It's a blueberry toss-up! Which muffin recipe do I follow: Mackinac Island (by James Beard)

M

marilynfl

Moderator
sworn to by Angie, Michael in Phoenix and MariaD/No CA (see link for EXCELLENT list of blueberry recipe options)...

or

the following one from Cooks Country? (also known as "Cooks Illustrated"...also known as "America's Test Kitchen"...also known as Jimmy Hoffa)

The key difference seems to be the Mackinac version (makes 18) uses milk and oil as moistening agents while the CC version uses sour cream (makes 12).

The problem: I have NO outlets now for binge baking and I simply cannot be left alone with a 2.5 dozen muffins if I try both versions. The library, homeless and free lunch spots are not allowed to accept outside food. I haven't tried the police station yet.

I could do the math and make half of each but wondered if there was already a very good reason to just go ahead and use one or the other.

PS: NOTE: I already have NO room in the freezer...have been filling it with wild sockeye salmon while the price and the getting is good, so freezing isn't a viable option.

I'll post the CC version next, untested.

https://finerkitchens.com/swap/forum/index.php?action=display&forumid=1&msgid=18647

 
Cook's Country Blueberry Muffins (based on Mackinac Island version)

August/September 2017 by Morgan Bolling
Makes 12 muffins

1.5 C sugar (split use)
5 tsp grated lemon zest from 2 lemons (split use)
2.5 C (12.5 oz) regular flour
4 tsp baking powder (1 TBL + 1 tsp)
3/4 tsp salt
1.5 C sour cream
7 TBL unsalted butter, melted (split use)
2 large eggs
1.5 C (7.5 oz) frozen blueberries, preferably wild

Oven 400 F degrees
Spray all surfaces of 12-cup muffin tin with veg oil spray
Mix 1/4 C sugar + 2 tsp zest >> set aside

Whisk dry ingredients
Whisk sour cream, 5 TBL butter, eggs, 1.25 C sugar, 1 TBL zest

Manually fold dry ingredients into wet.
Add blueberries
Use ~1/3 C measuring cup to spoon into muffin tin (distribute evenly)
Brush batter with remaining 2 TBL butter and sprinkle with sugar mix (~ 1 tsp per muffin)
Bake 20-25 minutes, rotating midway
Let cool in tin for 10 minutes
Transfer to rack, cool 5 minutes
Serve warm.

 
Mar, do you have to use frozen blueberries? I have an abundance

Of fresh berries right now.

 
I'd use the Jordan Marsh recipe recommended. And when making blueberry

things I take a bit of the flour and mix with the blueberries to keep them from sinking.

 
Judy & Charley, I've made the Jordan Marsh recipe before. I must still be looking for *something*

because I skipped right over that one in my paper stack of recipes, even with the extra notes I wrote on it. Ingredient list seems to resemble the James Beard version.

 
Dawn, CC highly recommends frozen wild, but they also go on to say it is because

of year-round availability. I've found frozen tend to make less mess than fresh.

Segueing to a completely different recipe but still completely tied to blueberries: "Huckleberry" recipe book recommends spreading the blueberries on rolled-out brioche dough rather than try to them INTO the dough. Then dough is rolled up and baked with a spiral of blueberries. Looks FABULOUS (see link).

https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/fresh-blueberry-brioche-51256450

 
Just to be a pain in the rear, I’m going to say this version of the Jordan Marsh

After picking the best blueberries I ever tasted in Oregon, and bringing an ice chest full of them home, I had to find a recipe worthy of them (truly, they were that much better than I’d ever had in my life). This recipe won out. The neighbors covet them and so do I.

The real Jordan Marsh blueberry muffins recipe

Ingredients
4 tablespoons butter, softened
4 tablespoons vegetable shortening
1 cup granulated sugar
2 whole fortified eggs such as Eggland’s Best
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2½ cups frozen blueberries, thawed
1 cup white pastry flour
1 cup bread flour
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ cup whole milk
2 tablespoons granulated sugar, for tops

Steps
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F with rack in the center of the oven.

Spray the inside of a 12 cup muffin tin with pan spray (You will only be using 10 of the 12). Then, using vegetable shortening, liberally grease the top of the pan. Place muffin papers into the sprayed holes. Set the pan aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream butter and shortening for one minute with the paddle attachment.

Add sugar and beat on medium for about one minute.
With the machine on medium, add one egg at a time and blend to mix. Scrape sides then beat on medium for two and a half minutes. This is important to whip air into the batter.

Add vanilla and beat for a few more seconds to combine.
Remove 1/2 cup of blueberries to a small bowl and mash with a fork or a potato masher. Set aside.

See how much liquid the blueberries gave up. I determined that it was a bit too much and pulled 1/4 cup of liquid out which I did not use in the muffins. I did leave some juice in with the blueberries however, maybe about ¼ to 1/3 cup.
Take two tablespoons of either flour type and sprinkle over the whole blueberries and toss to coat.

Mix both flours, salt and baking powder in a small bowl. Just stir a few times to mix.

Start adding the flour mixture and the milk a little at a time with the mixer running. Once they are both in, do not mix further. You want to just get them incorporated without over mixing. Otherwise the muffins will be tough.

Remove the mixing bowl to your counter and fold in the mashed blueberries. Then fold in the whole berries with the juice.
The traditional Jordan Marsh blueberry had a purple/blue tint from the berry juice.

Using an ice-cream scoop, divide the mixture between ten cups of the prepared 12 cup muffin tin. The batter will be piled high above the rim.

Sprinkle the final granulated sugar over the tops of each muffin (total 2 tablespoons) and immediately place in the oven.

Bake for five minutes then reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees F and bake for 20 more minutes. (If your oven has a hot spot, rotate pan halfway through. Do not over bake. They will be soft but 25 minutes is plenty of time and they will bake a little further outside of the oven.)

Remove to a rack to cool.

Once cool, gently pry the muffins out by making sure the overhang did not stick to the pan top.

https://www.afamilyfeast.com/real-jordan-marsh-blueberry-muffins-recipe/

 
I've got 3 pints of Maine blueberries coming on Tuesday.

I will try my recipe (printed in the Boston Globe while JM was still in business) and yours and see which I like better.

 
Thanks everyone. Two neighbors informed me they are doing Keto so they don't want muffins. I'll

have to wait and hear your reports, Judy, without baking any myself. I simply can't be left alone with a panful of warm muffins (see Exhibit Number 28: Jelly Belly Roll).

PS: Geez...maybe this whole thread was a subliminal "hint hint"?

 
Wild blueberries are also smaller and particularly in a mini-muffin wouldn't take

up the entire interior of the muffin.
I loved it when we had a Maine supermarket here for a couple of years--Han-something. They had WONDERFUL canned wild blueberries.
It is blueberry season here so I am surprised you don't have a lot of fresh up there now. Just made a batch of blueberry jelly.

 
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