happy st. patrick's day, belatedly

as a red-faced, chubby, slightly inebriated irish lass, i obvs made corned beef and cabbage yesterday (then we went to our American Legion for a second corned beef dinner, and my brother-in-law's house for a bonfire and a third dinner!), but i also made some irish soda bread. it was the first time i've made it, and though it's slightly modified and not exactly traditional, it is excellent and i totally advocate using it for french toast in the future. incidentally, it's awesome with orange marmalade and has stayed super moist, which is always an issue with soda bread (which is why i never made it before, but since hubs mentioned he liked it and i did a little research to find the best recipe, and i'm so glad that i did). it tasted like a big giant scone. enjoy.

Ingredients

• 1/2 (or slightly more) cup superfine white sugar
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2-3 cups dried sour cherries
  
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 1/4 cups buttermilk
• 1 cup fat free plain greek yogurt
  

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 inch round cake pan.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cherries. In a smaller bowl, blend eggs, buttermilk and yogurt. Stir the liquid mixture into flour mixture until flour is just moistened. Knead dough in bowl for approx. 30 seconds. . Dough will be super-duper sticky, so take your rings off beforehand. Place the dough in the prepared pan and pat down on top. Cut an x-shaped slit in the top of the bread. Dust top of bread with 2 t. extra flour.
   
3. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 65 to 75 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack.

Enjoy with marmalade or butter, and maybe a breakfast stout. Slainte!