High Altitude Irish Soda Bread

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

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 ½ 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 ½ 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.

Course🍞Bread

Diets🥕Vegetarian...

Category🍞Bread

Cuisine🇮🇪Irish

Occasions🍳Breakfast🥐Brunch📆Everyday

Season🔁Year-round

DifficultyEasy ⏰ 1h