Dairy Free Cheese & Onion Wholemeal Quick Bread
Filled with flavours of the Mediterranean, this Dairy Free Cheese & Onion Wholemeal Quick Bread is a speedy, hearty lunchbox lifesaver. Soft, fluffy bread full of vegan cheese, red onion and olives, topped with a crunchy mix of oats & seeds. AND from mixing bowl to baked in less than 40minutes! This is the perfect recipe for last minute kids lunchboxes or dunking in soup. Or cut into individual scones for a savoury afternoon tea treat this Mother’s Day!
So while I am not entirely sure whether to call this recipe a quick bread or scone, I do know its absolutely delicious and quickly becoming my go-to recipe for all occasions. It has become a particularly popular addition to hot soup fresh from the flask up at No17! The real genius though is that this lunchbox lifesaver is ready in less than 45minutes. Just mix, shape and bake. Perfect for baking before The Peachicks head off to school, wrap in foil straight from the oven and it will still be warm come lunchtime!
The recipe is an adaptation of my Wholemeal Vegan Cheese Scone recipe, combined with my Vegan Red Onion & Chilli Scones but made into one round loaf and used like bread, hence the ‘Quick Bread’ title. This is best served warm with loads of dairyfree margarine but once baked this can be frozen in wedges, slices for sandwiches or as individual scones. It keeps so well I always have a stash of these in the freezer. I pack in labelled tubs so The Peachicks can grab one when they are making their lunches. It will defrost nicely by lunchtime and goes perfectly with hot soup or a pick & mix lunchbox of ham, cheeses etc.
*And yes I did say when the Peachicks (7 & 10) make their lunches! Aside from any hot food they are responsible for packing their boxes themselves from what I leave in the fridge/freezer for them. Every box is labelled with a portion size (1 large scone, 2 mini sausage rolls, 1 frozen yoghurt bite etc) and they are getting really good at managing the balance between sweet, savoury, protein & carbs themselves. Keep a look out for my ultimate lunchbox lifesavers post coming soon!
The secret to making this quick bread so fluffy is the pickle juice. You can use the liquid from any pickled veggie jar; I tend to stick to onions, cornichons or for a lovely pink colour beetroot! The reaction between it and the raising agents in the flour create extra lift for a lighter texture. You can also use apple cider vinegar but there is something really nice about the tang that the pickled onion/olive juice adds.
Mind you – if you are feeling brave, the liquid from a jar of pickled jalapenos adds a very nice, warming chilli kick!
Recipe for Dairy Free Cheese & Onion Wholemeal Quick Bread
Dairy free Cheese & Onion Wholemeal Quick Bread
Ingredients
Dry ingredients
- 125 g Self Raising Flour
- 100 g Wholemeal bread flour
- 1/4 tsp Garlic Granules
- Pinch Salt & Black Pepper
- 25 g Dairy Free Baking Block or Vegan Butter
- 30 g Vegan Cheese
- 1/2 Red Onion Finely Chopped
- 1/4 Sweet Pepper Finely Chopped
- 6 Olives Finely Chopped
Wet Ingredients
- 25 ml Pickling Liquid (from Pickled onions)
- 115 ml Dairy Free, Milk Alternative Coconut, Hazelnut, Oat
- 1/4 tsp English or Wholegrain Mustard check for egg & soy
Toppings
- 1 tbsp Vegan Parmesan Violife
- 1 tbsp Sunflower Seeds
- 2 tbsp Rolled Oats
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200C fan and lightly flour a baking tray.
- Weigh the self raising and wholemeal flours into a mixing bowl and stir together with the garlic powder, Sea Salt and fresh ground black Pepper.
- Next add the dairy free margarine and rub together with your fingertips until you have a breadcrumb like mixture.
- Stir in grated cheese and finely diced red onion, pepper and olives.
- Add in any optional extras like chilli flakes, chopped pickled onions etc now.
- In a separate jug measure out the pickle juice, dairy free milk and mustard. Stir together, ensuring the mustard is dissolved completely. Then add to the dry ingredients.
- Now for the messy bit – either use a spoon or you hands – its up to you! Gently stir together all the ingredients until a soft dough is formed. Turn out onto a floured board and gently shape.(You can cut into indivdual scones if you want)
- The less you handle the dough the fluffier the quick bread or scones will be!
- Brush the top with a little more dairyfree milk or water before sprinkling on the toppings.
- Bake for 30-35mins until golden brown or 20minutes for individual scones.
I do love a quick bread. This one looks so good.
this would be perfect served alongside some delicious and warming soup, especially with the cold weather we have been having. it sounds very tasty. thank you for sharing with #Bakeoftheweek x
I haven’t made a quick bread for ages – this would be perfect with soup
Bread + cheese = perfect combo! It’s great that you’ve made this dairy free too. Love the addition of onion too x
http://www.jesseatsandtravels.com
Midge, it looks and sounds so good! It would be perfect with carrot soup (one of our favourite dinners) and I love the fact it’s ready in 40min from start to finish! Thanks for joining in with #FreeFromFridays.
This looks SO good Midge! Would love a big wedge of this warm from the oven right about now.
Well done Peachicks! 🙂 This bread looks delicious Midge and the fact that it can be done in no time at all makes it perfect for quick, impromptu baking just in time for lunch! 🙂 x
I love savoury scones and quickbreads and this looks really tasty! It certainly would be brilliant for packed lunches.
What a lovely sounding recipe! I am a HUGE fan of quick breads. Anything that can be ready in under an hour with no kneading and no proving is my kind of bread…and especially if it is as flavoursome as this one!! Thanks for linking this up to #CookBlogShare. Eb x P.S. Really looking forward to your lunchbox post 😀
This recipe looks yummy! I love the pics. These pics make me hungry! I can not wait to make at home!
The Peachicks make their own lunch boxes? Go girls!!!!
Another yummy recipe Midge. It looks perfect for filling those boxes xx
Yep, they are pretty good at it, we freeze a lot of things beforehand & make up a big batch of cous cous for the fridge for them so its more of a lunchbox filling exercise!
Goodness, I love the sound of this bread Midge – how easy it is as well as the flavours you’ve used (though I mst confess that I would need to omit the olives – they’re not my thing sadly) . What a great suggestion to add beetroot juice to help with the reaction too! Fab! Thanks so much for sharing with #Baking Crumbs,
Angela x
Best thing about this bread is that if you don’t like something you could just leave it out. Sun dried tomatoes would be nice too, although not my favourite! x