- 2½ cups unbleached white flour
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon caraway seeds (optional)
- 3 tablespoons soft butter
- 1 cup buttermilk
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Sprinkle flour on any round or square cake pan or pie plate and set aside.
- Place the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and caraway seeds (if using) in a large mixing bowl. Add the butter and work it in with your fingertips until the mixture is crumbly and even in texture. Add the buttermilk and stir with a wooden spoon just long enough to moisten the dry ingredients.
- Knead the mixture in the bowl for a minute. (The purpose of the kneading is not to develop gluten, as with yeast dough, but simply to mix the dough thoroughly-so don’t overdo it.) If the dough is too sticky to handle, add a little more flour.
- Shape the dough into a ball about 8 inches in diameter and place on the prepared pan. Dip a sharp knife in flour and use it to make two deep cuts into the loaf (almost-but not quite-to the bottom) in the shape of a plus sign. As the bread bakes, the cuts will spread apart.
- Bake for about 30 to 40 minutes, or until the bread is golden brown and spread out like an open flower. Cool on a wire rack. To serve, pull the bread apart at the cut lines and tear off pieces.