This quick bread is easy to make. It is dense, yet soft with a crusty exterior. Usually created in a free-forming vessel.

Ingredients

• 1¾ cup buttermilk 
• 1 large egg at room temperature
• 4 cups All Purpose flour 
• 3 tablespoons white sugar 
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt 
• 5 tablespoons unsalted cold butter cut into cubes 
• 1 cup raisins 

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Grease your All-Clad Pro-Release Loaf Pan.
3. In a mixing bowl, combine the buttermilk and egg. Whisk to combine completely. Set aside. 
4. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Whisk to combine. 
5. Using your hands, cut the cold butter cubes into the dry ingredients. This method works best if wearing rubber gloves. Do your best to cut the butter into pea-sized crumbles. Pour the raisins into the mixture and combine completely.
6. Add the buttermilk mixture to the dry ingredients. Mix to combine into a crumbly dough-like mixture. Turn onto a lightly floured surface. Knead the dough for 30 seconds to 1 minute or until the dough is moist. If the dough becomes too sticky, add ½ teaspoon of flour at a time until it is workable again. 
7. Place the dough into the prepared loaf pan. Using your paring knife, make ½ inch slits into the top surface of the dough. Bake in the oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour. The bread will be golden brown with a crusty exterior when complete. The internal temperature of the bread will hover around 190 degrees.  
8. Let rest in the loaf pan for 10 minutes. Remove from the pan and let cool on a wire rack. Serve either warm or at room temperature.   

Pro Tip

The technique of cutting the cold butter into the dry ingredients is the key step in this process. This will give the bread the moist, soft interior while keeping the exterior crusty. 

RECIPE BY

All-Clad Resident Chef Derek Finocchiaro

All-Clad’s Resident Chef Derek has been working with flavors and fragrance for his entire career. Finding a path from perfumery to food, Derek competed on numerous amateur cooking shows which led him to the All-Clad Test kitchen. Here he excels in creating new recipes, blogs, video demos, and food photography for our consumers.