The return of Noni’s Blueberry Muffins

Bold words, I know.

I gave the pseudo-Jordan Marsh blueberry muffins another try, making changes to see if they tasted more like Noni’s muffins.  And they did, at least to me.  It remains to be seen if anyone else who remembers the originals agrees.

A quick aside: if this is the first post that you’re reading, this will make better sense if you first read the previous post about the mysterious Jordan Marsh Blueberry Muffin recipe I found in Noni’s recipe box.  This post is its sequel.

As a reminder, here is the original recipe in its minimalist typed precision:

I made some changes this time:

• I used butter instead of Crisco (as the online Jordan Marsh recipe specifies)
• I combined all the wet ingredients and all the dry ingredients separately, before mixing them together
• I baked them at only one temperature, the lower of the two listed in Noni’s original recipe (also following the online Jordan Marsh muffin recipe)
• I used the regular bake function on the oven, instead of convect.

It isn’t lost on me that these changes make the recipe closer to the online Jordan Marsh blueberry muffin recipes. Since it still differs in a few ways (no mashed blueberries, no sugar on top), I’m considering this as straying into its own territory.

As I started baking, I began to question the wisdom of these changes.  I combined butter, eggs, milk, and vanilla extract together in a batter that looked curdled and like nothing I had ever produced on purpose.  The butter looked like it had separated out in clots.  But my husband urged me on and kept the kids occupied.  And after I added the dry ingredients, the batter started to look like something familiar.

I folded in the blueberries, loaded the large quantity of batter into a greased muffin tin, and baked them at 375 for exactly 30 minutes, this time using the regular baking setting on the oven.

The results were less dense, with a fluffy texture that felt more like a muffin and less like a cake.  I still think Noni’s had higher domes, but for now, this feels like progress towards replicating her muffins.

I’ve entered my adapted version of the recipe into our family’s online recipe database, calling it simply “Noni’s Blueberry Muffins,” because I’m not convinced that they have a clear Jordan Marsh provenance beyond the recipe card I found.

This may not be the final word on Noni’s blueberry muffins.  I have a vague memory of her using Jiffy brand yellow cake mix for many purposes in her kitchen, possibly even for blueberry muffins.  It would make sense when I think of how quickly I remember her whipping these up.  However, the long ingredient list on Jiffy mixes gives this almost-crunchy mom pause, so I’m unsure about pursuing that experiment.  On another health-conscious note, I’m curious about tweaking this recipe to reduce and/or replace the sugar, since it calls for about three times as much as other muffins I make for small children.  Stay tuned.