St. Patrick's Day Dinner Party: Traditional Irish Soda Bread (Vegan)

This traditional Irish soda bread was so unbelievably easy to make. Between this and my beer bread, I don't think I will ever again make regular bread that requires kneading, resting and all that.

I did a lot of internet searching for a recipe for traditional Irish soda bread--I found a lot of variations, and stumbled upon a number of rants (like this one) that real Irish soda bread has ONLY 4 ingredients: flour, salt, baking soda and buttermilk.

I hope this recipe won't spark any rants, but I cannot eat dairy so I veganized this recipe with a combination of soy milk and white vinegar to create the illusion of buttermilk.

Traditional Irish Soda Bread

Ingredients:

2 cups white whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 + 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup soy milk
1 Tbsp white vinegar

Directions:

1. Sift together dry ingredients. Whisk together soy milk and vinegar, then add to dry ingredients. Stir with a wooden spoon until it forms a dough.
2. Spread into well-greased loaf pan and bake at 400 degrees for 30-35 minutes until the bottom is hollow and a toothpick comes out clean.

The cost:
soy milk: 1.69
other ingredients: <0.99

Grand total: $2.68ish

St. Patrick's Day Dinner Party: Beer Bread

In honor of St. Patrick's Day, I decided I wanted to make a beer bread. Having never made it before and finding a myriad of recipes online, I decided to put the question out into the Twitterdom. One of my Twitter buds, the Novice Chef, happily sent me her recipe. I made a couple of tweeks (made a bit of a smaller batch, left out the butter) and it was DELICIOUS. I should have made a loaf for each person :). It's so quick and easy to put together, but people will think you slaved for hours kneading, letting it rise, etc. Thanks @TheNoviceChef!

And stay tuned for the rest of the St. Patrick's Day Dinner Party recipes!

Note: This recipe is not gluten free; I am being tested for Celiac Disease in a few weeks and have unfortunately had to reintroduce gluten into my diet for an accurate result.

Beer Bread

Ingredients:

2 cups white whole wheat flour
2 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp + pinch salt
11 ounces of beer (1 + 1/3 cups; I used a Belgian ale)

Directions:

1. Sift together dry ingredients. Add beer and stir with a wooden spoon until just combined (dough will be a bit sticky).
2. Transfer dough into greased 8-inch loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes until the bread has risen and it sounds/feels hollow when you tap the bottom.

The cost: $2.00ish