Almost two years ago, one of my friends and her husband moved from the Midwest to Ireland. She had thought about living there for many years, and although it was difficult for them to leave their families and friends in the US behind, it was so inspiring to see her turn her big dream into a reality.
However, with her in Ireland, it made talking to her a bit harder than usual… We couldn’t text back and forth the way we used to! Eventually, we finally figured out a rhythm that worked for us with a combination of Snapchat and FaceTime. Thank goodness for the internet and modern technology!
As two big foodies, about half of our conversations seem to revolve around recipes, our blogs, and entrepreneurship in general. Even though we’re thousands of miles apart, it’s still so nice for each of us to have someone to lean on for advice and support — and who understands the struggles of major recipe testing fails!
During one of our first few FaceTime sessions, I asked her what she thought about the food options in Ireland and the differences between those and what we found here in the US. She immediately exclaimed, “I miss Ranch dressing!!” which made both of us nearly keel over from laughter.
Apparently… Even though the bottles look exactly the same, Ranch dressing in Ireland tastes incredibly disappointing and nothing like the US-based classic. She even tried buying the little seasoning packets to make her own at home, but those were only marginally better. And as a staple in her kitchen, she was going nuts over the lack of decent Ranch!
But otherwise, she shared, most of the Irish foods and groceries tasted great, and she loved how easy it was for her to find great gluten-free options, including for things like crackers and pasta. With her gluten intolerance, that was a huge deal and one of the big selling points of Ireland… Along with their amazing scenery and friendly culture.
Yet recently, she did complain about one more teensy tiny thing… She hates raisins, and seemed like the Irish will put them in just about any and all of their baked treats!
I had to laugh again… I absolutely love raisins, especially in my baked goodies, so that sounded perfectly delicious to me!
And as a result of that conversation, I decided to whip up a batch of these super easy Healthy Raisin Irish Soda Bread Scones! They’re incredibly simple to make. You just need 1 bowl, 5 ingredients, and a few minutes — plus there’s no yeast or kneading involved! (No butter, oil, eggs, dairy, refined flour or sugar too!)
Even so, these healthy Irish soda bread scones are really moist and fluffy, and I love the pop of natural sweetness from the raisins. (I also have a secret trick that makes them incredibly plump and sweet!) These would be perfect for St. Patrick’s Day — or just any ol’ day you’re craving bread — and they’re 86 calories!
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