Irish Soda Bread Muffins
In our house being French is sort of our identity. It’s important that our kids feel that connection to the place their dad was born and raised. We all speak French, eat French, and visit France pretty regularly. That said, St. Patrick’s Day is the one day a year when I think about my own ancestors. Since it’s already March, we have the shamrock cutouts in the window and I’m developing recipes for the kinds of Irish, well Irish-American, foods I ate as a kid.
I have a little bit of a love/hate relationship with Irish soda bread. It is pretty dense. It isn’t sweet. But it is hearty and delicious with tea and a little bit of butter. Each year I make a few loaves, usually with some buttermilk replacement (milk with vinegar) but this time, I decided to try something new: Irish soda bread muffins.
I’m going to be honest with you: muffins is not a good term. A muffin conjures up images of something fluffy, moist, and full of berries. These are fairly moist, but also pretty dense. I just say this so you aren’t expecting a blueberry muffin situation. They were definitely great at breakfast with my morning tea. I changed up the traditional buttermilk version by adding full fat Greek yogurt, putting cinnamon in the batter, and finishing things off with a sprinkling of cinnamon sugar. The cinnamon definitely added a new depth of flavor and the crunchy topping was tasty.
We’re all a little Irish on St. Patrick’s Day. Why not brew a nice pot of tea and treat yourself to some Irish soda bread in mini form?
Irish Soda Bread Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 egg
- 4 tbsp brown sugar
- 6 tbsp melted butter
- 1 cup full fat Greek yogurt
- 1 cup raisins
Cinnamon Sugar Topping
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Prepare two 12-cup muffin tins by greasing them with butter or non stick cooking spray.
- Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon to a medium bowl. Mix with a fork.
- Melt the butter and set it aside to cool a little.
- Add one egg and the brown sugar to the bowl of a mixer. Mix until combined.
- Add the butter to the egg and sugar batter and mix to incorporate.
- Add the yogurt to the mixing bowl with the butter, sugar, and egg and mix until combined.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until combined. Make sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl so everything is incorporated. Do not over mix.
- Add the raisins, stirring them in with a spoon.
- In a small bowl, mix the 1/4 cup of sugar and the cinnamon.
- Scoop a heaping tablespoon of batter into each of the cups of the muffin tins. I use a little scooper (like a small ice cream scoop) for that.
- Sprinkle the tops of muffins with the cinnamon sugar. You will probably have some left.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes until the top is golden. I used a toothpick to make sure the middle of the muffins was cooked.
- Serve with butter and/or jam.
- Store in an airtight container.
