Raisin Irish Soda Bread
Plenty of green, shamrock recipes about, which can only mean one thing.. St Patricks day is round the corner. How could I possible miss this opportunity do make a holiday themed recipe! This time around it’s the traditional Irish Soda Bread VEGANIZED! Traditional soda bread is made with butter and buttermilk, but this is so easily replaced by non-dairy alternatives, veganzing the traditional recipe was a breeze. Obviously butter can be replaced for vegan margarine (or maybe even coconut oil) and buttermilk is simply made by adding a tbsp. to every cup of non-dairy milk. It’s these kind of tricks that build the foundation of my vegan kitchen!
This is our first bread recipe on the blog! Exciting stuff. Although I’ve made plenty of breads in the past, I STILL haven’t got round to sharing any. So we started off easy with a quick bread. The one thing I hhhaaate about making bread is the bloody proving time, which most of us ain’t got the time in a day for, making this one just perfect for busy bees! Instead of letting the yeast & gluten breathe and expand, we just use baking soda! Ta-da.
If you’re going to be doing what the entirety of Ireland will be doing on Friday (drinking in vast quantities), it’ll be almost essential for yo to bake up some Irish soda bread to soak up all that alcohol and of course for a drunken late night snacking in style.
Bread virgins, this one is for you! No waiting around, nothing complicated, but still super tasty! Try it and tell us what you think!
- 3 cups plain white flour
- 1 cup wholemeal flour
- 2 tbsp. sugar (I used golden caster)
- 2 tsp baking soda/bicarbonate
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 4 Tbsp Vegan Margarine
- 2 cups non-dairy milk (we used rice milk)
- 2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
- ½ cup raisins
- Zest of one lemon
- Oil for greasing
- Firstly arrange a rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat your oven to 400F/200C/Gas mark 6.
- Grease a cast iron skillet or line a baking tray and lightly grease with oil. set aside.
- Cut your margarine into cubes and place in the freezer for 10-15 minutes.
- Place your non-dairy milk in a small bowl and add the apple cider vinegar to make your "buttermilk". Mix then let stand for 10 minutes.
- Whisk your flours, sugar, baking soda, baking powder & salt in a large bowl.
- Once the margarine has chilled, rub together into the flour with your fingers until there are no lumps.
- Reserve 2 tbsp. of your "buttermilk" and pour the rest into the flours along with raisins and lemon zest. Fold to make a wet, soggy dough.
- When it is fully incorporated, place on the skillet (or baking tray) in the shape of a 8-9" flat ball.
- Take a sharp knife and cut a X in the middle, cutting about 1" deep into the dough.
- Place in the oven for 25 minutes, check the dough, if it is browning heavily, cover with foil. return to the oven for another 20-30 minutes. Check but pricking with a wooden skewer/cake tester in the middle. If it comes out clean it is done.
- Let cool on a wire rack for at least 15 minutes before serving. I like mine warm!
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