Taste & Create XV (part two!): Irish Soda Bread

This is part two of my Taste & Create experience this month, in which I prepared Carly's "Cozy in a Bowl," aka Broccoli and Three Cheese Soup with Irish Soda Bread. I like to keep my recipes organized, so this is just the bread recipe. You can find the Broccoli and Three Cheese Soup recipe here.

Note: I am not a bread maker, so I didn't change the recipe in the least. The only thing I did was Americanize the spelling: centre became center. =) Like Carly, I also combined vinegar and milk to make "buttermilk," but I didn't measure the vinegar, and I used 2% milk.

I measured out the dry ingredients beforehand, just to save time later. I really wanted to serve this bread warm, as Carly suggested, so I planned to bake the bread about an hour before dinner. I mixed up the bread, initially when I added just "most" of the buttermilk it seemed like it needed more liquid, so I added all of it, and it turned out very sticky. I kneaded it briefly, shaped it, and put it on the pan. Again, I hoped for the best!


The bread turned out great, sounded hollow, and had a good texture and flavor. It probably wouldn't have hurt to knead just a tad more. But we like it! Hooray for good, easy bread!


Irish Soda Bread
adapted from Joy of Baking by Stephanie Jaworski via Live. Laugh. Grow.

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons granulated white sugar
• 2 tablespoons oats
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk (I put a healthy splash or two of vinegar in a 2-cup liquid measuring cup, then added milk to bring it to 1-1/2 cups).

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F., and place rack in the center of oven.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, soda, salt and oats.
   
3. Make a well in the center, and add in most of the buttermilk. Using your hands (or a wooden spoon), mix until you have a soft moist dough. Add in more buttermilk as necessary to achieve said dough.
4. Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface, and knead gently into a 7 inch round that's about 1 inch thick.
5. Place the round on a baking sheet that has been lined with parchment paper, and with a sharp knife, cut an 'x' into the dough about 1/4 inch deep.
6. Bake for 40-50 minutes, or until the crust is nicely browned and a toothpick comes out clean. You can also test for doneness by tapping on the bottom of the bread and listening for a hollow sound.
   
7. Serve warm, with butter.