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Whole Wheat Muffins
One egg One pint of sweet milk One-fourth teaspoon of Larkin Table Salt Two teaspoons of sugar Two and one-half teaspoons of Larkin Baking Powder Four cups of whole wheat flour
This is a proportion list rather than a set of directions, which was normal for a company booklet aimed at cooks who already knew how muffins go together. The quantities work; everything else has to be supplied.
- The measurementsOne pint of milk is two cups. That gives a ratio of four cups whole wheat flour to two cups liquid plus one egg, which produces a thick batter that drops from the spoon rather than pours.
- Brand namesLarkin Table Salt and Larkin Baking Powder were mail-order products of the company that published the book. Use any table salt and any double-acting baking powder; no adjustment is needed.
- The missing methodWhisk the dry ingredients together, beat the egg into the milk, and stir the two together only until the flour is damp. Overmixing whole wheat batter makes muffins tough and peaked rather than tender.
- Let the batter standWhole wheat flour absorbs liquid slowly. Ten to fifteen minutes' rest before baking hydrates the bran and gives a noticeably less gritty crumb.
- Oven and tinsBake at 400-425F for 20-25 minutes in well-greased tins. Heating the greased tins in the oven for a minute before filling helps the muffins release and rise.
- There is no fatUnlike most modern muffin formulas this one contains no butter or oil, so it stales fast and is best eaten warm the same day. A few tablespoons of melted butter added to the milk will keep them softer, at some cost to the plainness the original intends.
- LeaveningTwo and a half teaspoons of baking powder for four cups of flour is modest by current practice, which runs closer to one teaspoon per cup. The muffins will be dense and close-grained; a little more powder is defensible if you want more lift.
- YieldAbout 15 to 18 standard muffins, or a dozen large ones.
Good Things to Eat came out of the Larkin Company of Buffalo, a soap manufacturer that grew into one of the great American mail-order houses by giving away household premiums with its orders — cookbooks among them. Recipes like this one name Larkin salt and Larkin baking powder in the same breath as flour and eggs, and the method is left largely to the cook's judgment while the brands are spelled out. The whole wheat itself reflects a genuine turn-of-the-century enthusiasm: after decades in which fine white roller-milled flour was the mark of a good table, reformers and health writers pushed unsifted wheat and graham meal back into respectable baking, and muffins were the easiest place for a household to try it.