Surprisingly Vegan Irish Brown Bread Recipes

SURPRISINGLY VEGAN IRISH BROWN BREAD

Steps:

• First off, I'd like to explain the need for the oats and the wheat germ: Irish flour is much more coarser than the flour here in the states. The wheat germ and the oats are there to add texture to the bread (along with fiber and extra protein!) and help mimic the way Irish flour bakes.
• Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and prep a sheet pan with a piece of tin foil sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.
• This isn’t one of those slowly-add-dry-to-wet recipes. This is throw all of the dry ingredients into a bowl, mix together, add the molasses, then slowly pour in the almond milk, kind of recipes. Actually, that’s all you have to do really. See? Simple.
• I mixed up my dough in a stand mixer with a dough hook, but you can totally do it by hand. Eyeball the milk, you want all of the flour and oats to be incorporated but you don’t want the dough to become too sticky. You should be able to pick the whole thing up with your hands and mold it into a nice round shape without it gluing your fingers together.
• Place the molded dough onto the baking sheet and with a knife (you can dip it in flour to help it not stick to the dough) cut an X along the top about a half inch to an inch deep. The X is for two reasons: 1) It’s traditional for warding away evil spirits, 2) It’s scientific in that it helps the bread bake evenly.
• Bake for about 40 minutes or until you can no longer stand the delicious smells coming out of your oven and decide to pull the bread out early.
• Let cool for a few minutes then dig in!

VEGAN IRISH SODA BREAD

Steps:

• Get ready. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a medium baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper. Make sure you have a surface - clean countertop or pastry board - to use when it's time.
• Make buttermilk. Add the milk to a 2-cup liquid measuring cup or small bowl. Stir in 1 tablespoon vinegar. Set aside for at least 5 minutes.
• Prep currants. In a small bowl, toss the currants with the 1 teaspoon flour. Set aside.
• Stir together dry ingredients. Add flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt to a large bowl. Mix together until combined.
• Cut in the butter. Using a pastry blender or two butter knives, cut the butter into the dry ingredients until crumbly. I like to use my hands to really get I there and incorporate the butter.
• Add wet ingredients. Add the buttermilk and currants and stir with a spatula or wooden spoon until combined. The dough will be wet and sticky.
• Finish prepping the dough. Sprinkle 1/4 cup flour on your surface and turn the dough out onto the surface. Sprinkle a little more flour on top of the dough. Fold the dough onto itself, adding more flour as needed, just until the dough is no longer super sticky (a little sticky is okay). Knead about 5 times then fold the corners underneath to form a ball. Set the dough on your baking sheet and, using a sharp knife, cut a large "X" into the top.
• Bake. Place in your pre-heated oven and bake for 35-45 minutes, until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.
• Cool. Remove from oven and place the loaf on a rack to cool.
• Eat. Slice, slather with vegan butter, and enjoy! Makes excellent toast, too. Keeps at room temp for a good 3-4 days (keep wrapped with plastic wrap or beeswax cloth).