Apricot Orange Irish Soda Bread
Apricot Orange Irish Soda Bread is rustic and crusty on the outside, and moist and tangy on the inside. It’s studded with chopped apricots and orange zest for a sunny twist on the classic!
I owe my love of Irish soda bread to my sons’ first grade teacher, because she made it from scratch and brought it to school for her classroom St. Patrick’s Day feast.
Obviously I loved it, and I never knew how easy it was to make! That was 6 years ago, and I’ve been making it ever since.
This Irish soda bread recipe was adapted from a Barefoot Contessa recipe. I made it whole grain this time around by swapping out half of the all purpose flour with half whole wheat white, and used a bit less sugar.
The fun part is coming up with different flavorings from the original version, which contained currants and orange zest.
Somewhere along the line I thought adding chopped apricots to the mix instead of currants would be a good idea, and I fell for it.
I bumped up the orange zest, because the more orange flavor the better in my book. The result is a sunny, bright soda bread with plenty of spring appeal.
I love spreading orange marmalade on my soda bread for breakfast. The citrusy, slightly bitter marmalade and the sweet chewy dried apricots make one great combination.
If marmalade isn’t your thing, just straight up butter will always do the trick.
Whether you decide to make this Apricot Orange Irish Soda Bread as a side for your traditional St. Patrick’s Day meal or make it any old day for breakfast is no matter.
It’s easy, it’s delicious, and you can’t go wrong because there’s never anything better than homemade bread is there?
There’s not in my world anyway. 🙂
More St. Patrick’s Day recipes:
If you make this recipe I’d love to hear from you! Leave a comment and rating below, or tag me @flavorthemoments on Instagram!
Apricot Orange Irish Soda Bread
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour plus 1 tablespoon to toss with the dried apricot
- 2 cups whole wheat white flour*
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter cut into 1/2″ dice
- 1 3/4 cup cold low fat buttermilk shaken
- 1 large egg
- 2 tablespoons orange zest
- 1 cup chopped dried apricots
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Add the dry ingredients to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or use your handheld electric mixer. Mix the dry ingredients on low speed.
- Add the cold butter cubes and mix on low speed until the butter is completely mixed into the dry ingredients. Use your fingers if necessary to work any large chunks of butter into the flour.
- Using a fork, beat the egg, buttermilk, and zest in a measuring cup. Turn the mixer on low speed, and slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, mixing just until combined.
- Toss the dried apricots with the reserved tablespoon of flour, then mix into the dough on low speed just until combined. The dough will be VERY wet!
- Pour the dough out onto a well floured surface and sprinkle with flour. Flour your hands, and knead a few times until it’s in the shape of a round loaf. Place on the prepared baking sheet.
- Using a serrated knife, cut a small “X” into the center.
- Bake 45-55 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.
Notes
- *I like to make this bread whole grain, but you may substitute the white whole wheat flour for all purpose flour (4 cups + 1 tablespoon total).
- This bread is delicious with butter or orange marmalade for breakfast, or as a side dish with your corned beef and cabbage!
Nutrition
Nutrition is estimated using a food database and is only intended to be used as a guideline for informational purposes.
63 Comments on “Apricot Orange Irish Soda Bread”
This is the best Irish Bread I have ever seen. Love the add of apricots and oranges.
Thank you, Ella! 🙂
This bread has such wonderful flavors! I bet it tastes absolutely amazing.
Thank you, Jennifer! Apricots and orange together with tangy buttermilk really is a delicious combination!
What a great variation on soda bread! I’ve never seen anything quite like this before and I love it 🙂
Thank you, Medha! 🙂
What a lovely variation on Irish Soda Bread! Love the flavors here. Glad you did a re-boot on this recipe because I must have missed it in the past! But now I’ve got it on lock down!
Haha…I’m glad it’s on lock down, Liz! 🙂
This looks amazing, Marcie! So glad you are sharing it again. I’ve never tried Irish soda bread before and I love the apricot and orange addition!
Thank you, Kelly, and I hope you try soda bread soon! It’s such a nice, easy way to enjoy homemade bread. 🙂
Well no wonder this Irish Soda Bread got so much coverage, it looks great! I love the flavours Marcie, and how easy it seems to come together. I can’t wait for St. Patrick’s Day – I always celebrate it because it’s two day after my birthday so I look at it as an extended birthday treat :).
Thank you, Jessica, and St. Patrick’s Day is such a fun celebration, it certainly would be a great time to extend one’s birthday! Sounds like a great idea! 🙂
Oooo apricot!!! I need to try soda bread soon!
Apricot makes everything better! 🙂
Love soda bread and your variation looks so fresh and nice. The crust looks really nice Marcie.
Have a great week.
Thank you, Ash! The thick, golden brown crust is one of my very favorite parts of this bread…besides the apricot. 🙂 Happy Monday! 🙂
This looks delicious, Marcie! I love that you added chopped apricots to it – not only for flavor but they look so pretty! I’d love a slice of this with some butter for breakfast!
Thank you, Kristine! I love the color of apricots, and this bread is phenomenal with butter! 🙂
It looks so good! I love the flecks of apricot and it looks so soft and moist!
Thanks, Averie! I can’t imagine eating it without apricots now!
I never even thought to substitute something else for the currants. That is brilliant, I will need to try this recipe. That peanut butter chocolate chip banana bread caught my eye as well!
I have nominated you for a Liebster Award!!! All of the information is in my blog post at http://cookingwithcurls.com/2013/03/14/liebster-award-what-now/
Congratulations – Lisa
Thank you, Lisa, that’s so exciting. I’ll check it out ASAP.
Thank you! Hope you give it a try!
I love the orange and apricot additions! I’ve been wanting to try out an Irish soda bread for a while now. Oh man, I hear you on the cold. I’ve felt the same way for about a week now (along with my husband) – the congestion is killing me. So not fun.
Sorry to hear you’re under the weather, too. It definitely is not fun! This Irish soda bread is the one to try! I’ve been hooked since I tried it years ago.
I’ve never tried Irish soda bread before, but this looks SO good!
It’s really delicious, especially warm out of the oven!
Thank you! If you try it, let me know what you think! Hope you enjoy it.