Vegan Chocolate Orange Soda Bread

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! In the spirit of celebrating, I made vegan soda bread... for chocolate lovers! The subtle coconut flavor in the background, plus the classic combination of chocolate, orange, and almond makes each bite exciting and slightly different. I made a small bread since I really enjoy this fresh, but feel free to double the recipe if you want a bigger bread.

Ingredients (7-inch bread)

140 mL (1/2 cup + 1 tbsp) coconut milk

orange zest + 1/4 cup orange juice

270 grams (2.25 cups) all purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

2 tbsp sugar

45 grams coconut oil

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1/4 cup slivered almonds

Step 6. Form a 5-inch ball and cut a deep cross in the bread before baking.

Directions

1. Mix together the coconut milk, orange zest, and orange juice in a small bowl. Put this bowl in the fridge until Step 5.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the all purpose flour, salt, baking soda, and sugar.

3. Add the coconut oil to the dry ingredients. Using your fingers, rub the coconut oil into the flour until there are no more clumps of coconut oil. It should feel like the coconut oil “disappeared” into the flour. Place this bowl in the freezer for at least 10 minutes while you preheat the oven.

4. Preheat the over to 400 F. Line a baking tray with a silicone mat or parchment paper.

5. Once the oven is ready, pull out the chilled flour mix and the chilled coconut milk mix. Add the coconut milk mix, chocolate chips, and almonds to the dry ingredients. Stir using a chopstick or the stick handle of a wooden spoon (the rod shape helps with mixing since this is a sticky dough). Once the dough comes together, lightly flour your hands, then press and fold the dough (like kneading, but more gentle) a few times in the bowl just to make sure all the flour has been incorporated and there are no dry pockets of flour. Try not to work the dough too much since it affects the texture of the bread.

6. Place the dough on the baking tray and use lightly floured hands to shape it into a 5-inch ball. Use a sharp knife to cut a deep cross on the top. I cut until only about 1/2 an inch on the bottom is not cut (see photo on left).

7. Bake at 400 F for 30 minutes. At this point, the top should be a deep golden brown. Cover the top loosely with foil to prevent it from burning, and bake an additional 15 minutes so that the inside cooks all the way through. The total bake time is 45 minutes.

8. Remove the bread from the oven and let it cool on the baking tray for 5 minutes. Then, transfer it to a cooling rack to let it finish cooling.

9. Enjoy fresh! My favorite way to enjoy this bread is warm, after impatiently waiting at least 20 minutes for it to cool. However, you can also enjoy it at room temperature, or even from the fridge.

Store the bread at room temperature if you plan to eat it within the next day. Any longer than that, and I would store it in the fridge. Suggestion: If I do have leftover bread, I like to lightly toast it the next day before eating.