Irish soda bread muffins (Printable)

Wholesome muffins filled with raisins and oats, offering a tender texture and rich flavor for any time of day.

# What Goes In:

→ Dry Ingredients

01 - 2 cups all-purpose flour
02 - 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats, plus extra for topping
03 - 1/4 cup granulated sugar
04 - 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
05 - 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
06 - 1/2 teaspoon salt

→ Fruit

07 - 3/4 cup raisins

→ Wet Ingredients

08 - 1 1/4 cups buttermilk
09 - 1 large egg
10 - 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled

# How to Make It:

01 - Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners or grease with butter.
02 - In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, oats, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
03 - Stir raisins into dry mixture until evenly distributed.
04 - In a separate bowl, whisk together buttermilk, egg, and melted butter.
05 - Make a well in center of dry ingredients and pour in wet mixture. Stir gently until just combined; avoid overmixing.
06 - Divide batter evenly among muffin cups. Sprinkle extra oats on top for garnish.
07 - Bake for 18-20 minutes until muffins are golden and a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.
08 - Cool in tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

# Expert Tips:

01 -
  • They're ready in under 40 minutes, which means you can have homemade muffins while the kettle's still warm.
  • The buttermilk makes them impossibly tender without needing eggs or dairy-heavy techniques—they practically dissolve on your tongue.
  • Raisins plump up during baking and taste like little pockets of honey, so you get natural sweetness without oversweetening the crumb.
02 -
  • Do not overmix once the wet and dry ingredients meet—I learned this the hard way when I stirred vigorously for 30 seconds and ended up with hockey pucks instead of muffins.
  • Let the butter cool slightly before mixing into the wet ingredients or you'll risk cooking the egg, which creates tiny scrambled bits throughout the batter.
03 -
  • Use paper liners instead of greasing the tin so the baked muffins peel away cleanly without leaving crumbs behind.
  • If you don't have a whisk for combining dry ingredients, a fork works perfectly and somehow feels more Irish anyway.
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