Caraway Irish Soda Bread Muffins

Hearty and lightly sweet, these Irish Soda Bread Muffins have delightfully craggy tops and are packed with the bright flavor and warmth of caraway seeds. Mix up the batter in one bowl, and these can be ready in about 30 minutes for breakfast, snacks, or a festive side to your St. Patrick’s Day feast.

This recipe is lightly adapted from King Arthur Flour, which I consider a trustworthy resource for not only flours and specialty baking ingredients, but also baking recipes and advice.

Ingredient & Substitution Notes

• All-purpose flour and white whole wheat flour (now sold by King Arthur as “golden wheat” flour). It’s also fine to use all all-purpose flour if you don’t want to buy something special.
• More baking basics: granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, table salt.
• Buttermilk. You can easily substitute Greek yogurt or sour cream for buttermilk in these muffins. You can also make your own buttermilk by measuring 1 Tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar into a liquid measuring cup, then pouring whole milk on top until you reach the 1 cup line.
• Fridge staples: butter and one egg.
• Caraway seeds. Small and intensely aromatic, caraway seeds are often described as peppery, earthy, citrusy, and even a little bit sweet. They are most commonly known as the seed in rye bread.
  

How To Make Soda Bread Muffins

These are so dead simple to make, I don’t have much in the way of customized or step-by-step guidance. Whisk dry ingredients, whisk wet ingredients, stir to combine.

Probably the most important thing to do is actually just remembering not to mix excessively when stirring the wet ingredients into the dry. In most baked goods, but especially these muffins, you want to stir only until the batter is evenly moistened. Continuing to mix past that point can overwork the gluten in your flour, leading to an overly dense or dry finished product.

So just stir a few gentle times, until the batter is even, then back away from the spoon. The batter will be really thick; that’s as it should be.

Fill muffin wells about 3/4 full, then I highly recommend sprinkling a little bit of extra sugar on top of each.

Transfer to the oven and bake for about 20 minutes at 400°F. The tops should be golden brown and a toothpick or paring knife inserted into the muffins should come out clean.

Storage Tips

These soda bread muffins do taste most amazing the day they are made, but can be kept at room temperature in an airtight container for up to three days. For the best texture, warm muffins briefly in the microwave or, even better, toaster oven, just prior to eating.

More Muffin Recipes

• Strawberry Banana Muffins
• Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins
• Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
• Chocolate Chunk Banana Muffins
• Pumpkin Pecan Streusel Muffins

More Irish-Inspired Recipes

• Vegetarian Shepherd’s Pie
• Leprechaun Bark
• Easy Fruit Rainbow
• Rosemary Cheddar Irish Soda Bread
• Irish Cream Oreo Truffles
• Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes with Irish Cream Frosting

If you try these Irish Soda Bread Muffins, don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave a comment below. I love hearing how recipes turn out in your kitchen, and it helps other readers, too.

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5 from 6 votes

Caraway Irish Soda Bread Muffins

Prep Time: 10 minutes mins

Cook Time: 20 minutes mins

Total Time: 30 minutes mins

Servings: 12 muffins

Hearty Irish soda bread muffins packed with the flavor of caraway seeds. So easy to make for breakfast, snacks, or a festive side to go with your St. Patrick's Day feast.

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Ingredients

• 1 and 1/2 cups (180 grams) all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup (85 grams) white whole wheat flour can substitute more all-purpose
• 1/3 cup (67 grams) granulated sugar plus extra for topping
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon caraway seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon table salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup (240 ml) buttermilk
• 6 Tablespoons (85 grams) butter melted

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 C). Lightly grease a standard muffin pan, and set aside.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, sugar, baking powder, caraway seeds, salt, and baking soda.
  1 and 1/2 cups (180 grams) all-purpose flour, 3/4 cup (85 grams) white whole wheat flour, 1/3 cup (67 grams) granulated sugar, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon caraway seeds, 1/2 teaspoon table salt, 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• In a separate large bowl, whisk together the egg, buttermilk, and melted butter.
  1 large egg, 1 cup (240 ml) buttermilk, 6 Tablespoons (85 grams) butter
• Pour the wet ingredients into the dry, and stir gently to combine. Do not overmix; stop as soon as the batter is evenly moistened.
• Divide batter evenly among the prepared muffin wells, filling each about 3/4 full. The batter will be stiff and form small mounds in the wells. Sprinkle a small amount of additional white sugar on top of each muffin, if desired.
• Bake for 20-24 minutes, until a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Remove pan from the oven, and gently tip the muffins in the pan; this prevents the bottoms from getting soggy. After 5-10 minutes, remove muffins to cool directly on a wire rack. Serve slightly warm, with butter.

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Notes

• Storage: These taste most amazing the day they are made, but can be kept at room temperature in an airtight container for up to three days. I highly recommend giving them a quick warmup in the microwave or, even better, toaster oven, just before eating.
• No buttermilk? It’s OK to substitute Greek yogurt or sour cream in this recipe.
• Low on butter? Substitute 1/3 cup of canola or another neutral cooking oil.
• Recipe: Adapted, slightly, from King Arthur Flour.

Nutrition Estimate

Calories: 172 kcal, Carbohydrates: 24 g, Protein: 3 g, Fat: 6 g, Saturated Fat: 4 g, Cholesterol: 30 mg, Sodium: 196 mg, Potassium: 124 mg, Fiber: 1 g, Sugar: 6 g, Vitamin A: 230 IU, Calcium: 64 mg, Iron: 1 mg

Author: Monica

Course: Bread

Cuisine: American, Irish

Keyword: Soda Bread Muffins

This post was originally published March 16, 2018.

• Updated February 2021: New pins for social sharing, reformatted recipe card.
• Updated March 2025: New photos, more relevant content on baking times, the flavor and uses of caraway seeds, and related recipes.

Just for fun, here is one of the original photos of these muffins from 2018. That little hand belongs to my son, who was just two years old at the time and was reaching for his usual “inspection” of the product. All these years later and he’s still a very discerning taste-tester!