Irish Soda Bread (gluten free, vegan, oil free, soy free, yeast free)

Irish Soda Bread

(gluten free, vegan, soy free, yeast free, oil free)

You can't imagine how much I miss bread. It's really hard to live in a bread-based cuisine, where wherever you pass by when walking around, it always smells like freshly baked bread and dough.

Austria has a really strong bread based cuisine. There is a bakery right around the corner, no matter where you are. In the subway, on the street, in restaurants, school,... everyone is eating bread.

Breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner, when it has to be quick, it's always bread.

And then there is me: I can't eat gluten. I could buy gluten free bread, yes, but that contains yeast, and very often an other rising or "sticking" urgent. Both are upsetting my stomach, because of my histamine intolerance. So no bread for me. And what about making my own bread? I've tried hundreds of times, failing all over again because it either ends up rock hard or it doesn't cook properly. Most of the time it doesn't rise either.

I almost quit trying, before I had a small success last year. The recipe for this one little success is already up on the blog. You can find it in the "bread" section. The only thing with this is, that I had to use yeast. I was fine eating it once or twice, but the more pieces I had, the more my body was telling me to stop eating it, before I eventually ended up bloated again.

But not anymore! This Irish Soda Bread recipe doesn't need any yeast. It uses, as the name says, Baking Soda as rising agent. And it works with gluten free flour! I couldn't be happier! The original version, which is not gluten free, is actually by Sweet Simple Vegan (you can find the recipe here). I changed the ingredients to make it not only gluten free, but also oil free.

The consistency reminds me of an English Scone. It's soft, but also breaking apart easily without being overly dry! So, if you want this to be something more like a Scone, see Tipps down below. Also, if you want this to be a little more savory, also look at the Tipps. Other than that, let's jump right into the recipe.

Side note: I made little bread rolls, using a muffin tin. If you want to make a big loaf, cooking time will vary, so keep in mind to adjust as needed!

Irish Soda Bread

Serves: 6 "Muffins"
Cooking time: 35 to 40 minutes (gluten free flour won't get much color, so make a toothpick test after 35 minutes or take one out. If the bottom sounds hollow when "knocking", it's done)
Preparation time: 10 to 15 minutes

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup / 180g unsweetened almond milk (or any other plant milk of choice)
• 1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 2 cups / 250g gluten free flour blend (or normal flour if you can have gluten)
• 1/4 cup / 35g raisins (optional but highly recommended! You can use more or less)
• 1/4 cup / 75g granulated sugar 
• 1/2 tbsp / 7g flax meal (ground flax seeds) or chia seeds
• 1/2 tbsp / 3g corn starch
• 1 tbsp baking soda
• 1/2 tbsp salt (for a more savory version, add a little more)
• 1 tbsp / 15g cashew butter (or any other nut butter of choice - however, it will affect the flavor of your end product if your nut butter has a strong taste to it)
• 1/2 tbsp caraway seeds (optional - this is called "Kümmel" in German - weird, isn't it?)

Instructions

• preheat the oven to 200°C
• in a bowl, mix almond milk and apple cider vinegar and let sit for 10 minutes. The mixture will "cuttle" and create your buttermilk. 
• in a different bowl, mix together all the other ingredients and whisk well. 
• Create a whole in the middle and add the buttermilk mixture inside. 
• Mix until a dough is formed, kneed the dough with your hands. If it's too wet, add a little more flour.
• Split the dough into equal pieces and form little balls.
• Put the balls into a lined or greased muffin tin and cut little X shapes on top of them (to make them bake more evenly)
• Put into the oven for 35 to 40 minutes (gluten free flour won't get much color, so make a toothpick test after 35 minutes or take one out. If the bottom sounds hollow when "knocking", it's done) and let cool completely before serving.

Tipp:

For a more "Scone" like version, I'd suggest you to add a little more raisins, sugar and leave out the caraway seeds.

For a more savory version, add more salt as suggested above.

I served mine with some cranberry jam. 

Serving size differs from person to person. I, personally, would have 2 rolls with jam, nut butter and some fruit (like banana, berries, ...) and maybe some plant yogurt on the side as a meal and 1 roll as a snack. But as I said, that depends from person to person and also from hunger cues.