Irish Soda Bread Muffins

★★★★

Bread

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups (180g) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

3/4 cup (85g) King Arthur Golden Wheat Flour or 3/4 cup King Arthur Irish-Style Flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon table salt

1/3 cup (74g) granulated sugar

1 1/4 cups (177g) currants or 1 1/4 cups (186g) raisins, currants preferred

1/2 to 2 teaspoons caraway seeds, to taste

1 large egg

1 cup (227g) buttermilk, yogurt, or sour cream

6 tablespoons (85g) butter, melted; or 1/3 cup (67g) vegetable oil

coarse sparkling sugar, for topping

Directions

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 flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar, currants or raisins, and caraway seeds.

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.

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.

Nutrition

Fat: 7g
Calories: 230 calories
Saturated Fat: 4g
Trans Fat: 0g
Sodium: 230mg
Fiber: 2g
Sugar: 21g
Carbohydrate: 38g
Cholesterol: 30mg
Serving Size: 1
Protein: 5g