smoosh the dough while it’s still yucky. J Just keep working it until it’s still a bit tacky. Lightly knead it for 2-3 minutes – just in your hands, don’t pummel it on a bread board. Too much handling will make the bread tough. Dough will be smooth but a wee bit sticky (it will still cling to your fingers but will pull away.) Form into a round loaf – cut a cross into the top. Place on a buttered cookie sheet. Bake at 375 for 40ish minutes. LOL. Bread will brown on top and if you look into the cross part you can see if it’s cooked through. A tap on its bottom should sound hollow. Don’t overcook so start checking around 30 minutes. Nothing tougher than overdone soda bread.

Kav kissing the blarney stone

And yes – here it is – a picture of Kav kissing the blarney stone many, many years ago when she was still nimble enough to climb the stairs and lay down on the cold stone floor.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day, everyone!