In 1985, The Times published a recipe for the blueberry muffins served at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Boston, which Marian Burros, who adapted the recipe, judged among her favorite muffins in the city. A few years later, a reader wrote Marian to say that the best blueberry muffins in Boston were in fact from the now-closed Jordan Marsh department store. Marian tracked down and adapted that recipe so you can judge for yourself. But the origins of the Jordan Marsh recipe were unclear until 2023, when Mara Richmond of Burlington, Vt., wrote The Times to say that the developer of the recipe was her father, Arnold Gitlin, then the executive food consultant for Allied Stores, which owned Jordan Marsh at the time. His recipe, Richmond said, was an adaptation from one in Esther Howland’s 1847 cookbook, “The New England Economical Housekeeper, and Family Receipt Book.” Everything old is new again. This version has a lot more sugar and butter and fewer eggs than the Ritz-Carlton muffins. It also calls for mashing a half cup of berries and adding them to the batter. This produces a very moist muffin, one that will stay fresh longer.
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla.
Step 4
Sift together the flour, salt and baking powder, and add to the creamed mixture alternately with the milk.
The New York Times Cooking
The New York Times Cooking
Step 5
Crush ½ cup blueberries with a fork, and mix into the batter. Fold in the remaining whole berries.
Step 6
Line a 12 cup standard muffin tin with cupcake liners, and fill with batter. Sprinkle the 3 teaspoons sugar over the tops of the muffins, and bake at 375 degrees for about 30-35 minutes.
Step 7
Remove muffins from tin and cool at least 30 minutes. Store, uncovered, or the muffins will be too moist the second day, if they last that long.
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Comments
John Frank
Toss the berries in flour before adding, to keep them from sinking to the base of the muffin.
Deborah
The original John Pupek recipe, which I have used for years, calls for 1 cup of sugar, 1/4 tsp.salt, and he includes 1 tsp. vanilla as well. I don't know why the recipe above makes the salt optional. Salt is used in cooking as a flavor enhancer, and if it is left out of baked goods, the final product will not taste right.
Heidi
I would recommend adding a teaspoon of cinnamon and, MOST important, a tablespoon of lemon zest (thanks to Mark Bittman). Also I would use much less sugar -- I find that half a cup is enough, or three-quarters tops.
Kristin W.
I may have done something wrong but these were disappointing. There was too much batter for 12 muffins, they were an unappealing dark brown when finished baking, and the taste was meh.
christina
I wondered if I could use buttermilk instead of whole milk?
The Tortoise
These are really good. I'll just note, I did it half scale and didn't mix the dry ingredients first, but just added them on top of the liquids and whirred them some by themselves (roughly) before thoroughly mixing, and the result seemed fine. They're just muffins! I suspect that on a significantly larger scale, mixing the dry ingredients is probably more of a factor than it is here. I also did not find it necessary to flour the blueberries first (as a commenter suggested).
