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Muffins
2 cups flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon sugar 4 teaspoons baking-powder 1 cup milk 1 egg 2 tablespoons melted shortening Mix and sift the flour, salt, sugar and baking-powder. Add the milk gradually, the well-beaten egg and melted fat. Pour into well-greased muffin-tins, filling the tins two-thirds full. Bake in a hot oven (400 degrees-425 degrees F.) from fifteen to twenty-five minutes.
A plain baking-powder muffin of the standard 1920s formula. The only thing that will ruin it is overmixing.
- Mix barely at allCombine wet and dry only until the flour is dampened; the batter should look lumpy. Beating it smooth develops gluten and gives tough, tunnelled muffins with peaked tops.
- OvenThe stated 400-425F is correct and needs no adjustment. Use 400F for a standard 12-cup tin.
- TimingFifteen to twenty-five minutes is a wide range, probably reflecting variation in tin sizes. In a standard modern muffin tin filled two-thirds as directed, expect roughly 18-20 minutes, when a tester comes out clean and the tops spring back.
- Baking powderFour teaspoons to two cups of flour is generous by current practice, where 2 to 3 teaspoons would be usual; older powders may have been less reliable in strength. With today's double-acting powder, 3 teaspoons gives a cleaner flavour and less of a chemical aftertaste.
- Shortening"Melted shortening" here means any melted fat -- butter, lard or vegetable shortening. Melted butter is the best-tasting choice; let it cool slightly so it does not cook the egg.
- FlourPeriod flour was softer than modern bread flour. Use all-purpose, and measure by spooning into the cup and levelling rather than scooping, or the muffins come out dry.
- YieldMakes about 10 to 12 standard muffins, filled two-thirds as directed. Grease the empty cups as well, or fill them with water, to keep the empty cups from scorching.