Chocolate and Candied Orange Peel Soda Bread

I came across this recipe while searching for a soda bread recipe for St. Patrick's day (long story...found a great one, forgot to add the baking soda), and immediately put it on my to bake list.  One problem.  Have you ever tried to find candied orange peel in ND in March?  No?  Neither have I, but I tried at Christmas time (you would think it'd be everywhere), and 7 stores later I was lucky to find some.  Crazy.  So, instead of doing the runaround searching for it, I decided to make my own!  Whoa, who'd have thought that would be a possibility that I could pull off? It totally worked, and it was totally easy and delicious.  In fact, I couldn't keep my family's hands out of it!  I used this recipe for the candied orange peel, but made a few changes: I used the peel of 3 oranges, not 2, and I did not coat the finished peel in sugar (since I would be baking with it), just placed it on a sheet of foil and let it dry.  This bread is amazing!

Candied Orange Peel and Chocolate Chunk Soda Bread

3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
6 Tablespoons cold butter
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips or chunks
6 ounces (about 1 cup diced) candied orange peel, diced
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1 egg

Preheat the oven to 350F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and lightly grease the paper.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.  Cut in the butter using a pastry blender, fork, or your fingers, until course crumbs form.  Stir in the chocolate chips and candied orange peel.  In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk and egg, then stir into the dry ingredients until just blended.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead 2 or 3 times, or until the dough comes together.  Shape the dough into a round, and place on the prepared baking sheet.  With a sharp knife, make 3 cuts across the top of the dough in the shape of an asterisk, about 1/2 to 1 inch deep.

Bake the bread in the preheated oven for 60 to 70 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and set, and a toothpick inserted deep in the center comes out clean.  Remove bread from the oven and let cool completely on a cooling rack before serving.  Makes 1 loaf. 

Enjoy!  -Cardamommy