Everyone needs a great Irish Bread Recipe and this is a GREAT one. Bread can be an intimidating thing to make but Irish Bread is an easy place to start. No yeast or rising to deal with. My family asks for this Irish Bread Recipe all year round and it is wonderful for breakfast and after school snacks… anytime of the day. Everyone is Irish on St. Patrick’s Day so this recipe is a tasty way to celebrate the holiday and your new found Irish identity.
“May your pockets be heavy and your heart be light, may good luck pursue each morning and night”
-Unknown
I have tried many Irish Bread recipes over the years. I will say my favorite Irish Bread is from our local pub, The Chieftain Pub in Plainville, MA. At dinner service you get a basket of bread when you sit down, it is heavenly. I have tried to get them to teach it to me, but in true Irish fashion, there is no recipe. Just a little bit of this and a little bit of that. My grandmother’s recipe, which was also fantastic has been lost with time which makes me sad. But I am happy with the one that I have come up with. This recipe is a mix of many other recipes I have tried over the years. I would say there are two tips for this recipe, one is soaking the raisins in hot water to plump them up. It is a game changer and two is sprinkling sugar on the top to get that sweet crunchy topping.
If you are interested in more foodie content, please check out the Recipes page of my blog Sunday Chefs for more tried and true family recipes and restaurant reviews.
Equipment
Method
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- This makes two Irish Breads for me and I use 9 inch glass plates.
- Spray the pie plates with cooking spray or coat with butter.
- Combine all the dry ingredients and sift or whisk them until combined well.
- While you are preparing all this. Soak the raisins in very hot water for about 10 minutes. This plumps them up.
- Drain them and coat in white sugar or flour so they don't sink to the bottom of the bread.
- I have found that using your hands to mix this works the best. It is messy but it works.
- Add the butter and combine well.
- Add the raisins and combine well, make sure all the raisins are separated and coated well in the flour mixture.
- Add all the wet ingredients (heavy cream, buttermilk, and the egg and stir until well incorporated.
- Pour the mixture into the pie plates and cut a cross in the top (tradition) and sprinkle the top with sugar for a sweet crunchy top.
- Bake for at least an hour until a knife or toothpick comes out clean.
In another big pot add the chicken broth, chicken (if you don’t have leftover chicken for the soup, you can leave it out or add a raw boneless chicken breast and poach it in the broth until its done, then remove it, shred it and then add it back) and spices. Bring to a boil, simmer for 10 minutes and then add the spinach. It will seem like too much but it wilts down to nothing. Simmer for a few more minutes. Put the tortellini in a bowl and spoon the soup over the tortellini. Top with a little Parmesan cheese and serve with some crusty bread.
I know this sounds silly, but ever since someone told me about this trick, I use it every time. As a parent of a child with food allergies, I always bring the snacks….so I make a lot of brownies. I tend to cook brownies a bit underdone on purpose, which is our family’s preference. The trick is to use a plastic spoon when cutting them. The edges come out perfect and clean and the brownies do not stick to the knife. It is miraculous. Give it a try next time you are making brownies or blondies, you will be amazed.
