Need a St. Patty's recipe? Try Irresistible Irish Soda Bread

It's no secret...despite my love of cooking, eating, and coming from a family that loves to do both (and does both very well), I'm a klutz in the kitchen. Now that I have more time at home, though, I'm learning. I'm learning to take my time, follow directions, and hopefully - someday - stop burning and over peppering things. :)

Here's one thing I know FOR SURE about cooking. If you're making a new recipe - especially for a crowd - consult AllRecipes.com for the BEST recipe available. Those reviewers don't lie, people. If I want a new oh...chicken salad recipe...I consult the foodies at AllRecipes.com and pull the one with the most stars and highest numbers of reviews. When I say a high number of reviews, I mean like in the hundreds, not five or 10. I've served SO many recipes to party guests as an "experiment" never having tried the recipe or made it before - only relying on the gracious reviewers over at AllRecipes.com...not a disappointment yet. You can also create a "recipe box" on the site and save your favorite eats there.

This week our church small group get together had an Irish theme and, since I look forward to eating my mom's Irish Soda Bread every year, I thought I'd try making it myself. Now, in addition to being a klutz in the kitchen, I'm also not well-versed in bread-making I also don't make bread. I had a bread machine that I got for free from a nice lady at a garage sale (who gave me that, "oh you poor girl, don't you know where babies come from?" look as I coerced two little kids up her driveway with me and was noticeably expecting the third). I suppose we looked like we needed bread. Yes, we know where babies come from...by the way.  I never ended up using the bread machine and passed it on, though I pulled a ton of recipes I thought about making. The whole "add ingredients according to manufacturers directions" line always scared me. I add ingredients as I read them off and hope I don't miss one. I was intimidated by the thing, admittedly. Natural childbirth, fine. Bread machine, you scare me. And, I digress...my point was...I don't have a bread machine anymore and I avoid recipes that involve kneading and rising because...well...my attention span in the kitchen is smaller than in any other room of the house.

This Irish Soda Bread recipe was perfect for me, though. The ingredients are simple. You probably have all of it on hand, minus the buttermilk (but you can make that in five minutes) and the bread goes together like a cake. An added bonus, you get to smell the awesomeness of all that is HOMEMADE BREAD while it bakes in your oven for an hour or so. Have I sold you on it yet? St. Patty's day is coming up and if you feel like trying a new recipe (that goes especially well with stew and cabbage) be brave and check this one out! You won't be sorry....unless you catch a case of the kitchen klutzies.


Here's what you need: 

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 2 cups buttermilk
• 1/4 cup butter, melted

Here's what you do: 

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
2. Combine flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and baking soda. Blend egg and buttermilk together, and add all at once to the flour mixture. Mix just until moistened. Stir in butter. Pour into prepared pan.
3. Bake for 65 to 70 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the bread comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. Wrap in foil for several hours, or overnight, for best flavor.

Here's where I found this delicious recipe, by Karen Christian, on AllRecipes.com 

4.5 Stars and 680 reviews on AllRecipes.com!