This Gluten-Free Vegan Irish Soda Bread is:
- super easy to make
- oil-free and nut-free
- packed with sweet raisins!
Inspired by this Gluten-Free Vegan Bread recipe, I decided to experiment with more quick-bread recipes, and knew I had to try a Gluten-Free Vegan Irish Soda Bread!
This Vegan Irish Soda Bread is super easy to make as it comes together in just one bowl, and requires simple ingredients. It’s refined sugar free, oil-free, nut-free and yeast-free, and requires no kneading or proving.
It’s made using a mixture of chickpea flour for fluffiness, rice flour and tapioca flour for sponginess. The raising agents are baking powder and the reaction between the alkali bicarbonate of soda and vegan ‘buttermilk’.
Dairy-free buttermilk can be made by adding apple cider vinegar to any kind of plant-based milk, and leaving it to ‘curdle’ while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
You can use any type of baking tin you like, but to get a beautifully risen, puffed-up bread with a traditional cross on the top, I would recommend using a circular baking tin.
The cross on the top might look fancy, but it’s super easy to make – all you need to do is use a knife to score the top in a cross pattern before you put it in the oven.
The bread can be made with or without raisins, but I decided to add some for colour and for extra juicy sweetness. If you’re not into raisins, you could use dried cranberries, chopped dates or chopped dried figs.
Chopped nuts would also be a great add-in – walnuts or pecans would be especially delicious.
I’m so happy how this bread turned out! It’s soft and bendable, with a proper crispy crust and a moist, fluffy and spongy centre.
It slices well, makes great toast and keeps well in the fridge for up to a few days.
For more gluten-free vegan quick-bread recipes, check out my:
- Gluten-Free Vegan Bread
- Gluten-Free Vegan Blueberry Banana Bread
- Gluten-Free Vegan Apple Bread
- Gluten-Free Vegan Seeded Buckwheat Bread
- Gluten-Free Vegan Chocolate Banana Bread
- Gluten-Free Vegan Cornbread
If you try out this recipe or anything else from my blog, I’d really love to hear any feedback! Please give it a rating, leave a comment, or tag a photo #rhiansrecipes on Instagram! Thank you.
Helpful tools to make this Gluten-Free Vegan Irish Soda Bread:
glass mixing bowl
measuring jug
baking paper
cooling rack
Gluten-Free Vegan Irish Soda Bread
Ingredients
- 375 ml (1 1/2 cups) unsweetened almond milk (or any other plant-based milk)
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar (ensure gluten-free if necessary)
- 220 g (2 cups) chickpea (gram) flour
- 220 g (2 cups) rice flour
- 30 g (1/4 cup) tapioca flour*
- 6 teaspoons baking powder (ensure gluten-free if necessary)
- 1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
- Pinch of salt
- 150 g (1 cup) raisins or sultanas
- 120 ml (1/2 cup) water
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit)
- Measure out the milk and, leaving it in the measuring container, add the vinegar and stir - leave to sit for around 10 minutes, while you do the rest of the steps
- Place the chickpea flour, rice flour, tapioca flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt and raisins in a large bowl and mix well
- Add the milk and vinegar mixture and the water, and mix again
- Transfer the mixture to a baking tin lined with greased baking paper (I used a 20cm/8inch circular tin) lined with greased baking paper
- Optional: Take a small knife and draw a cross over the top of the batter
- Bake in the oven for around 45 minutes, until risen and an inserted skewer comes out clean
- Leave to cool slightly before slicing. Keeps well in the fridge for up to a few days
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illy
Hi Rhian
I made the bread but it didn’t really rise for me. I used 2 cups of a gluten free flour blend (sweet white rice flour, whole grain brown rice flour, potato starch, wholegrain sorghum flour, tapioca flour, xanthan gum) plus the rest of ingredients except for tapioca starch. I used buttermilk and added extra milk as the though seemed dry, still wasn’t quite as wet as in the pictures.
I would love to try this recipe again – what do you suggest i do differently?
Thanks
Rhian Williams
Hi – thank you so much for your feedback. I’m sorry you had a problem with the recipe. I think using xanthan gum was the issue – whenever I’ve used it in baked goods like cakes or breads without yeast, it’s made the mixture kind of gluey and hard to rise, and also makes the dough drier. If making again I would use tapioca starch as a binding agent instead of xanthan gum. I hope that helps and please let me know how you get on! Thank you again for your feedback.
Kelly Dynes
I followed this exact recipe but it just doesn’t bake in the middle, it just got harder on the outside and wouldn’t cook through in the middle. Really disappointed ☹️
Rhian Williams
Hi Kelly, thank you so much for your feedback! I’m so sorry to hear that – did you bake it at the right temperature? And what sort of baking tin did you use?