Anyways, now a week later from St. Patty's Day, I decided I liked the irish soda bread so much I wanted to make it again! But this time, in a more convenient, portable form: muffins! These are exactly like the irish soda bread and even include whole wheat flour, making them healthier than most recipes! You can add the caraway seeds and raisins if you would like, or if you're more like me and can't stand raisins, you may omit them.
Irish Soda Bread Muffins
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup whole wheat flour
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- ¼ tsp. baking soda
- ½ tsp. salt
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 1½ cups currants or raisins (optional)
- ½ to 2 tsp. caraway seeds, to taste (optional)
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 6 Tbsp. butter, melted
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Lightly grease a standard muffin pan; or line with papers, and grease the papers. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar, currants or raisins, and caraway seeds. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, buttermilk and melted butter. Quickly and gently combine the dry and wet ingredients. As soon as everything is evenly moistened, quit; further stirring will cause the muffins to be tough.
Spoon the batter into the prepared cups, filling the cups about 3/4 full; the stiff batter will look mounded in the cups. Top with sparkling white sugar, if desired. Bake the muffins for 22 minutes, until they start to brown on their tops. Remove them from the oven. Wait 5 minutes, then transfer the muffins to a rack to cool.