These two recipes are a bit different than traditional recipes. I made the Irish Soda Bread Muffins a year ago and broadcast them near and far on St. Patrick's Day, and they were a big hit. Someone (and I'm sorry I don't know who to credit the recipe to) posted it last year on the Cooking Forum - but many thanks for a great quick bread recipe. The last recipe I've made for many years and it is always a go-to recipe for our St. Patrick's Day HOOLEY (party). -Grainlady IRISH SODA BREAD MUFFINS (source: King Arthur Flour) 1-1/2 c. King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour 3/4 c. King Arthur 100% White Whole Wheat Flour 2 t. baking powder 1/4 t. baking soda 1/2 t. salt 1/3 c. granulated sugar 1-1/2 c. currants or raisins 1/2 to 2 t. caraway seeds, (to taste, or omit) 1 lg. egg 1-cup buttermilk, yogurt, or sour cream 6 T. butter, melted (or 1/3 c. vegetable oil) sugar to sprinkle for topping 1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Lightly grease a standard muffin pan; or line with papers, and grease the papers. 2. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar, currants and caraway seeds. 3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, buttermilk (or equivalent) and melted butter. 4. Quickly and gently combine the dry and wet ingredients. As soon as everything is evenly moistened, quit; further stirring will cause the muffins to be tough. 5. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan, filling the cups about 3/4 full; the stiff batter will look mounded in the cups. Sprinkle with sugar. 6. Bake the muffins for 20 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Tip the muffins in the pan, so their bottoms don't get soggy. Remove them from the oven, wait 5 minutes, then transfer the muffins to a rack to cool. Serve them plain, or with butter and/or jam. (Hubby's favorite.) MILO O'SULLIVAN'S CURRANT\-NUTMEG SODA BREAD 3 c. all\-purpose flour 1/4 c. granulated sugar 1 t. baking soda 1/4 t. each salt and nutmeg 1/4 c. unsalted butter 1\-1/4 to 1\-1/2 c. buttermilk 1/2 c. currants Additional sugar for sprinkling. 1\. Place on rack in bottom third of oven. Heat oven to 425°F. Have an ungreased cookie sheet ready. 2\. Put flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and nutmeg into a large bowl. Add butter and cut in with pastry blender or mix with fingers until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in currants. Stir in buttermilk until a stiff dough forms. 3\. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface and knead just enough to shape into a ball. Put smooth side up on cookie sheet. Pat into 7\-inch round. 4\. Sprinkle with 2 t. sugar. With sharp knife, cut a deep cross in dough, slightly more than halfway through. 5\. Bake 35\-40 minutes until loaf is deep golden brown. Line a cooling rack with a linen or cotton dish towel. Place bread on towel. Cool 5\-10 minutes, then fold towel loosely over the loaf and cool completely.

Thanks for the recipe Kathleen. I've made irish soda bread a couple of times and it hasn't turned out very good. Nice to have a T&T recipe. It may be a while before I make this though, since I'm into the yeast thing right now. Seems like most of my boyfriends have been Irish, so I always wanted to be able to cook good Irish food, but it's been a while since then, so some of my inspiration is lost. Seems like this bread would be awesome with good irish breakfast tea, which I love. Maybe with a nice pot of soup too!

Just as sleeperblues shared, Aldi had a boxed mix, and it wouldn't surprise me if they move it to the clearance rack after this week - so get there fast if you want a boxed mix. Hubby's favorite is "Milo O'Sullivan's Currant-Nutmeg Soda Bread", but also manages to choke-down "Whole-Meal Irish Soda Bread". If St. Patrick's Day falls on a Friday or Saturday, we have a hooley (party) and I bake at least 3 or 4 kinds of soda bread. Our favorite is a traditional Irish scone "Oat Farls" (that's an "L" between the r and s, not a "T" ;-) and are similar to Scottish oatcakes. Thankfully, I managed to adapt it to a gluten-free version and that's what we had for breakfast on St. Patrick's Day. This King Arthur Flour recipe is also a favorite, and easy to make - and are best made with currents, not raisins. This recipe is especially good if you are feeding a lot of people, and it keeps better than soda bread. "Irish Soda Bread Muffins" http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/irish-soda-bread-muffins-recipe

I love Irish soda bread and my recipe comes from a long ago KC restaurant (it was the bread that they put on the table when you sat down) and is the only recipe I use -- no currants or raisins. This year, however, I tried the Irish /Guinness Brown bread and am in love with it. I made my THIRD loaf yesterday for a chamber coffee this morning (Using an orange marmalade butter for a spread). Now I'm torn between traditional Irish soda and this newer recipe for brown bread!