Hi
I had to share this. About a month ago, someone posted a recipe
claiming to be the authentic Jordan Marsh Muffins on the ne.food group I
read. I countered with ‘Martha and Gus’s Muffins” which my mother had
clipped from a paper decades ago (also ostensibly the REAL THING). Today, I
get the message below from a guy who was cruising around on the internet.
———-
> From: “Ed Roberts”
> Date: Sat, 09 Feb 2002 21:09:07 -0500
> To: [emailprotected]
> Subject: Jordan Marsh blueberry muffins
>
>
> Hi
> I saw your post on Google for JM muffins. I thought that you would get a
> kick out of this story.
> My aunt worked in the JM bake shop for years. She did a big favor for the
> baker. He asked if there was anything that he could do for her. She asked
> for the recipe for the blueberry muffins. He explained that “The Recipe”
> was a closely guarded secret and besides “The Recipe” was for 25 dozen. He
> said that he would give her “A Recipe” for a couple dozen blueberry muffins.
> With a wink he gave her “A Recipe”.
> A few years latter she called the Gus Saunders show and offered a blueberry
> muffin recipe. The way the show worked was if someone wanted to hear the
> recipe they would call Saunders and he would ask the original caller to
> call back. My aunt read the receipe on the air. She told Gus that it was a
> recipe that she found on the street. She called them “trash can muffins”
> For the next few days people were calling Gus’ show saying that they tasted
> just like the JM muffins. Gus asked for the person who gave the recipe to
> call back. My aunt didn’t..she was having too much fun being mysterious.
> The recipe that you posted is exactly the recipe that she gave me about 35
> years ago. I’m pretty confident that it is a cut down version of the real
> thing.
>
> Enjoy
> Ed
What I had posted was (including the recipe) :
“I was the original poster– looking for a cook book collection of old
Boston recipes. As it happens the one recipe I have is a recipe that
approximates Jordan’s.
I have it on no authority that this is the authentic recipe, since there are
about a dozen floating around claiming to be “the one”. However I have made
this over the last 30 years and it comes close. Buttermilk and cake flour
seem to be the secret to the cottony interior texture that most muffins
lack.
I have no idea who “Martha and Gus” are but I wonder if Gus is Gus Saunders
who for years did the Yankee Kitchen call-in show on the radio.
Powdered buttermilk is an acceptable substitution. Follow directions to reconstitute buttermilk on the package. Cake flour is essential.
Also, this recipe has a lot of strange quantities, so measure carefully.
Once I experimented with lopping off all the odd tablespoons, but the end
result was tougher, so I reverted back to the original. Whether you use
blueberries as prescribed, or divide the batter and make some with finely
diced apples, dates, cranberries, raspberries or bananas, this is a really
great recipe.
If you have them, use those giant muffin pans, but this still makes quite a
large batch, at least several dozen, so plan to share or freeze!
Martha and Gus’s Muffins
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon unsifted all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon solid shortening
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar
5 extra large eggs
2 cups plus 1 tablespoon unsifted all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 2/3 cups cake flour (Soft-as-Silk)
2 pints blueberries or 4 cups other fruit.
2 egg whites, beaten with 1 tablespoon water until frothy
additional sugar
Preheat oven to 400∂. Cream first all purpose flour with salt, shortening,
and sugar. Add eggs all at once and beat 3 minutes with electric mixer.
Add remaining remaining all purpose flour, baking soda and baking powder.
Beat again. Blend in buttermilk and vanilla. Add cake flour and beat until
mixed. Batter will be very stiff. Fold in fruit of choice, dividing batter
if you want to make several kinds. Grease muffin tins well and fill 3/4
full. Brush egg white mixture over tops with brush or your fingertips.
Sprinkle generously with sugar. Bake 20-25 minutes until golden. Let cool
in tins for 10 minutes, then remove to racks to finish cooling. Batter may
be stored 3 days before baking. I usually add the fruit just before baking,
however.
FAQs
If you're still on a baking streak, let's take a look at how you can take your blueberry muffin mix to new heights.
- Add Lemon to Your Blueberry Muffin Mix.
- Add More Berries.
- Cream Cheese Please!
- Spice It Up!
- Add a Streusel Topping.
- Add Nuts and More Fresh Fruit.
- Use Sour Cream or Yogurt for Fluffy Muffins.
