This is NOT a traditional Irish soda bread because it has sugar, eggs, and butter, and traditional bread has only four ingredients: flour, buttermilk, salt, and soda. However, this is an amazing bread. I have searched for ten years or better to find a soda bread (traditional or not) that all my kids like, and that balances the traditional flavor with a bit of richness. This is it. I did make one tiny change, which I think really added some character to it. No, I did not add raisins, as they are strictly forbidden in Irish soda bread, but when it came to stirring in the melted butter, I stirred in half, then poured the batter into my pan, and poured the other half all over the top of the bread before I baked it. The crust came out buttery rich and delicious while the crumb is soft, only slightly sweet, and is very rich tasting. The BEST soda bread I have found.

Reviewed On: Mar. 18, 2012

I made this recipe exactly as written, and it was amazing! I used a chicken broth paste, and adjusted it to make sure there was not too much salt. It was creamy and cooked completely from start to finish, including chopping the onion and bacon, in 45 minutes. The best risotto I've ever had! I can't wait to add other things like bell peppers or mushrooms to this amazing base!

Reviewed On: Jun. 6, 2011

I would give these 4 stars because they were really tasty, but nothing like pretzels I've bought. The sough was WAY too sweet for pretzel dough. Next time I will use half the sugar. Also, the dough was really stiff, and took almost 2 hours to raise, and that was in an 86º room. Then, as I rolled them out and shaped them, the dough kept springing back so I had to rest it twice before final shaping. As they baked, they rose so much my family commented they no longer looked like pretzels but more like a knotted roll. Just not what I expected from a "pretzel" recipe, though I will use it for rolls.

Reviewed On: Jul. 7, 2010