Irish Soda Bread Muffins
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Golden and craggy with just the right amount of sweetness, these Irish soda bread muffins are bursting with fragrant caraway seeds, currants, and a crisp sugar topping. Perfect for breakfast, afternoon tea, or celebrating St. Patrick’s Day!
These Irish soda bread muffins take everything you love about the classic loaf and pack it into a perfectly snackable muffin. Fresh from the oven, they’re crisp on the outside, soft on the inside, and topped with a satisfying crunch of coarse sugar. Pops of sweet currants make them just right for breakfast, an afternoon snack, or with a cup of tea. And with a smear of salted Irish butter? Absolute perfection.
If you’re looking for more St. Patrick’s Day inspiration, pair these muffins with a hearty bowl of lamb stew or a perfectly roasted corned beef and cabbage. And don’t forget dessert—my Baileys cheesecake marbled brownies would be the perfect sweet finish!
“Truly, I have been thinking (obsessing?) about making these again since I first made them on St. Patrick’s Day. Today was the day. They’ve got a wonderful texture and flavor and come together so quickly and easily!”
What You’ll Need To Make Irish Soda Bread Muffins
- All-Purpose Flour and Whole Wheat Flour: Provide structure and texture to the muffins. The whole wheat flour helps give the muffins a nuttier, more complex flavor and extra nutrients.
- Baking Powder and Baking Soda: Act as leavening agents helping the muffins rise.
- Granulated Sugar: Sweetens the muffins and adds moisture.
- Caraway Seeds: Add a unique flavor, characteristic of traditional Irish soda bread.
- Egg: Binds the ingredients together and provides structure to the muffins.
- Buttermilk: Adds moisture and richness to the batter and the acidity in buttermilk helps the muffins rise. If you don’t have any on hand or don’t want to purchase a whole carton, see how to make buttermilk using milk and lemon juice or vinegar.
- Butter: Contributes richness and flavor to the muffins, enhancing their texture and taste.
- Currants: Provide bursts of sweetness and texture throughout the muffins, adding a fruity flavor reminiscent of traditional Irish soda bread.
- Turbinado Sugar: Adds a crunchy texture and caramelized sweetness to the muffin tops.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
How To Make Irish Soda Bread Muffins
Begin by combining the dry ingredients—all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, granulated sugar, and caraway seeds—in a medium bowl. Whisk to combine and set aside.
In a separate large bowl, combine the liquid ingredients: the egg, buttermilk, and melted butter. Whisk to combine. The mixture may look a little curdled; that’s okay and normal.
Add the dry ingredients and the currants to the liquid mixture.
Use a rubber spatula to mix until just combined; the batter will be very thick. Do not overmix or the muffins may be tough.
Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin pan, filling the cups about 3/4 full. Sprinkle the turbinado (or sparkling white) sugar evenly over the muffins.
Bake the muffins for 18 to 20 minutes, or until golden and set and a cake tester inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.
Let the muffins cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Then transfer them to a wire rack to cool until you’re ready to serve.
More Muffin Recipes You May Like
Irish Soda Bread Muffins
These Irish soda bread muffins are everything you love about classic soda bread, wrapped up in a perfectly snackable muffin!
Ingredients
- 1¾ cups all-purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled off
- ½ cup whole wheat flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled off
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons caraway seeds
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup buttermilk (see note)
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 1⅓ cups currants
- 1½ tablespoons turbinado or sparkling white sugar, for topping
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F and set an oven rack in the middle position. Grease a standard muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, granulated sugar, and caraway seeds.
- In a separate large bowl, whisk together the egg, buttermilk and melted butter.
- Add the dry ingredients and the currants to the liquid mixture. Use a rubber spatula to mix until just combined; the batter will be very thick. Do not overmix.
- Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin pan, filling the cups about ¾ full. Sprinkle the turbinado (or sparkling white) sugar evenly over the muffins.
- Bake the muffins for 18 to 20 minutes, or until golden and set and a cake tester inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Let the muffins cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool until ready to serve. Serve warm, preferably with salted butter.
- Note: If you’d like to make your own buttermilk, check out the easy method here.
- Make-Ahead Instructions:These muffins are best served fresh out of the oven but leftovers will keep for a few days in a sealed container at room temperature.
