It is amazing how recipes can bring us back to our childhood and this is certainly one of those recipes.
Growing up we had two small blueberry bushes…plus the occasional raid of the neighbour’s bushes. When in season, they were plentiful, and this recipe would make its way out for very special Sunday mornings. Another source of potential blueberries was picking Wild Maine Blueberries when visiting family in Down East Maine. These tiny little berries are so small and sweet, and I can assure you, the best ones are picked on a mountain side.
That all said, living in London, I will accept whatever Blueberries I can find!
The copy of this famous recipe I follow is a photocopy from my mother’s cookbook. The recipe is a clipping from the Hartford Courant taped onto the page. It also has her handwritten note “very good”, something I can personally attest to.
However, in writing this, I had thought this recipe was just born from a newspaper clipping but learned that my mother has memories of these from her childhood. Apparently, the bakery at Jordan Marsh, a Boston Department store, had quite the reputation for these muffins. When the recipe was in the paper, it was a find that started another set of family memories.
Jordan Marsh Blueberry Muffins
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup softened butter – about 120 grams
- 1 cup sugar / castor sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups all-purpose / white flour
- 2 teaspoons double-acting baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ½ cups of blueberries -> I normally cut down to 1 ½ cups
- Sugar for sprinkling on top of muffins -> optional, highly recommended
Method
- Grease a 12-cup muffin tin. You may need more depending on your tin or how big you like them.
- Preheat the oven to 375F or 180C Fan.
- In a large bowl with a mixer at medium speed, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add eggs, one at a time, beating well. This step is key and creates an emulsion.
- In another bowl combine the flour, baking powder and salt.
- In another bowl, combine the milk and vanilla.
- Add a third of the flour mixture to the butter/sugar/egg mixture. Combine well.
- Add a third of the milk/vanilla mixture. Combine well. Repeat this process twice, alternating between the two.
- Carefully fold in the blueberries. Some will crush, and that is ok.
- Spoon into the greased muffin tins and sprinkle sugar on top of them. We usually get between 12 and 18 muffins here.
- Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in centre comes out clean.
- Cool for 5 minutes and get them out of the pan. Do not let them sit too long or they may become hard to get out!
