One of our favorite St. Patrick’s Day traditions is making and eating Irish Soda Bread. Each year my family looks forward to this delicious bread that we only make once a year. It is sweet and moist, and tastes delicious served warm or toasted with butter (Smart Balance). We like to eat our Soda Bread with Irish Beef Stew on St. Patrick’s Day.

Soda bread is a type of quick bread that uses baking soda as a leavening agent instead of yeast. It can sometimes contain egg in traditional recipes, and it typically calls for buttermilk. If you are avoiding dairy or egg, you normally couldn’t buy this type of bread from a bakery or store. Thankfully it is easy to make at home! Egg is not required for leavening and you can make your own dairy free buttermilk substitution by mixing some vinegar into non-dairy milk and letting it sit for a few minutes. The vinegar will activate the baking soda just like buttermilk would in the recipe. No one would even know that this is an allergy friendly recipe.

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Dairy Free Irish Soda Bread

This Dairy Free Irish Soda Bread is delicious, sweet, moist and easy to make. It is a family favorite bread recipe. Irish Soda Bread is a quick bread that relies on baking soda for leavening instead of yeast. Traditional Soda Bread recipes call for buttermilk which is needed to interact with the baking soda causing the bread to rise. You can make a dairy free "buttermilk" substitute by mixing vinegar and soymilk (or other milk alternative), and have a great result. This bread can be made with or without caraway seeds. The caraway seeds add a distinct flavor but both options are equally delicious.

Servings 1 Loaf

Author Christine George dairyeggandnutfree.com

Ingredients

• 3 Tablespoons Smart Balance (or Earth Balance) butter alternative
• 2 1/2 cups white flour (You can split 50/50 with whole wheat flour for a heartier bread)
• 3 Tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup raisins (soak in water 10 minutes to soften)
• 1 cup soymilk (or other milk alternative)
• 1 Tablespoon vinegar
• 1 Tablespoon caraway seed (optional)

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees.  Grease a cookie sheet or 13×9 pan.  Mix milk and vinegar and set aside.  Put raisins in a bowl and add water to cover. Set aside.
   
   

2. In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt.  Add butter alternative and cut into flour mixture using a pastry blender or 2 knives in a crossing motion (the colder the butter, the better).  Continue to blend until mixed into fine crumbs.  Drain raisins and add to mixture.  Add caraway seeds if desired.

3. Add milk and vinegar mixture a little at a time until the dough leaves the side of the bowl when mixed.

4. Put dough on a floured surface and knead until smooth (about 1-2 minutes).  Adding flour if needed. Shape into a round loaf and place on cookie sheet.  Cut an X about an inch deep on top of loaf.

5. Bake about 45 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through. Bread should sound hollow when tapped and a cake tester should come out clean.