Happy Saint Patrick's Day! Try My Irish Soda Bread Easy 1-2-3 Recipe

"A best friend is like a four leaf clover : hard to find and lucky to have!"
                                                                                                                         ~ Anonymous Irish Quote
Slàinte
(pronounced: slawncha, like "lawn-chair" but with an "s" in front of it, is how one would say Cheers in Irish Gaelic)

My favorite Irish soda bread, as posted last year.
Happy Saint Pat's Day!
This year it's Saturday, March 17th!

Like many households on Saint Patrick's Day, in the center of our breakfast table you will find tasty, Irish, soda bread to celebrate the luck and charm of the Irish. I baked this easy Irish soda bread earlier today and just had to share my easy recipe by posting on my blogs. The great thing about this is the prep time was slightly less than 5 minutes and it baked in an hour.

INGREDIENTS:
► Flour 3 1/2 cups
► Sugar 3/4 to 1 cup (or try sugarfree alternatives; e.g., splenda or equal)
► Baking powder 1 tablespoon
► Eggs 2 medium size
► Milk 1 cup
► Melted butter - 1 stick
OPTIONAL:
► Raisins 1 cup
► Caraway seeds 2 tablespoons
► Be imaginative. I used Flax Seeds

Step 1 : Soda Bread Dough (3 min)
► Prepare oven at 375°; In large bowl combine dry ingredients
► Flour
► Sugar
► Baking Powder
► Optional ingredients - I added 1/2 teaspoon Flax seeds
► Add remaining ingredients - Milk, Eggs, Melted Butter

Step 2 : Knead Dough (2 min)
► Knead dough and divide the dough into 2 round loaves
► Sprinkle flour if dough is too moist and sticky
► Using a cake knife, mark the top of each dough loaf with an X

Step 3 : Place loaves in 375° oven (60 min)
► Wait at least 10 minutes before slicing

Total time - 1 Hour and 5 Minutes

“Every man desires to live long, but no man wishes to be old.”
--Jonathan Swift (1667-1745), Irish author and satirist.

By Gloria Buono-Daly, March 2011