We are almost at the tail-end of wild blueberry season here in Nova Scotia, Canada. I thought I better get in at least one blueberry recipe while I still have fresh wild blueberries available to use!
When I first move over to the U.K. I really missed blueberries. They were not to be found anywhere. By the time I left to come back to Canada, 20 years later, they were very commonly available and quite affordable.
We even grew our own in our back garden. The were of the cultivated variety however, not wild. Wild blueberries have a much sweeter and stronger flavor than the cultivated ones in my opinion.
When I saw this recipe on the New England page the other day, I immediately printed it out. I knew that I wanted to try it. They looked so good.
I have never had Jordan Marsh Blueberry muffins, but I did a bit of research and discovered that they were a muffin that used to be available for purchase at a New England Department store called Jordan Marsh, which was located in downtown Boston.
I do not know if this particular recipe is authentic or not, never having had their muffins, but I can tell you that they are mighty delicious!
When I was a child my mom and dad used to take us blueberry picking for wild blueberries every year. They grow abundantly here in Nova Scotia. Everyone seemed to have their own secret blueberry picking spot. We would be given large ice cream buckets to fill, and it was back breaking work.
Wild blueberries grow very low to the ground and we would spend hours crouching down low in the hot August sun. It was not my favorite thing to do for sure.
My father loved and still loves blueberry pie. He calls it Bear Pie, and that is because bears love blueberries as much as people love blueberries. You never knew when you were picking the berries if a bear was going to show up! I can remember being quite frightened that one would!
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE JORDAN MARSH BLUEBERRY MUFFINS
Just a few simple baking ingredients and some fresh or frozen blueberries. If using frozen, do not thaw them first.
- 1/4 cup (60g) softened butter
- 1 cup (140g) unsifted all purpose, plain flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup (100g) sugar
- 1 large free range egg
- 1/4 cup (60ml) milk
- 1 heaped cup of fresh wild or cultivated blueberries
- 1 TBS coarse sugar to sprinkle on top
Most of the ingredients for these muffins are pretty self explanatory. Simple plain all purpose flour, granulated white sugar, salted room temperature butter. Room temperature egg.
I used a large coffee mug to measure out the berries and I used wild Nova Scotia Blueberries for this recipe, but you can use cultivated berries if that is all you can find. You can even use frozen berries. Just do not thaw the berries first if using frozen.
Fold them in while they are still frozen.
I sprinkled Demerara sugar on top, or what is also known as Turbinado sugar.
They differ slightly from other muffin recipes. Usually you just mix wet and dry ingredients together. In this recipe you do need to cream the butter with the sugar first.
Preheat the oven to 375*F/190*C/ gas mark 5. Butter 6 muffin cups, or line with paper liners.
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, making sure they are thoroughly amalgamated each time.
Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt until well combined. Gradually add this to the creamed mixture, alternating it with the milk.
Fold in the berries.
Spoon into the prepared baking tin, dividing the mixture equally, and filling the muffin cups about 2/3 full. Sprinkle some coarse sugar on top of each muffin.
Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean and the tops should spring back when lightly touched.
Remove from the pan to cool on wire racks. Muffins may be brushed with melted butter and sprinkled with additional sugar if desired.
HINTS AND TIPS FOR THE BEST MUFFINS
Here are my hints and tips for making sure that your muffins turn out beautifully every time:
1. Mix wet and dry ingredients separately. To prevent the mix from being overworked, first mix the wet ingredients together in one bowl and mix the dry ingredients in another. Make a well in the dry ingredients, carefully pour in the wet ingredients, then stir the mix a couple of times to roughly combine.
2. Don't over mix your muffins. The most important rule of muffin making is to not over stir the mix. What you really want is to just moisten the ingredients. Do not stir or beat the batter until it is smooth and lump free. You want the final mix to be lumpy, and thick with a few floury streaks.
