Nutty Whole-Wheat Irish Soda Bread

By alas14

Ingredients

• 1 cup white flour
• 3 cups whole-wheat pastry flour
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/4 cup each of walnuts, pumpkin seeds

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk together flours, sugar, baking soda, cream of tartar, salt and cornstarch. Add 2 tablespoons of butter and mash in with a fork (or your fingers, I found this worked better) until you have the texture of coarse crumbs. Stir in buttermilk until dough just begins to come together. Switch to a larger spatula and fold dough over a few times until it’s a ball–just a couple times, it isn’t supposed to be smooth. Place dough on a greased baking sheet and pat into a nice round shape about 2 or 3 inches thick. Score an “X” into the top using a knife. Bake until golden brown and a knife comes out clean, or about 40 minutes.

After you take the loaf out of the oven, melt the last tablespoon of butter and pour it on the top. Let the loaf cool for one hour, then serve.