Irish Soda Bread

This weekend the girls and I will bake a few loafs of Irish Soda bread. My grandmother's family came from Ireland, and my mom always made a few loafs of this bread in the days leading up to St. Patrick's Day. It is a great bread to have with a cup of tea. I like it toasted with butter for breakfast. Yum!

Here is my mom's recipe. It makes two loafs.

4 cups flour
1 tsp salt
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter
2 cups raisins or currents
1 egg
1 3/4 cups buttermilk (I buy dry buttermilk powder that you can keep in the fridge)

Combine first 5 ingredients, add butter, add raisins, beat egg and add to mixture.

Divide dough into two halves. On a floured surface, form dough into a rounded loaf. Cut a cross into the top of the loaf. Bake loaves on a cookie sheet at 375 for 35-40 mins.