Irish Soda Bread Muffins

Irish Soda Bread Muffins

Makes 12 muffins. Recipe is courtesy of King Arthur Flour.

11/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

3/4 cup King Arthur 100% White Whole Wheat Flour

2 tsps. baking powder

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1⁄3 cup granulated sugar

11/2 cups currants (first choice) or raisins

1/2 to 2 tsps. caraway seeds, to taste

1 large egg

1 cup buttermilk, yogurt, or sour cream

6 tbls. butter, melted; or 1⁄3 cup vegetable oil

Sparkling white sugar, for topping

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease a standard muffin pan; or line with papers and grease the papers.

2. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar, currants or raisins and caraway seeds.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, buttermilk (or equivalent) and melted butter (or equivalent).

4. Quickly and gently combine the dry and wet ingredients; honestly, this won’t take more than a few stirs with a bowl scraper or large spoon. As soon as everything is evenly moistened, quit; further stirring will cause the muffins to be tough.

5. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan, filling the cups about 3/4 full; the stiff batter will look mounded in the cups. Top with sparkling white sugar, if desired.

6. Bake the muffins for 20 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Remove them from the oven. Tip the muffins in the pan, so their bottoms don’t get soggy. Wait 5 minutes, then transfer the muffins to a rack to cool. Serve them plain, or with butter and/or jam.