Vegetable oil is liquid at room temperature, so it helps to create a very soft crumb, perfect for muffins! It's my FAVOURITE ingredient to include in muffin recipes! Muffins should be light and fluffy, not dense. Substituting some of the sugar and oil with applesauce, for example, won't change the outcome too much.
When making blueberry muffins What should you do to the blueberries to keep them in suspension? ›
Dust the berries with a little flour before stirring them into the batter to help keep them suspended. If that doesn't work, leave the berries out of the batter.
Can you use frozen blueberries in muffins? ›
Fresh OR frozen blueberries work great in this blueberry muffin recipe. If using frozen berries, don't thaw first! What is this? Toss the blueberries with a teaspoon or two of flour before gently stirring them into the batter.
What is the secret to moist muffins? ›
How to Make Homemade Muffins Moist: Our Top Tips
- Tips to Make Homemade Muffins Moist.
- Keep Wet and Dry Ingredients Separately.
- Add All Flavorings Last.
- Consider Paper Liners.
- Don't Overfill the Muffin Cups.
- Check the Temperature of Your Oven.
- Test if Muffins Are Fully Cooked.
- Top Your Muffins with Flavor.
Having eggs, butter, and milk at room temperature helps them form a smooth mixture that traps air and expands when heated in the oven. That expansion makes your muffins fluffy and light. Room-temperature butter should indent easily when you press it.
What makes muffins dense? ›
If you over mix muffin batter then you will likely end up with dense rubbery muffins. When baking muffins you want to mix the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients and stir only until they are just combined. This step should literally take a few seconds. A thick and lumpy muffin batter is good.
What not to do when baking muffins? ›
Common Muffin Making Mistakes To Avoid
- Over mixing the batter.
- Overfilling the muffin tray.
- Leaving the muffins in the pan after they have baked.
- Berries, nuts, and chocolate chips sink to the bottom.
Using cake flour is an easy way to avoid heavy, dense muffins even if you end up stirring just a bit too much.
Should I coat blueberries in flour for muffins? ›
Coating the berries with a spoonful of the recipe's dry ingredients prevents sinking. Instead, it helps the berries adhere to the batter, keeping them well distributed throughout the muffin. And if you're using frozen blueberries, the flour will also help minimize how much the berries bleed into the batter.
Take a spoonful of the flour from your recipe and toss the berries quickly and gently, then fold into the batter. That will keep them from bleeding into and falling to the bottom of the muffin/cake/bread. Frozen blueberries, if frozen correctly, actually work better in baked goods than fresh.
Do you drain blueberries for muffins? ›
If you don't drain them, you'll end up with blue-colored muffins! Also, draining helps keep excess liquid out of the batter.
Should you flour blueberries before baking? ›
The light coating of flour around the berries will absorb some of the fruit's liquid, making them less likely to sink. This is especially helpful when the batter is thin; thicker batters are a little better at cradling the fruit and keeping it suspended.
Should I defrost blueberries before baking muffins? ›
For best results in your baking, don't defrost the berries before use but instead toss them in flour. The flour will stop them sinking to the bottom of your mixture in the oven and can stop them bursting or their colour from bleeding.
Why did my blueberry muffin batter turn blue? ›
The baking powder in the dry mix will then react with the blueberry juices and turn the batter a nice shade of blue.
What can I add to muffin mix to make it better? ›
Here are a few ways to make a Jiffy muffin recipe better:
- Add in extra ingredients: You can add in things like nuts, chocolate chips, dried fruit, or shredded cheese to add flavor and texture to your muffins.
- Use Greek yogurt or sour cream: These ingredients can make the muffins moister and give them a tangy flavor.
18 Tips For Making The Absolute Best Muffins
- Warm up your ingredients before baking. ...
- Always test your leavening agents. ...
- Pull out your scale to weigh ingredients. ...
- Avoid over-mixing your batter. ...
- Add mayo to the batter for more moisture. ...
- Use both butter and oil in your muffin recipe. ...
- Let your muffin batter rest.
Many muffin recipes use cooking oil instead of butter. Oil, being a liquid, distributes easily in the quick-mix batter and is readily absorbed into the baked muffin, producing a light non-greasy texture. Vegetable oil is ideal because its mild flavour doesn't compete with the main flavour of the muffin.
Are muffins better with water or milk? ›
Q. In a muffin mix that calls for water, can I substitute milk? A. We don't recommend using milk instead of water because the milk can make holes in the paper liners or the sides of the muffins.
