Cherry Almond Soda Bread

The first thing I want to do is apologize to anyone who is Irish. I took your soda bread and really messed with it…and I’m sorry. Well, I’m not really sorry. No disrespect, but this turned out really good. If you give it a chance, I know you’ll forgive me. The combination of cherry and almond is really nice. This is more of a sweet soda bread, not overly sweet, but it’s nice with some jam or just as is.

I’m not a vegan and I’m pretty sure I may never be. I like everything too much! But…I do like to experiment and eat healthy as much as I can. I wasn’t sure this recipe would turn out, but when it came out of the oven…well, take a peek at the photos below and you’ll see why I’ve gained weight writing this blog.

Cherry Almond Soda Bread (Vegan)

1 C. whole wheat flour
3/4 C. all purpose flour
1/4 C. almond meal
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1/4 C. sugar
2 T. coconut oil
3/4 C. unsweetened almond milk
1/2 C. dried cherries
1/8 C. sliced almonds

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flours, almond meal, baking soda, salt and sugar. Using a pastry cutter or a fork, blend the coconut oil into the flour mixture until it becomes slightly crumbly. Add the almond milk and cherries. Stir with a rubber spatula until combined.

Drop the dough out onto the parchment and sprinkle the top with the sliced almonds. Using generously floured hands, form the dough into a round loaf.

Bake for 28 to 30 minutes.

Cool slightly before devouring.

Notes:

• You many not need this to be vegan or you may not have all of these ingredients on hand. You can omit the almond meal and just increase the all purpose flour to 1 cup. You may want to add a splash of almond extract for flavor. You can also use regular milk instead of almond milk and butter in place of the coconut oil.