Beautiful rustic and light textured, these HEALTHY Irish Soda Bread Muffins are perfect St. Patrick's Day treat! These healthy muffins are made with all natural ingredients and WITHOUT REFINED SUGAR, mildly sweet and just delicious. Flecked with raisins and caraway seeds, they are perfect with a cup of hot tea.
Tomorrow we gonna celebrate St. Patrick's Day in our house. Our dinner table will be decorated with green tabletop and decorations. Lucky charms and shamrocks will be placed all over our house. We gonna have so much fun, drinking beer and eating traditional Irish food, listen to Irish music. And now you probably think - ok, they are Irish or have some Irish origin. But actually we don't. The thing is, my husband and I, we just like Irish culture, music, and food... let's not forget the beer.
I actually started celebrating St. Patrick's Day when I was a college student. It was popular to go out to the pub and drink lots of fine Irish beer on that day. Later when I meet my hubby (who was also a fan of Irish music and cuisine), we brought that celebration to our home. Today we celebrate that festival, because it's cheerful, filled with positivity, good energy, amazing food and of course traditional Irish beer we like so much.
St. Patrick's Day also means coming of Spring. It marks the time when everything starts to bloom, and our table starts to fill with colorful fruits and veggies. Carrots will soon dominate in our dishes. I'm more than happy to have Carrot Cake Muffins every day for breakfast or Carrot Cake Energy Balls on hand for snacking.
Last year I missed shared my favorite St. Patrick's Day recipe on my blog. So this year I didn't want to miss it. This traditional irish soda bread recipe I make every year for St. Patrick's Day but last few years I experimented with more healthier WHOLESOME ingredients. And thus how this healthy Irish Soda Bread Muffins emerged.
To make these healthy Irish Soda Bread Muffins I used whole grain Spelt flour with nutty, mildly sweet aroma. It paired so nicely with sweet dried raisins. Spelt flour also contributed greatly to overall rustic muffin taste. You can easily use any whole grain flour in this recipe but I like using Spelt in my baking because compared to other whole grain flours it is richer in many nutrients - such as protein and minerals. Spelt flour is also packed with high-quality fibers great for our digestion and since Spelt is an ancient grain, it's less modified than wheat.
You may think that these muffins are plain and boring, but they certainly not. They may look plain, but inside they are bursting with AMAZING flavors coming from beautiful caraway seeds. Caraway seeds made batter so fragrant and unbelievably delicious. Irresistible.
Muffins are beautifully rustic and so light textured. Buttermilk is all to blame for that beautiful muffin texture, but pure Irish grass-fed butter has something to do with that also. Irish butter has a higher butterfat content which makes him creamier. It has a smoother mouthfeel and slightly cheesy taste. So yummy! So you see, these muffins are not only fragrant and rustic but deep buttery tasting. In one word - PERFECT!
To make things even better (for our waistline), I didn't use any refined sweeteners in this muffins. They are ALL NATURAL, wholesome, low-calorie, and absolutely guilt-free. I sweetened dough with pure maple syrup, but you can easily use honey if you like.
Muffins are like the super simple and easy to whip up treat. Right? Well, these Irish Soda Bread Muffins are like the easiest thing EVER. You only need few simple ingredients and literally one bowl, a whisk and good muffin pan. These beauties are made in no time. And literally, disappear from the plate at the same speed. These healthy muffins are not only beautiful afternoon treat that goes oh-so-well with black tea, but nutritious, delicious breakfast full of lovely rustic flavors.
We like to eat these muffins freshly baked, right from the oven, while they are still hot. We spread a piece of butter over it and fill its warm insides with homemade Blackberry Chia Seed Jam or Strawberry Chia Seed Jam . Trust me... it's an ultimate treat for your taste buds. And instant mood lifter.
Now, make, bake and enjoy! And have a wonderful St. Patrick's Day!
Irish Soda Bread Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 cup whole grain flour I used Spelt flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon Himalayan salt
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
- 1/4 cup Irish Grass Fed Unsalted Butter softened
- 1 cup buttermilk or yogurt
- 1 cup raisins or currants
- 2 teaspoon caraway seeds
Instructions
- Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 375 F (190C). Spray the insides of the muffin pan with cooking spray or line it with paper liners.
- In a medium bowl, mix together dry ingredients - the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl with a whisk or hand mixer on medium speed, beat the egg. Add syrup and softened butter. Beat in the buttermilk or yogurt until fully combined – about 1 minute.
- Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until well combined.
- Fold in the raisins or currants and caraway seeds. The muffin mixture will be thick.
- Pour the mixture into prepared muffin pans. Fill muffin tins 3/4 full.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with just a few crumbs.
- Remove from the oven and let cool completely on a baking rack.
- Serve and enjoy!
Muffins are one of the most favorite thing in Food. Thanks for some new ideas turning it into muffins.