Best Whole Wheat Soda Bread With Raisins Spotted Dog By Martha Rose Shulman Recipes

WHOLE WHEAT SODA BREAD WITH RAISINS (SPOTTED DOG)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a sheet pan with parchment. In a large bowl, mix together flours, soda, salt and brown sugar. Swish mixture around with your hands to distribute salt and soda through the bread. Add raisins and toss mixture together to coat raisins with flour.
• Beat egg and place in a measuring cup. Add buttermilk; the liquid in the cup should measure about 1 3/4 cups.
• Make a well in the middle of the flour mixture. Pour egg/buttermilk mixture into the well. Working from the center of the bowl in concentric clockwise circles, with fingers outstretched, stir buttermilk mixture into flour mixture. (You can use a rubber spatula instead if you don't like getting dough on your hands.) This should take about a half a minute at most. Dough will be sticky and ragged.
• Dust your work surface with flour, clean and dry your hands and dust with flour. Scrape out dough and very quickly and gently pat it into a 1 1/2- to 2-inch-high round and tuck the bottom edges under. (Alternatively, place in a lightly buttered 10-inch round cake pan.) Place on parchment-covered baking sheet. Moisten a knife and cut a deep cross across top of bread.
• Place in oven and immediately turn the heat down to 400 degrees. Bake 40 minutes, until the loaf is dark brown and makes a hollow sound when tapped. Remove from oven, wrap loosely in a kitchen towel (to soften the crust) and place on a rack to cool.

SODA BREAD WITH WALNUTS AND RAISINS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment. Sift together the flours, baking soda and salt and place in a wide bowl
• Make a well in the middle of the flour, add the walnuts and raisins and pour in the buttermilk. Using a wide rubber spatula, a wide wooden spoon or your hands mix in the flour from the sides of the bowl to the center, turning the bowl and sweeping the flour from the sides into the buttermilk. Mix until the buttermilk, raisins and walnuts have been incorporated into the flour, then scrape out onto a lightly floured work surface. The dough should be soft and a bit sticky. Flour your hands so it won't stick to them.
• Gently and quickly knead the dough, only enough to shape it into a ball, then with floured hands gently pat it down to a 2-inch high round. Place it on the parchment-lined baking sheet and cut a 1/2-inch deep cross across the top. You shouldn't let too much time lapse between the time you add the buttermilk to the flour and the moment you put the loaf into the oven.
• Bake 40 to 45 minutes, until the loaf responds with a hollow sound when tapped on the bottom. Remove from the oven, wrap loosely in a cloth or kitchen towel, and cool on a rack.

SPOTTED DOG IRISH BREAD

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• Grease a 12-inch cast iron skillet.
• Sift flour, sugar, and baking powder together in a large bowl.
• Beat eggs with milk in a separate bowl.
• Stir egg mixture into flour mixture until moistened; batter will be very thick.
• Fold in raisins until thoroughly combined.
• Spread batter into prepared cast iron skillet.
• Bake in the preheated oven until bread has risen and is golden brown on top, about 1 hour.

SAVORY OATMEAL PAN BREAD

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
• Place the oats in the bowl of a stand mixer or into the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, and ground pepper and add to the oats. Add the remaining ingredients except 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and mix at medium speed or pulse together until well blended. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the beater and mix again for about 30 seconds.
• Add 2 tablespoons of the oil to a 9-inch cast iron skillet and place in the oven for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and spread the batter in the pan.
• Place in the oven and bake 30 minutes, until the top is nicely browned and a tester comes out clean when inserted in the middle. Remove from the heat and serve hot, or allow to cool on a rack.

100% WHOLE WHEAT IRISH SODA BREAD

Steps:

• In a big mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, soda, and salt.
• Cut in butter until it reaches a coarse meal consistency. (I started with two knives, then finished the process with my fingers.).
• Add raisins.
• Combine liquids separately. Add liquids to dry ingredients.
• Mix until a soft dough forms. At some point it will become hard to stir it, and it will be better to use your hands. Kneading the dough is the best way to combine all the ingredients completely -- knead it gently until it is smooth (about 3 minutes). You can knead it right there in the mixing bowl.
• Shape the dough into two balls, and place them on a greased cookie sheet. Flatten each ball slightly and cut an X about 1/4" deep in the top of each loaf.
• Bake at 375 for 35 minutes.