Ingredients:

3 cups flour (you can use entirely all purpose flour, but I used a combo of AP, whole wheat and einkorn because I like the nutty richness of the whole flours with the tenderness of the AP)
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick (8 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, grated or cubed
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
I do not like raisins in my soda bread, but you can absolutely fold in 1 cup if you like!

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350F.

Add flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, cream of tartar and salt to a bowl and whisk to combine. Add the butter and quickly use just the tips of your fingers to pinch and distribute the butter throughout the dry mix so it is damp and crumbly and a few larger pebbles of butter remain. Pour the buttermilk overtop and use a fork to quickly distribute and gather the dough together into a loose ball, being careful not to overwork. Turn the dough not a floured surface and use floured hands to roughly shape it into a flat disk about 8” in diameter. Use a sharp knife to indent a shallow cross on the bread’s surface. Lightly brush surface with buttermilk.

Place the dough disk onto a sheet of parchment paper and into a dutch oven or cast iron skillet. Bake until crust is richly golden brown and bread is fragrant and set, about 45 minutes. 

Remove from the oven and allow to cool 5 minutes. Use the parchment paper to carefully remove the bread from the pan and allow to cool another 10 minutes. Slice and enjoy with a thick slather of butter and/or jam! Equally wonderful sliced and toasted the next day.