Jordan Marsh’s Blueberry Muffins

For New Englanders, most need no introduction to this recipe. To those that don’t know, Jordan Marsh was a large department store based in downtown Boston. They had a wonderful in-store bakery and though the bakery had many wonderful items, their blueberry muffins were what made them famous. These treats are overflowing with blueberries and have a yummy, sugar crusted top that makes them absolutely irresistible. Although the Boston store closed in the mid 1990’s, this recipe lives on and is still an all time favorite. Give it a try, I promise it will not disappoint.

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1-1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup milk
2-1/2 cups blueberries
2 Tbs raw sugar (for the top of muffins)

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 375º.

First, cream the butter and sugar until they are light and fluffy; add the eggs, one at time, beating well after each. Then, add the vanilla and mix to incorporate. In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking powder), then add to the mixture, alternating with the milk. Do not overmix.

Crush 1/2 cup of the blueberries with a fork, add to the batter, stir to combine and then fold in the remaining whole berries.

Next, spray a 12 cup muffin pan with non-stick spray and I also recommend using paper muffin liners. Because of the volume of blueberries, they definitely tend to stick to the pan and the paper liners just make things easier. Fill the liners with the batter and take note that they will almost be overflowing. Finally, sprinkle the 2 tablespoons of raw sugar over the tops. The combination of the very full muffin liners and the additional sugar on top makes a wonderful, crunchy topped muffin when they overflow a bit (and they will). Trust me, that overflowing batter, with the crispy sugar, without a doubt is my favorite part of the muffin, it will become your favorite as well.

Bake at 375º for about 30-35 minutes. Cool in the pan. After several minutes of cooling, run a knife around the edge of each muffin to release it from the pan and then cool on a wire rack for about 30 minutes…if you can wait that long!

NOTES
If you don’t have raw sugar or turbinado sugar, you definitely can use regular granulated with good results. This will seem like too much batter for only 12 muffins, but stick to the 12 muffins, because part of the yumminess is the overflowing, crunchy top. Also, when storing the muffins, do not cover them or they will be too soggy the next day.