I’ve never really been into St. Patrick’s Day. It just seems like an annual excuse to drink more alcohol and particularly consume more Guinness beer. While I appreciate dishes like corned beef and cabbage, I found out that they actually are more Irish American and not actually Irish, so there goes that. And Irish soda bread — well, that’s actually Native American, so all the foods we typically associate with St. Patrick’s Day are not actually Irish!

Nevertheless, a few years ago, a colleague had brought his mother’s Irish soda bread in, and I was really blown away by the texture and the taste, especially knowing that no yeast is used, and the only leavener is baking soda. So, I attempted to make it myself today. It uses only four ingredients: buttermilk, flour, salt, and baking soda. It was really simple, likely the easiest bread I’ve ever made. The crumb was dense as it usually is, and oddly enough, mine came out more moist than the different versions I’ve eaten. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing, but to me, it tasted good. It also came out with a really crackly, crunchy crust that I loved.

More jam, butter, and avocado toasts will be made with this for the remainder of this week at home!