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Ginger Muffins
2 cups flour 4 teaspoons baking powder 1 egg, beaten 1/4 teaspoon soda 1/2 teaspoon each ginger and salt 1/2 cup each molasses and milk 4 tablespoons melted butter 2/3 cup grated cheese Sift dry ingredients. Add egg to milk and molasses. Combine two mixtures, stirring constantly. When smooth, add melted butter and fold in cheese. Half fill greased muffin pans, bake in moderate (350 degrees) oven 15 to 20 minutes.
A quick-bread muffin with molasses, ginger and grated cheese — sweet and savory together, typical of light supper baking from the 1930s. The method is straightforward; the only real trap is overworking the batter.
- Stir less than it saysThe instruction to combine "stirring constantly" until smooth predates our understanding of gluten development in quick breads. Mix only until the dry flour disappears; a few lumps are correct, and a smooth batter yields tough, tunneled muffins.
- Both leaveners are intentionalThe baking powder does the lifting, while the 1/4 teaspoon of soda neutralizes the acidity of the molasses and deepens the color. Do not omit it, and get the batter into the oven promptly once the two mixtures meet.
- Oven and pan350\Fill the cups half full as directed — these rise well. The recipe states no yield; half-filled standard pans will give roughly a dozen, possibly more. Test at 15 minutes with a pick in the center.
- The cheeseThe recipe specifies only "grated cheese"; a firm aged Cheddar or a dry American cheese is the likeliest reading. Grate it coarsely and fold it in last so it stays in distinct pockets rather than dissolving into the crumb.
- MolassesUse unsulphured light or dark molasses, not blackstrap, which is far more bitter than the table molasses assumed here and will fight the cheese.
- Butter temperatureLet the melted butter cool slightly before adding, or it may begin to set the egg.
- ServingBest warm, within an hour of baking. They reheat acceptably but the cheese firms up and the crumb dries quickly.
Molasses was a long-standing sweetener in American home baking and was paired often with ginger — the combination behind gingerbread and ginger cookies as well as this muffin. The unusual element here is the grated cheese in a sweet quick bread. If the recipe sits under a Sunday Night Suppers heading, that fits a section leaning on dishes that could be mixed in one bowl and baked quickly — muffins, scrambled eggs, creamed dishes on toast.