vegan irish soda bread (with dried cherries)

happy st. patrick's day!  i'm not irish, and i don't really celebrate st. patrick's day, but i do enjoy homemade irish soda bread once per year.  in the past, i've shared recipes for cast-iron skillet irish soda bread and irish soda bread scones.  this year, i wanted to try something different and try my hand at vegan irish soda bread.  it turns out it's super simple to make this well-known treat vegan, and it is super delicious.  i only had a little bit of raisins left in the pantry, so i added in some dried cherries (which i know is not traditional at all) and they were really great.  i love it served warm with a cup of tea.

vegan irish soda bread
prep time: 10 minutes
baking time: 45 minutes
yields: one 8-9 inch round loaf of bread

ingredients:
1 cup unsweetened almond milk
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon coconut sugar
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup dried cherries
1 teaspoon caraway seeds

directions:
preheat your oven to 425 degrees F.  combine the milk and the vinegar and set aside for 5 minutes.  in a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, salt, sugar, raisins, cherries, and caraway seeds.  pour in the milk mixture and stir with a wooden spoon just until incorporated and a dough forms.  pour the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and kneed a few times into a ball.  place dough in a greased cast-iron skillet and cut an "x" in the top of the dough with a serrated knife.  bake for 45 minutes until the crust is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  once baked, allow the bread to set in the skillet for 10 minutes before cutting.  serve warm.

enjoy!

love, laurie