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Delectable Irish Soda Bread

An easy and delicious vegan and gluten-free Irish Soda Bread.
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 55 minutes
Author Marianne Saint George

Ingredients

  • 4 to 4 1/2 480-540g C GF Flour (Maninis Ancient Grains)
  • 1 TSP Salt
  • 1 TBSP Baking Powder
  • 1 TSP Baking Soda
  • 1/4 C Sugar optional
  • 1/8 TSP Ground Cardamom or Coriander optional
  • 1/4 C Firm Butter
  • 1 Flax Egg see below
  • 1 3/4 C Buttermilk see below

Instructions

  1. Pre-heat oven to 375º (350º for glass pan). Make buttermilk and flax egg (see below).
  2. In a large bowl, sift 4 cups (480g) flour, add salt, baking powder, and baking soda (add sugar and spice, if desired) and stir to thoroughly blend. Cut in butter with a pastry blender until crumbly.
  3. In a separate bowl, add egg to buttermilk and stir; stir with a fork into dry ingredients until blended. Turn out onto a floured board and knead until smooth (2 to 3 minutes.)
  4. Divide dough in half and shape each into a smooth, round loaf; place each in a greased cake or pie pan and press to slightly flatten. Using a floured knife or kitchen shears, cut a cross into each loaf.
  5. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until nicely browned.
  6. Devour.

Recipe Notes

Homemade Buttermilk:
To make buttermilk from any milk substitute, pour 1 TBSP of apple cider vinegar into a liquid measuring cup, then add enough milk to equal a cup. Stir, and allow it to sit for 3 minutes, then stir again. It should be thickened and a little curdled looking. For this recipe, round up to 2 TBSP and add milk to equal 1 3/4 C liquid.

Flax Egg:
1 TBSP ground flax mixed with 3 tablespoons of water; allow to sit 3 minutes. If not thick, add a little more flax. If grinding your own flax, 4 grams whole flax will equal 1 TBSP ground.
One note about pre-ground flax. Flax goes rancid quickly, and the pre-ground options are stripped of all their nutrition. If it has a strong smell, it's gone bad. Throw it away! We suggest getting whole flax and keeping it in your fridge or freezer. You can grind it quickly with a inexpensive coffee grinder.

Marianne's Butter Trick:
When cutting butter into a batter or dough, I like to use frozen butter and grate it in with a cheese grater, then use a pastry cutter to fully incorporate.

Note:
When I made this recipe, my dough was too sticky to knead and I had to add more flour than the recipe specified. This is okay. Before you knead, ask yourself if you can pick it up with floured hands and not have it stick badly. If it is too sticky, add more flour and stir until you can hold it, then knead. When done, it should resemble playdough.

Adapted from Sunset Breads, 1984