Irish Soda Bread

Okay, this recipe is mostly just for fun since it's St. Patrick's Day! Maybe it's the Irish in me, but every time I make Irish Soda Bread - which is usually once a year on St. Patrick's Day - I'm reminded how much I love Irish Soda Bread. It smells great while it's baking and makes your house smell like home. The bread has a crunchy crust and a creamy, slightly sweet flavor, on the inside. So good!

I tried to make it a little healthier by using low fat sour cream, but it's probably best just to eat one piece and then stop-- if you can!

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 tsp salt

2 cups light sour cream

2 eggs

2 tbsp caraway seeds (optional)

3/4 cup raisins

Directions:

1. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.

2. In a small bowl beat eggs and stir in sour cream.

3. Add the egg/sour cream mixture to the dry ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon.

4. Batter will be very thick and sticky.

5. Add the raisins and the caraway seeds and stir well with the wooden spoon or knead in with your hands. (I personally like the flavor of the caraway seeds in this bread, but not everybody does. I didn't add them in this time though since I wasn't willing to pay $6 for a bottle of caraway seeds.)

6. Place batter in a greased 9 inch springform pan. (You could also use a pie pan if you don't have a springform pan.)

7. Dust the top with enough flour so that you can pat the batter like a bread dough evenly in the pan without it sticking to your hands.

8. Make a shallow crisscross on the top of the dough using a sharp knife.

9. Bake for 50 minutes in a preheated 350 F oven.

Nutritional info:

Serving size 1

Servings per Recipe 16

Calories 205, Fiber 1g, Fat 4.15g, Carbohydrates 37, Protein 4.8g

Positive thought for the day:

"A good laugh is sunshine in the house." ~ William Makepeace Thackeray