Irish Soda Bread Muffins

Oh man. What a week. 

We have all been mostly stuck inside with varying degrees of the flu. I've gone a little stir crazy; in the earlier part of the week, Miles and John were down with it, then Desmond by Tuesday. I think John slept almost all of Wednesday and woke up yesterday, shaved and got dressed. Miles went back to school today. I seem to have skipped directly to the sinus congestion portion of the illness, bypassing the high fevers and writhing around in pain part. (Thanks, essential oils and Shaklee. I think you spared me the worst!)

One of my eloquent friends, Berry, said that being sick (her family had the terrible stomach virus going around) when the weather is abnormally beautiful and warm, like it has been this week, is like looking through a dirty glass. Completely agree. It certainly warps your perspective. 

Crazy craggy Irish soda bread muffin batter. Which will then turn into Irish Soda Bread Muffins. 

I didn't need a warped perspective to come up with these babies, though. They're somewhere between a muffin and a scone, but dropped in a muffin tin. They're not fluffy or cake-like the way muffins are. Call it what you will. I wanted something portable and snacky. And I didn't feel like fussing with an entire loaf. When you're operating in the kitchen at less than full capacity, you gotta keep it simple. Luckily, I had a bag of baking raisins in the drawer. I love these because they stay really moist, which helps them stay integrated in whatever you are baking rather than dry out and stick out. There's nothing sadder than dried out raisins. These muffin-scones or sconey-muffins, end up being craggy like a good loaf of soda bread or a decent scone, with irregular ridges across the surface. You know you've done it right when that happens.

You could add a little bit of sugar to the batter, with the flour, but I wouldn't go with more than a tablespoons or two. They're not supposed to be overly sweet.

Irish Soda Bread Muffins

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup white whole wheat flour (or whole wheat)
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 cup raisins
• 1 large egg
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 4 T. unsalted butter, melted
• Sparkling sugar, for topping (optional)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Grease and flour a 12-cup muffin tin.

In a large bowl, bring together the flours through baking soda. Add the raisins and, using your hands, make sure they're all separated by letting them fall through your fingers in the flour. 

In a large measuring cup, whisk to combine the egg, buttermilk and butter. Stir the wet into the dry ingredients, being careful not to overmix. 

Using a 1/4 scoop, drop the mix into the muffin tins. Sprinkle the sparkling sugar over the tops of the muffins, if using. Bake for about 16-18 minutes until they are starting to become golden brown on top. Keep an eye on them; my oven happens to be fast when it comes to muffins. Yours may take a little longer, but you'll know they are finished because of the color and they'll come clean if you stick a cake tester in it.