Irish Soda Bread

I made this last night as an experiment and it turned out wonderful! Totally yummy. I'm going to make it again for Easter. I took the recipe from here and slightly changed a few things, like adding the wheat flour and decreasing the sugar (actually, when I made it I omitted the sugar entirely and it still turned out great but probably not as sweet as the original recipe).

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup wheat flour
  
• 2 Tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 egg
• 1 pat of butter, melted
• 1 Tablespoon buttermilk

Mix together flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt and butter. Stir in 1 cup of buttermilk and egg. Turn dough out onto a *lightly floured surface and knead slightly. Form dough into a round and place on a greased baking sheet. In a small bowl, combine melted butter with a tablespoon of buttermilk; brush loaf with this mixture. ^Use a sharp knife to cut an 'X' into the top of the loaf.

Bake at 375 for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. While baking, continue to brush with the butter/buttermilk mixture for a great crust.

*The loaf may seem dry when you mix it together and knead it, but brushing it with that initial application of milk and butter really is enough moisture for the bread.

^I cut an 'X' across the entire top of the loaf and when it baked the X expanded exponentially...so next time I'm going to cut the X in the center of the top, making sure it doesn't go all the way to the edges.