Be Free For Me Blog

When my parents sent me off to business school and footed a hefty bill, I don’t think they imagined the most important thing I would learn during my junior year internship was how to make the most perfect, sugary sweet blueberry muffin in the world. But yes, Mom and Dad – it is true.

My internship was at Jordan Marsh and I was an assistant manager at one of the stores. Jordan Marsh was a Boston-based department store founded in 1841 legendary for their bakeries, and more so for their blueberry muffins. Every morning that sugary-sweet berry aroma started to make its way through the store, wafting through each and every department, slowly but surely, floor by floor.

I was a smart little gluten-eating cookie back then.  I asked to come in early each day (blamed it on the Route 128 traffic) so I could take my morning break first, at exactly 10:20 AM each day – right about the time those delectable sugar-crusted muffs were being taken out of the oven.

Nearing the end of my internship, the recipe for the legendary muffins made its way around the store, employee-to-employee, faster than the news that the muffins were out of the oven and ready to be served.

I found the recipe a few weeks back and tried it out, gluten-free style of course… Gluten Free Jordan Marsh Blueberry Muffins.  I am proud to say that I aced it – they came out sugary, sweet, and exactly the way I remember – minus the gluten.

And for the record? I also aced the internship. Sweet.

Gluten Free Jordan Marsh Blueberry Muffins

½ cup butter, softened
1 cup of sugar (plus another plus ½ cup for sprinkling the tops of the muffins before and after baking)
2 eggs
2 cups of gluten-free all-purpose flour (plus another 1-2 tablespoons for tossing the berries)
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ cup milk
2 cups of blueberries – plus a handful to sprinkle on the tops of the muffins prior to baking

With a blender, cream the butter and 1 cup of the sugar until smooth. Add one of the eggs and beat. Repeat with the second egg. 

Sift together 2 cups of the gluten-free flour, salt and the baking powder. Add it to the creamed butter mixture slowly, alternating with adding milk.

In a large zip lock bag add the 1-2 tablespoons of the gluten-free flour and 2 cups of the blueberries. Gently shake until the blueberries are coated. Add a bit more gluten-free flour, if needed.

Next, carefully fold the flour-coated blueberries into the batter and refrigerate for ½ hour while preheating the oven to 350 degrees.

Grease 6 jumbo muffin tins, as well as the outside of the tins (since the batter mushrooms over).  Remove the muffin mix from the fridge and fill the muffin tins generously with the batter. Evenly sprinkle the muffin tops with ¼ cup of the sugar and about 5-6 extra blueberries (not coated in flour) on each muffin.

Bake for about 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Sprinkle with the remaining ¼ cup of sugar. Cool for 30-40 minutes before removing from tins to ensure they come out in one piece.