Sourdough Soda Bread Biscuits...

...with orange zest, currants and a slight Sourdough twist. 

Soda Bread was the March project for Sourdough Surprises, a fun monthly group of bakers who strive to use sourdough starters for things besides bread. Since soda bread typically relies on baking soda for its rise rather than yeast, the added sourdough comes along for the ride as a flavoring ingredient only. In decades past my early attempts to make soda bread yielded bland, dense, dry loaves suitable for doorstops or boat anchors. I moved on to other loaves and never looked back, until this month's challenge put soda bread back on the menu.

An online search provided a gazillion choices (okay, over a quarter million). I selected a basic, non-sourdough recipe with few ingredients, then changed it... adjusted the flour and buttermilk quantities to account for some added sourdough starter... omitted the recommended caraway seeds... added orange zest to pop the flavor... and carried on with high hopes but low expectations. Small biscuits or loaves sounded somehow less risky than a full-blown loaf, less likely to break a toe if dropped, etc. 

Well hot damn, those little biscuits were delicious! They were moist, loose crumbed but not crumbly, and the orange zest and sourdough took the flavor w-a-y beyond bland. Why did I give up on soda bread so easily those many years ago?! 

Our St. Patrick's Day celebration menu featured Corned Beef baked with a mustard/orange marmalade glaze, Colcannon with Kale, Orange-sauced Carrots, Shamrock Cookies delivered by a local leprechaun, and surprisingly good Sourdough Soda Bread Biscuits. We all agreed, we shouldn't wait for the next St. Patrick's day to roll around in order to enjoy these biscuits again. 

Soda Bread Biscuits

based on a recipe from Food Network Magazine
yield: eight 3-inch biscuits

Prep Time:  10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Dry ingredients:
1 3/4 cups AP flour
2 teaspoons sugar
3/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Wet ingredients:
2 tablespoons cold butter, diced
1/2 cup currants or raising
zest of 1 orange
1/2 cup buttermilk (or 1/2 cup milk + 1 Tablespoon white vinegar)
1/2 cup sourdough starter

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Add the dry ingredients to the bowl of a food processor. Pulse a time or two to mix.
3. Add the diced bits of cold butter to the bowl and pulse several times to incorporate.
4. Add the raisins, fresh orange zest, buttermilk and sourdough starter to the bowl; pulse off and on until the dough comes together and begins to form a ball. 
5. Don't get carried away and over pulse on any of the above steps - the dough is meant to be a bit wet, shaggy and sticky.
6. Put the dough onto a lightly floured surface and pat it out evenly until it's about 1-inch thick. Use a floured biscuit cutter or a knife to cut it into 2 1/2 to 3-inch rounds.
7. Place on a (silpat-covered) cookie sheet and bake at 375 degrees F for 15 to 20 minutes or until lightly browned.
8. Best eaten warm the same day baked, or reheated in a bun steamer. Soda bread is not noted for it's keeping quality.

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