This one is hubby's favorite because of the sugar on the top and the lyrical name. -Grainlady Milo O'Sullivan's Currant-Nutmeg Soda Bread 3 c. all-purpose flour 1/4 c. granulated sugar 1 t. baking soda 1/4 t. each salt and nutmeg 1/4 c. unsalted butter 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 c. buttermilk 1/2 c. currants Additional sugar for sprinkling 1. Place rack in bottom third of oven. Heat oven to 425-degrees F. Have an ungreased cookie sheet ready. (Grainlady note: I cover it with a sheet of parchment paper.) 2. Put flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and nutmeg into a large bowl. Add butter and cut in with pastry blender or mix with fingers until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in currants. Stir in buttermilk until a stiff dough forms. 3. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead just enough to shape into a ball. Put smooth side up on cookie sheet. Pat into 7-inch round, slightly mounded. 4. Sprinkle with 2 t. sugar. With sharp knife, cut a deep cross in dough, slightly more than halfway through. 5. Bake 35-40 minutes until loaf is deep golden brown. Line a cooling rack with a linen or cotton dish towel (NOT a terrycloth towel). Place bread on towel. Cool 5-10 minutes, then fold towel loosely over loaf and cool completely. If you have some currants and buttermilk left, try this King Arthur recipe. Someone from the Garden Web posted it in 2009, sorry, I don't remember who, and I've made it many times since. Irish Soda Bread Muffins 1\-1/2 c. King Arthur Unbleached All\-Purpose Flour 3/4 c. King Arthur 100% White Whole Wheat Flour 2 t. baking powder 1/4 t. baking soda 1/2 t. salt 1/3 c. granulated sugar 1\-1/2 c. currants 1/2 to 2 t. caraway seeds (to taste \- optional) 1 large egg 1 c. buttermilk, yogurt, or sour cream 6 T. butter, melted; or 1/3 c. vegetable oil sparkling white sugar, for topping 1\. Preheat the oven to 400\-degrees F. Lightly grease a standard muffin pan; or line with papers, and grease the papers. 2\. In a medium\-sized mixing bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar, currants and caraway seeds. 3\. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, buttermilk and melted butter (or oil). 4\. Quickly and gently combine the dry and wet ingredients; honestly, this won't take more than a few stirs with a bowl scraper or large spoon. As soon as everything is evenly moistened, quit; further stirring will cause the muffins to be tough. 5\. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan, filling the cups about 3/4 full; the stiff batter will look mounded in the cups. 6\. Bake the muffins for 20\-minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Tip the muffins in the pan, so their bottoms don't get soggy. Remove them from the oven, wait 5 minutes, then transfer the muffins to a rack to cool. Serve them plain, or with butter and/or jam.

isn't it nice to rediscover a good recipe?

OK, left out amount of shortening so reposting the entire recipe with the correction. This is the recipe for the Irish Soda Bread made famous at the Lowell Folk Festival. Every year it is sold at the Irish food booth along with other Irish dishes. It's a little different from most and makes more of a cake like bread and uses sour cream as the acid, but it still goes perfectly with corned beef and cabbage on St Patricks Day. it also makes a wonderful bread to serve with tea, especially if it's warm. My family prefers to eat the bread warm with dinner or with tea, coffee or hot cocoa. It warms up well in a microwave. The recipe was printed in the Lowell Sun newspaper 10 years ago, coutesy of the creator of the recipe, Mary Noon. MARY NOON'S IRISH SODA BREAD 2 1/2 cups sifted flour 2 teaspoons baking powder (not level) 1 teaspoon salt (not level) 1/2 teaspoon baking soda (not level) 1/4 cup margarine or shortening 1/2 cup sugar 1 egg beaten 1 pint sour cream 1/2 cup raisins caraway seeds if you like. original recipe does not call for them because her family doesn't like them, nor does mine. Preheat oven to 375. butter an 8 inch round cake pan or use cooking spray to coat. Sift flour, baking poweder, salt and baking soda together and set aside. Cream shortening or margarine and sugar. Add egg and sour cream and mix well. Stir in flour mixture until well blended. Fold in raisins. dough will be very sticky. Put dough into 8 inch pan, make a cross in the dough and bake for 50 minutes. Cover pan with aluminum foil and bake another 10 minutes. Let cool some in pan before removing. Serve warm or cold. My changes. I use mazola unsalted stick margarine instead of shortening and leave out the salt. I find it tastes better without any added salt. I always serve the bread warm, fresh out of the oven and cooled a bit before serving. wrap leftovers if any in aluminum foil and then slip into a ziploc bag to store. Reheat sliced in microwave on a plate with a cover vented just a little until it is as warm as you want it. Enjoy everyone. I'm off to make mine now.

LOL, LindaC!!!! ... just a big muffin!!! LOL good one! Yup, I was wondering because there's nothing more in it than flour, oats, baking soda and baking powder, salt and buttermilk.