Irish Soda Bread

My family is not Irish, but my mom always celebrated St. Patrick's day with a little corned beef, soda bread, and sometimes dyed green milk.  I loved celebrating the holiday that really meant nothing to me with a little green!  My husband isn't a huge fan of corned beef so I knew I wouldn't be making that this year, however, just before the holiday I came across a super easy recipe for homemade Irish soda bread.  The bread uses buttermilk, which, we happened to have hanging out in our fridge!

This is the EASIEST bread recipe I've ever made. Easier than no-knead and it yields a circular loaf of dense bread in just an hour!

I used this recipe from the Christian Science Monitor. This would be great to do with kids.  It is super easy even if you've never cooked before you could do it!

Ingredients:
4 Cups all purpose flour
1 t baking soda
1 t salt
1 3/4 C buttermilk

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees
1. Spray a 9 inch round cake pan with cooking spray or rub with a bit of butter.  If you don't have a pan just spray a cookie sheet
2. In a large bowl combine flour, salt and baking soda
3. Create a well in the middle of the flour mixture by pushing the flour to the sides, pour in the buttermilk and stir until it just comes together
4. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead 10 times.
5. Shape into a round and place in the cake pan or on a baking sheet.  If you have another cake pan set it on top, if not, don't worry about it. Cut a cross shape on the top with a sharp knife
6. Bake for 30 minutes, remove top pan and bake an additional 15 minutes.  Bread will be golden brown. If you can wait, let it cool a bit before eating.  Delicious with butter and honey!