- Freezer-Friendly Instructions: The muffins can be frozen in an airtight container or sealable plastic bag for up to 3 months. Thaw for 3 to 4 hours on the countertop before serving. To reheat, wrap individual muffins in aluminum foil and place in a preheated 350°F oven until warm.
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (12 servings)
- Serving size: 1 muffin
- Calories: 224
- Fat: 7 g
- Saturated fat: 4 g
- Carbohydrates: 38 g
- Sugar: 19 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 5 g
- Sodium: 184 mg
- Cholesterol: 32 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Jenn you did it again… That is to say that we have added your Irish Soda Bread recipe to our family favorites folder right alongside your French Apple Cake recipe. Thank You!
Fabulous! I used mainly GF Ancient grains flour + 1/2 C almond flour and added 1/3C flaxseed meal, a second egg, and 1/2C rolled oats instead of Caraway seeds. I know, that’s not necessarily Irish ☘️ Of course, GF requires extra leavening; 1/2T baking soda and I kept it at 2t baking powder.
And, just to be potentially healthier, subbed in a banana (very ripe) in place of all sugar. Didn’t have currents, so went with half raisins and half cranberries. Love adding a squeeze of fresh lemon.
So maybe I’m no longer commenting on Jenn’s recipe, but those were (key word ‘were’ some fabulous muffins!
Wanted to add that I made half the recipe, and formed it into a typical round loaf. Preferred your recipe vs. my typical soda bread recipe.
This was delicious. The whole family loved it and enjoyed the light texture. Will be making this recipe going forward. Thanks!
Love all your recipes, and get rave reviews every time I share one of your wonderful dishes.
Two questions:
Can I use buttermilk powder instead of liquid buttermilk? and,
If so, should I add milk or water with the powder in place of the liquid buttermilk?
Thanks!
Hi Beth, thanks for your nice words about the recipes – so glad you like them! I’ve never used buttermilk powder in place of buttermilk for baking, so I can’t vouch for the results, but you should be able to get away with it (and I’d combine the powder with water). Please LMK how the muffins turn out if you tried it!
When I use dried buttermilk, I add buttermilk powder to dry ingredients and water to liquid ones. Then mix together as recipe instructs. Follow back of box instructions for how much buttermilk powder and water for one cup, etc.
Oh. Em. Gee. These are amazing. I made one batch as directed and one batch without Caraway or currants because hubby doesn’t care for them. IDK how the plain ones taste but the recipe exactly as directed is incredible. Dinner’s not even ready yet (making your roasted corned beef and Cabbage which is why I was on your website originally. Lol) but I’m already full on soda bread. Thank you!
Ps the horseradish cream sauce is fantastic with greek yogurt ( didn’t have sour cream).
I saw the Irish Soda Bread recipe, but was wondering if the Irish Soda Bread Muffin recipe would adapt to a 10″ skillet as well? Thank you
Sure, Diane, that should be fine. Enjoy!
These are perfect! Caraway–never have used it before. these are great. I have baked them 6 times now. The first time I did not have wheat flour–Jenn is right, they are best with it. One time I chopped golden raisins to take the place of currants. The family all love these. Great with supper/and great with coffee.
Well, everyone else seemed to love these. I don’t know what I did wrong. I’m usually fairly good at baking muffins or even at baking Irish Soda Bread. I’m sticking with the bread. I thought these were rather tasteless and would have been more so if not for the turbinado sugar added at the end. I followed the recipe exactly. (“the batter will be very thick”) No kidding! I almost threw it out at that point but decided to continue. Actually was surprised they didn’t turn out as dry as I expected when baked. Maybe if I made them again (unlikely) I’d used salted butter. I’ve got a lot of leftover currents now! Maybe raisins would have made them moister or maybe they would have sucked up the little moisture there was in the batter. Anyway, that’s my reaction. I’ve made several of your other muffin/cup cake recipes and have liked them a lot.
Perfect! I have always made the “Grandma Clark’s Irish Soda Bread” recipe for St. Patty’s day. However, since I decided to roast the corned beef and veggies this year (using your recipe – and thank you, so very much for that recipe!), I thought the muffins might make it easier/quicker to get everything on the table at once for the “feast.” The muffins (and timing) were just perfect!
And as I am writing this, my husband just thanked me (again) for the wonderful corned beef dinner and muffins (left-overs from last night).
You are making my husband so very happy – & me too! Thank you for all the happiness you are spreading around with your great recipes!
💕