Recipes: Chef Shelley Wiseman’s Grandmother’s Blueberry Muffin

The Farm Cooking School‘s Chef Shelley Wiseman: The most long standing family recipe, from my paternal grandmother, Baba, who invested in our ramshackle farm cottages back when Bridgehampton, New York was more farm land than McMansions, and the property was surrounded by fields of cucumbers and potatoes not hedges, is blueberry muffin. I say that in the singular because we would always make it in a large round ring pan with a hole in the middle so it would cook evenly. I still like it better that way because there is more fluffy blueberry-laden interior than crust. We used to go skinny dipping in the ocean in my father’s old Packard before breakfast. My father used to call all sleepy heads to get up, we’d pile into the car with its wonderful musty smell in our pajamas and nightgowns and shed them as we ran to the ocean’s edge and jumped in without thinking of the cold (because you couldn’t!!). Then we’d come back to that smell of baking blueberries and protect our portion of fresh orange juice from my father’s sneaky reach. Enjoy my grandmother’s blueberry muffin!

Chef Shelley Wiseman’s Grandmother’s Blueberry Muffin

Servings:  approximately 8

Ingredients:

  • 9 oz. (2 cups) all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/4 cups sugar
  • 2 tsp. baking powder
  • 3/4 tsp. table salt
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 2 large eggs
  • 4 oz. (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 tsp. vanilla
  • 2 cups blueberries (10 oz.)

Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F and butter a 2- to 2 1/2-quart metal ring mold, a ceramic or glass baking dish or a 9-inch cake pan.
  2. Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a small bowl.
  3. Whisk together the milk, whole eggs, melted butter and vanilla in a large bowl.
  4. Stir in flour mixture just until incorporated, then fold in berries.
  5. Spoon batter into baking dish, spreading evenly.
  6. Bake in middle of oven until golden brown and a tester inserted in center comes out clean, 50 minutes to 1 hour.
  7. Cool in pan on a rack 10 minutes, if you can wait that long. Enjoy!

Note: To make individual muffins, bake for 25 to 30 minutes.

Chef Shelley Wiseman's Baba's Blueberry Muffin (photo courtesy of Chef Shelley Wiseman)
Chef Shelley Wiseman’s Baba’s Blueberry Muffin (photo courtesy of Chef Shelley Wiseman)

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