3. Add your flavors last. While spices should be added with all the other dry ingredients, additions like fruit and nuts should be added last. Give the batter one more light-handed stir once you've added them in just to combine.
4. Line the pans. You can choose to either grease the muffin tin or line it with paper liners. If you choose to forgo the liners, make sure you grease the base and sides of the cups with oil spray or a little melted butter. If you're not going to eat the muffins for a while, do use paper liners as these will keep the muffins fresher for longer.
5. Don't overfill your pans. Aim to fill the cups ¾ full to get muffins with nice round tops and to prevent them from spilling out over the top of the cups. Often if your tins are over filled the muffins will rise to the top and then collapse on themselves.
6. For extra interest, add a flavorful sprinkle on top. Once the muffin cups are all filled, you can choose to sprinkle the tops with more fruit, nuts or a crumble topping, even sanding sugar or cinnamon sugar, for even more taste and or crunch. As the muffins rise these toppings will cook into the tops of the muffin.
7. Protect your baking pan. If there isn't enough batter to fill all the cups, half fill the empty ones with water. This will help the muffins bake evenly and will help to protect your pan from buckling.
8. Cooling them down. Once you remove the muffins from the oven, let them sit in their pan for a few minutes before removing to a wire rack. This is especially important for muffins that aren't in a paper liner, as it will help them from falling apart. However, remove them after five minutes otherwise you risk them going soggy as they cool in the pan.
9. Freeze extras for later. Muffins freeze beautifully, so if you can't enjoy them all on the day they're baked, wrap them in plastic wrap tightly, and put them in the freezer for later. They will keep for about 3 months and reheat wonderfully in the microwave for about 30 seconds on high from frozen.
I do so love to enjoy a muffin every now and then with a hot drink. Be it breakfast, or mid morning, or any time really. Here are a few more of my favorites!
SPECIAL K BREAKFAST MUFFINS - These are the PERFECT breakfast muffins. Quick and easy to make. Delicious. I highly recommend. Simple and filled with fiber. You can use ordinary Special K cereal, or you can be a bit more extravagant and use one of the varieties which contain fruit. This recipe makes half a dozen fabulous muffins.
ULTIMATE BUTTERMILK BRAN MUFFINS - Buttermilk Bran Muffins. I think my favorite type of muffin of all the types of muffins you can get today are plain old fashioned Bran Muffins. There is nothing pretentious about them. They are simple and they are delicious. This recipe is especially delicious, yielding a muffin that is super moist and delicious, with a well rounded bakery style top. You cannot go wrong with one of these!
Yield: 6 muffins
Jordan Marsh Blueberry Muffins
Prep time: 15 MinCook time: 30 MinTotal time: 45 Min
Simple and delicious, with plenty of blueberries. This is a small batch recipe.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup (60g) softened butter
- 1 cup (140g) unsifted all purpose, plain flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup (100g) sugar
- 1 large free range egg
- 1/4 cup (60ml) milk
- 1 heaped cup of fresh wild or cultivated blueberries
- 1 TBS coarse sugar to sprinkle on top
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375*F/190*C/ gas mark 5. Butter 6 muffin cups, or line with paper liners.
- Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, making sure they are thoroughly amalgamated each time.
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt until well combined. Gradually add this to the creamed mixture, alternating it with the milk.
- Fold in the berries.
- Spoon into the prepared baking tin, dividing the mixture equally, and filling the muffin cups about 2/3 full. Sprinkle some coarse sugar on top of each muffin.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean and the tops should spring back when lightly touched.
- Remove from the pan to cool on wire racks. Muffins may be brushed with melted butter and sprinkled with additional sugar if desired.
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When Jordan Marsh went out of business, they freely gave away their muffin recipe. The only difference to this version is that you take half of the blueberries and mash them, and then when folded into the batter you get wonderful blue streaks. They are wonderful, for sure!
ReplyDeleteYes, this recipe did suggest you take half and mash them, but I didn't want my muffins to turn purple. They are really lovely muffins for sure! xo
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