Irish Soda Bread Muffins

By srumbel

These muffins are the perfect St. Patrick's Day treat, and are great spread with some Kerrygold Irish butter.
from kittyskozykitchen.com

Ingredients

• 2 and 1/4 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 cups currants (first choice) or raisins (I used these, because that's what I had)
• 1/2 to 2 teaspoons caraway seeds, to taste (I omitted)
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup buttermilk, yogurt, or sour cream
• 6 tablespoons butter, melted; or 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• sparkling white sugar, for topping

Preparation

Step 1

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 flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar, currants or raisins, and caraway seeds (if using).

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

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.

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.

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.

Yield: 12 muffins