My Favorite Blueberry Muffins

And a belated “Happy Birthday” to them

Blueberry Muffins. Photo: Jolene

If you follow writer and producer Gary Janetti’s hilarious Instagram account (@garyjanetti), you’ll find that one of the consistent themes is his quest for the perfect blueberry muffin.

Wherever he is in the world, he’ll sit down at the coffee shop or café or hotel dining room and do a running commentary on his blueberry muffin (“this one looks promising”) as he cuts into the muffin (“there’s not a lot of blueberries there”) — because no matter how good it looks on the outside, it’s gotta have A LOT of blueberries on the inside to pass muster.

If you go to his post of July 11, which is National Blueberry Muffin Day, you’ll see what I’m talking about. It’s a lot of fun and you really get to see how varied the interpretations of a single food item can be.

So thanks for the research Gary Janetti, and a belated “Happy Birthday” 🥳 to Blueberry Muffins.

Baking for Friends

I made blueberry muffins recently when friends visited and I took a picture (shown above) knowing I’d be writing about them — the blueberry muffins, not the friends. And then we had breakfast.

Except I forgot to take a picture of the inside of the muffins showing all those gorgeous blueberries, and by the time I remembered the following day...all gone.

I will take that as a sign of both the time we were having and the muffins being good, rather than focusing on my flub (I’m focusing on my flub) and so I offer this close-up as ‘proof of blueberries’ until I make them again and share a new photo.

SEE THEM! INSIDE! cropped photo: Jolene

My Favorite Blueberry Muffin

This recipe is from a very sweet book by Elizabeth Alston given to me by my equally sweet sister-in-law, Virginia, almost 40 years ago.

It’s simple to make and has lots of blueberries, including 1/2 cup of mashed, making the muffins really moist.

It’s similar to the Boston department store Jordan Marsh’s (retired brand, now part of Macy’s) famous blueberry muffin recipe which also uses mashed blueberries. I’m linking to this 1987 NYT article by the great columnist and cookbook author, Marion Burros, “The Battle of the Blueberry Muffins”, which also includes another famous Boston blueberry muffin recipe from the Ritz-Carleton Hotel, which started serving them in 1927.

To read more about this epic blueberry muffin intrigue, click Here, lots of interesting links.

I always go home to this small familiar book though, thumbing through it for the umpteenth time and enjoying the charming illustrations that accompany the recipes.

Muffins by Elizabeth Alston. Jacket Illustration: Sally Sturman. Photo: Jolene

I have dozens of cookbooks. But like wearing favorite clothes there are cookbooks I go back to again and again — they just “feel” good to cook and bake from. And, of course, the recipes have to work and be delicious. Like this one:

From Muffins by Elizabeth Alston. Photo: Jolene

Corny as it sounds, these cookbooks really are like friends — true, fun, dependable companions in the kitchen. Some are old acquaintances and some are brand new additions that I already know will become favorites.

Together they occupy a special place on my bookshelf, always within reach.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Jolene

Source: Alston, Elizabeth. Muffins: Sixty Sweet and Savory Recipe from Old Favorites to New. New York, Clarkson N. Potter, Inc., 1985.