Grandma Shannon's Irish Soda Bread

This legendary bread is irresistible fresh from the oven or sliced, toasted and served with butter and jam. Heavenly with Easy Strawberry Freezer Jam.

4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon baking soda
1-1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
3 tablespoons cold butter, cut into small pieces
2 cups buttermilk

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Sift the flour, salt, baking soda and cream of tartar into a large bowl. Add the butter, and rub into the flour (your best tools for this job are your thumbs and forefingers) until the butter lumps have disappeared.

Add the buttermilk to the dry ingredients, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. Turn out onto a floured surface, and knead 8 or 10 times. The dough will be soft. (Sprinkle just a little additional flour, if necessary, to aid in handling the dough.)

Form the dough into a ball and place on a floured baking sheet. With a sharp knife, cut a deep cross all the way through the unbaked loaf, but do not separate the pieces. This will enable the center of the loaf to bake completely. Dust the top of the loaf lightly with flour.

Bake at 425°F for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 375°F and bake an additional 25 minutes. Makes one large loaf approximately 9 inches in diameter.