This delicious bread is so simple to make that I can find no reason not to make a fresh loaf every morning!

There is nothing better than waking up on a snowy winter morning to the smell of bread baking in the oven.

This slightly sweet, crumbly quick bread worked well with 2 cups of whole wheat pastry flour and 1 cup baking flour.

I also used turbinado in the place of granulated white sugar.

Ingredients

Raisin Soda Bread

3 cups (390 grams) all-purpose flour (or 1 1/2 cups (195 grams) whole wheat flour and 1 1/2 cups (195 grams) all purpose flour)

3 tablespoons (40 grams) granulated white sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons (42 grams) cold unsalted butter, cut in small pieces

3/4 cup (100 grams) Thompson raisins

1 1/2 cups (360 ml) buttermilk (soured milk)

Method

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) and place the rack in the center of the oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Cut the cold butter into small pieces and blend into the flour mixture, with a pastry blender or two knives, until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs. Stir in the raisins. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add most of the buttermilk. Using yours hands, or a wooden spoon, mix (adding more buttermilk if necessary) until you have a soft moist dough.

Transfer to a lightly floured surface and gently knead the dough into a 7 inch (18 cm) round. Place the round on your prepared baking sheet and then, with a sharp knife, cut a 1/4 inch deep “X” across the top of the bread.

Bake for about 40 – 50 minutes or until nicely browned and a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean. You can also test that is fully baked by tapping the bottom of the bread – it should sound hollow. Remove from oven. This bread is wonderful when served warm with butter. It also makes great toast.

Makes one seven inch (18 cm) round raisin soda bread.

The dough hook on my Kitchen Aid mixer makes this a peice of cake!

I always use parchment paper.

This recipe is so quick and easy.

You can have warm bread in less than an hour!

What a great last minute surprise for breakfast.

Cold butter on warm bread is a special treat!

What is especially nice is that you can usually find most of these ingredients in your pantry at all times.

No buttermilk? Add lemon juice to milk!

No raisins? Use dried cranberries or prunes.

…even chocolate chips would work nicely and the kids will love it!

I came across this recipe on The Huffington Post.

The photos, the raisins, the nuts! I just had to try it.

I am also convinced that I desperately need a Le Creuset baking dish!

I used 2 cups of whole wheat flour in this easy and delicious no-knead bread recipe.

Walnut-Raisin
Recipe Courtesy of
Big Girls, Small Kitchen

Makes 1 loaf

Ingredients

3 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
2/3 cup walnuts, chopped
1/2 cup Thompson raisins
1 2/3 cups water
Cornmeal or more flour as needed

Combine the flour, yeast, and salt in a large bowl. Add the walnuts and raisins and stir to distribute. Pour the water over the flour mixture, then use a rubber spatula to mix them together and form a soft, ugly dough. Cover with plastic wrap and leave to rise for about 12 hours, until there are bubbles across the top.

Dump the dough out onto a floured, non-terrycloth dishtowel. Let it rest for 15 minutes. Then, using as little flour as possible, shape the dough into a ball by folding the ends in. Turn onto a cornmeal-dusted non-terrycloth dishtowel, seam side down. Dust with more cornmeal, then cover with another towel. Leave for two hours. (That’s Santa’s rise.)

When there’s a half hour left to go of this rise, preheat the oven to 450°F and put a covered, heavy pot in the oven.( I use my 5.5 quart LeCreuset to achieve a well-proportioned loaf.) When the dough is ready, carefully take the pot out of the oven. Dump the dough, seam side up, into the pot and shake it to spread evenly. Cover and bake for 20-30 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 15-30 minutes, until deeply brown and crusty. Let the bread rest as long as you can before slicing into it.

I store my bread in an airtight baggie, even though this makes the crust soft. To “re-crust” a whole loaf, you can dab it all over with water and bake for about 10 minutes in a 450°F oven. If you’re going slice by slice, just toast to rectify the crust.

This bread was hearty and delicious on a long ski week in Steamboat Springs Colorado and travelled well in ski jackets for mountain top noshing!

It toasted up so nicely.

Warm bread and cold butter on a snowy mountain morning!