When my oldest was a toddler, I came across a recipe for Irish Soda Muffins. In those busy and tiring days of early motherhood I was thrilled to find a recipe that was so easy to pull together but that still felt celebratory. For years the only special food I cooked for St. Patrick’s Day was these muffins. We still enjoy them! They make a great breakfast with eggs on the side. – Mrs. Brown
These muffins are really good. They are unusual in that their texture and taste are not exactly the same as a normal muffin. They are more cake-like. – Abbie
Irish Soda Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup sour cream (can substitute Greek yogurt)
- 3/4 cup milk (note: you can alternately replace the milk and sour cream with 1 cup of buttermilk)
- 1 egg
- 4 Tbsp melted butter
- a little sugar for sprinkling
Directions
1) Mix together the first five ingredients – flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar
2) Measure 1/4 cup of sour cream into a measuring cup, then add 3/4 cup of milk. Whisk with a tiny whisk. Okay, you don’t have to use a tiny whisk. You can use a big unwieldy regular size whisk or a fork, but we think our tiny whisk is sooooooo adorable. Abbie even posed for a picture with it. That is her look-isn’t-this-just-so-cute look. The wildflowers in her hair are a bonus. She happened to have them in there because what else do you do when it is spring in Texas? Oh right, back to cooking…
3) In a separate bowl, crack egg and add the milk/sour cream mixture and melted butter. Mix ’em up.
4) Pour the dry ingredients (from #1) into the bowl with the wet ingredients (#3) and stir until barely mixed. Muffins are best when they are tender, so they need to be mixed with a light hand or else the gluten in the flour will begin to make the batter more chewy (like bread!). The mixture will be fairly thick.
5) Spoon muffin batter into a muffin tin lined with papers.
6) Sprinkle a bit of sugar on the top of each muffin.
7) Bake at 400°F for 15 minutes. Remove muffins from tin and let them cool on a rack for as long as you can bear to wait. Then enjoy them while they are warm and tender with a nice cup of tea and some scrambled eggs. Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
- 2¼ cups flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ cup sugar
- ¼ cup sour cream (can substitute Greek yogurt)
- ¾ cup milk (note: you can also replace the milk and sour cream with 1 cup of buttermilk)
- 1 egg
- 4 Tbsp melted butter
- a little sugar for sprinkling
- Mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar.
- Whisk together sour cream and milk.
- In a separate bowl, combine egg, milk/sour cream and melted butter.
- Add flour mixture to milk mixture and stir until barely mixed. Muffins are best when they are tender, so they need to be mixed with a light hand. Batter will be fairly thick.
- Spoon muffin batter into a muffin tin lined with papers.
- Sprinkle a bit of sugar on the top of each muffin.
- Bake at 400°F for 15 minutes.
- Remove muffins from tin and let them cool on a rack.
- Perfect with eggs for a St. Paddy's Day breakfast, or with tea for an afternoon treat.
Your turn: What is your favorite St. Patrick’s Day tradition?
I really like these muffins. They are sweet, but not too sweet – they can work as a dessert, but aren’t out of place at breakfast time, either. They seem both moist and crumbly in your mouth, with just enough density to feel like you are eating something substantial without over-stuffing. I think I just might go get one right now!
These look yummy – I’ll have to try them! Thank you!