High Altitude Irish Soda Bread
The easiest recipe for a rustic loaf of Irish soda bread, with a tender, chewy texture that's flecked with dried apricots and a crisp, crumbly crust.
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cups cold buttermilk or kefir
- 1 large egg
- 5 cups all-purpose flour, divided (fluffed, spooned and leveled)
- 2 tbsp granulated sugar
- ¾ tsp baking soda
- 1 ¼ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 6 tbsp cold, unsalted butter, cut into chunks or slices
- ½ - ¾ cup finely chopped dried apricots
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a liquid measuring cup, whisk together the buttermilk and egg.
- In a large bowl, combine 4 1/2 cups of the flour with the sugar, baking soda and salt. Scatter the butter pieces over the flour mixture, and use a pastry cutter to cut the butter in until there are no visible chunks of butter.
- Add the chopped dried apricots, then stir in the buttermilk/egg mixture, stirring everything together into a sticky, shaggy dough.
- Using the remaining 1/2 cup of flour, lightly flour the parchment paper, scrape the dough onto the paper, and then flour the dough, too, so it's not too sticky. Shape the dough into a rough, rustic loaf. Use a sharp knife to slash an "x" on top of the dough.
- Bake the bread for about 45-55 minutes, until the crust is browned and crisp, and a digital instant read thermometer inserted into the bread reads 195F.
- Cool the bread for 30-45 minutes before slicing. Enjoy warm with butter and jam or honey.
Notes
After cooling the bread completely, store leftover bread in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, or in the freezer for up to 3-6 months.
Instead of the dried apricots, you can use other dried fruit, such as raisins, prunes, dates or figs.
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