To begin with, I simply love the name of these amazing muffins.  I first tried them in college when my roommate was kind enough to bake a batch at her house and bring them back to school to share on several occasions.  I love molasses and the combination of molasses and blueberries in a muffin is just divine.  The recipe comes from a locally compiled Chatham Cookbook that was stashed on her Mom’s  bookshelf from Chatham Cape Cod.  Not only are these muffins delicious, but they make the whole kitchen smell incredible as they are baking.  I like to use wild frozen blueberries for this recipe as they tend not to release as much water in the baking process, but fresh blueberries are great, especially if you don’t plan on storing them.  I also made extra large muffins by overfilling the tins.  If you prefer more moderate sized, simply bake 2 batches.  Grateful to Ginny for being such a saver and going to the trouble of finding her notes on the recipe.  She had a piece of paper with all the ingredients (circa late 80s), and although there were few instructions with her notes, I took the liberty of filling in the details of the preparation process, so the method may not be exactly as originally published. Thanks Ginny for sharing this  memorable recipe!

yield 1 dozen extra-large muffins

Ingredients:

  • 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 cup molasses
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 4 cups flour (I love Bob’s Redmill Pastry flour), (plus a little for dusting blueberries)
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon allspice
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 2 teaspoons ginger
  • 1 1/2 cups blueberries (preferably frozen wild blueberries)
  • powdered sugar for dusting (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.  Line a 12 cup muffin tin with paper liners.  Use cooking spray to spray the top of muffin tins to prevent the muffin tops from sticking to the tin when they bake.  Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl and blend well.  Set aside.  In a standing mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, whip the butter and sugar for several minutes until smooth and creamy, scraping down the sides as needed. Add molasses and blend well.  Add eggs, one at a time until incorporated, again scraping down the sides.  With the mixer on low, alternate adding the flour mixture and  buttermilk, starting and ending with the dry ingredients.  Blend just until absorbed.  Using about a tablespoon or less of flour, gently toss frozen berries in flour to absorb any excess moisture.  Fold blueberries into batter and distribute evenly throughout. Divide muffin batter evenly in muffin tins, and if you are making the extra large muffins, the batter will come a bit over the rim.  Bake in oven for about 20- 25 minutes. Remove as soon as a tester is inserted and comes out clean.  Allow to cool for about 5 minutes, then gently loosen muffins from tin and allow to cool completely on a rack.  Gently dust with powdered sugar and enjoy!