Irish Soda Muffins Raisins Oats (Print Version)

Wholesome muffins featuring oats and raisins, inspired by traditional Irish soda bread.

# What You'll Need:

→ Dry Ingredients

01 - 2 cups all-purpose flour
02 - 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats, plus extra for topping
03 - 1/4 cup granulated sugar
04 - 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
05 - 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
06 - 1/2 teaspoon salt

→ Fruit

07 - 3/4 cup raisins

→ Wet Ingredients

08 - 1 1/4 cups buttermilk
09 - 1 large egg
10 - 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled

# How-To Steps:

01 - Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners or grease lightly with butter.
02 - In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, oats, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until evenly blended.
03 - Stir raisins into the dry ingredient mixture until evenly distributed throughout.
04 - In a separate bowl, whisk together buttermilk, egg, and melted butter until fully combined.
05 - Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet mixture. Stir gently until just combined; do not overmix.
06 - Divide batter evenly among the 12 muffin cups. Sprinkle a few oats on top of each muffin for garnish.
07 - Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until muffins are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
08 - Cool muffins in the tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

# Expert Tips:

01 -
  • They taste like proper Irish soda bread but taste done in half the time, which feels like cheating in the best way.
  • The buttermilk keeps them impossibly tender, and the oats give you that hearty texture without heaviness.
  • You can make a dozen at once and actually have breakfast sorted for days, or wrap them for someone who needs a small kindness.
02 -
  • Don't overmix once you combine wet and dry—I learned this the hard way with batch number one, which came out dense enough to use as a doorstop, and I've never made that mistake twice.
  • Buttermilk is genuinely irreplaceable here; it's not just for flavor but for the chemical reaction that gives you that tender crumb, so substituting it changes the entire structure of the muffin.
03 -
  • Room temperature buttermilk mixes more evenly than cold, so pull it out of the fridge while your oven preheats.
  • If you don't have buttermilk, whisk together regular milk with a tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar and let it sit for five minutes—it won't be perfect but it works in a pinch.
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