Irish Soda Bread

♚ Ω ♧ Happy St. Patrick's Day! ♧ Ω ♚

As my Facebook new feed floods with random facts about today and pictures of green beer and less than appetizing green food, I am focused on a traditional Irish recipe. A simple, Irish Soda Bread, done in the more traditional style than the Americanized version that floods grocery stores and bakeries at this time of year.

The traditional version of this delicious bread has a moist, dense crumb and a thick, crunchy crust. I added in some raisins to make it comparable to an Americanized version of this bread that is sold at The Andersons, a wonderful all-purpose store located close to my parents' in Ohio. (They also have a cran-orange version that is delicious.)

Cinnamon Roll Bread

A month ago, while visiting my parents, I went to one of the largest grocery stores I have ever been to. They have just about anything you could ever want. While there, I picked up a loaf of this amazing cinnamon roll bread. The loaf I purchased lasted less than 2 days, so I had to find a recipe to make this at home.

This is the BEST cinnamon bread EVER. It is delicious toasted. However because of the way it is made, you must slice it thick and put it in the oven or toaster oven to make toast. It is IMPOSSIBLE to get out of the toaster.

7-Up Biscuits

Let me tell you a secret. It's about these amazingly easy biscuits. These are so easy,  I make them lots of mornings before I head out the door to work. It takes less than 10 minutes effort to get these into the oven.

Who would have thought that combining 4 ingredients could come up with these delicious biscuits. They are simpler to make than traditional biscuits because you are not putting any effort into cutting cold butter into flour. Just combine everything, stir, knead a few times and you are good to go! 

What a weekend!

90 degree weather, good friends, lots of food, and a nice relaxing day at the pool. What more could a girl want?

No rain! That's what.

And some good snacking bread to munch on while I don't clean up from the cookout.

I made this early this morning to share with some great friends. They loved it.

Now as I procrastinate in my cleaning up, I am watching it rain sideways across my porch. Stupid storm is ruining my night time plans of watching fireworks and eating funnel cakes.

I doubled the recipe to accommodate for the 8 other people who would be snacking on my bread. The bread is delicious!

Strawberry Banana Bread

By Sarah the Food Addict
Published: July 4, 2011
Adapted from: Joy the Baker


Prep time: 20
Cook time: 50-60
Total time: 1 hr 20 min
Yield: 1 loaf

Serving size: 1 slice
Calories per serving: 364
Fat per serving: 19.1g


Ingredients:

6 oz Unsalted Butter, browned
1 C All-Purpose Flour
1 C Whole Wheat Flour
3/4 C Light Brown Sugar
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Cinnamon
2 Large Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
3/4 C Buttermilk
3/4 C Diced Strawberries
3/4 C Mashed, Ripe Bananas
1 SlicedStrawberry



Procedure:


Brown the butter and allow it to cool.

In a mixing bowl, combine flours, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.

Stir in browned butter, eggs, vanilla, and buttermilk.

Fold in mashed bananas and diced strawberries. 

Pour into prepared pan.

Top with strawberry slices.

Bake at 350 for approximately 50-60 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Cool completely before slicing.

Browned Butter Raspberry-Lemon Bread

Quick breads are a must in a recipe collection. A basic quick bread recipe, much like a pancake recipe, can easily be adapted to include various spices and a wide variety of seasonal fruits.

It's summer, I still have a rather large stock of frozen fruits from last summer, I'm trying my best to use them up before I restock this summer.

Since they were frozen raspberries, they were soft and kind of fell apart when trying to fold them into the bread batter. It wasn't the prettiest of breads but it was delicious!

Browned Butter Raspberry Lemon Bread
2 C All-Purpose Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda
6 oz Butter, browned
1 C Sugar
1/4 tsp Lemon Extract
2 Large Eggs
1 C Red Raspberries
1 Tbs Lemon Zest

Preheat oven to 325. Grease and flour a 9x5 inch loaf pan.

In a medium sauce pan, brown the butter. This takes about 4 minutes over medium heat.

In a bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, browned butter, sugar, lemon extract, and eggs until just combined.

Fold in raspberries and lemon zest gently.  Spread evenly into loaf pan.

(don't you love the adorable measuring cup I picked up at Sur La Table. I'm in love!)

Bake at 325 for 50-60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Allow to cool in pan for 10-15 minutes.

Cool completely on a wire rack.

Slice and enjoy! I prefer mine served with cream cheese spread on top! Delicious!