BJ's "Jordan Marsh" Blueberry Muffins
Now here is an interesting product. And not in a good way.
For New Englanders of a certain age, Jordan Marsh muffins were the ne plus ultra of blueberry muffins. For everyone else, the name Jordan Marsh on a box of blueberry muffins will mean absolutely nothing.
As a member of the former group, I was overjoyed to see BJ's bakery carrying "Jordan Marsh" blueberry muffins. I immediately bought a box of four.
The muffins, sad to report, were so very meh. I have no desire to buy them again. Seriously, I prefer the blueberry muffins I get down the street at the local Sheetz.
So here is my question: Are my memories of JM muffins embellished by the decades since Cousin Trudie last graced us with some (that is, were the muffins mediocre even back then, something I find hard to believe), OR, more likely, did BJ's tarnish my childhood memory by botching the new product?
If you've tried the muffins -- especially if you had the original JM muffins -- what do you think of BJ's product?
-
Susan from Food Blogga
Jun 11, 2009 02:54 PM
I just made JM blueberry muffins yesterday, and they were delicious. The sugar coated tops were slightly crunchy, and the centers were moist, cakey, and not-too-sweet. You got a bum deal.
›4 Replies-
re: Susan from Food Blogga
Bob W
Jun 12, 2009 06:38 AM
Follow up -- I haven't seen the JM muffins at BJ's for a while but they have some triple berry muffins that I've tried before and are very good.
Costco's muffins are bigger but are more one-dimensional. The muffin tops at BJ's are better. You need some of that crunch. Otherwise, it's just all a big muffin stump.
-
-
re: ciaogal
ciaogal
I have the Jordan Marsh Blueberry Muffin recipe if you want it. I grew up in Boston and purchasing the JM muffins at Jordan Marsh was a family tradition. To my knowledge the recipe was a closely guarded secret so the recipes that are/were around approximated the real thing. They were delicious and the recipes are delicious.
-
re: barb2007
ciaogal
Jun 16, 2009 03:08 PM
Barb, if you are willing to share the recipe...my email is posted on my 'chowhound' profile....
I too grew up in the Boston area ans used to frequent the downtown crossing area w/ my grandmother in the 60's and 70's. We always grabbed a box of blueberry muffins to take home on the T
-
-
-
-
In the early 60's I worked in the main Jordan's building two evenings a week after school. On Saturdays I worked all day, and my morning assignment was to run down to the bakery and pick up fresh, warm blueberry muffins for my department; butter pats were included, and I'm sure early shoppers wondered where the wonderful smell of fresh-baked muffins was coming from. (We were comfortably ensconced in the lingerie department stock room!) Those were the best muffins I've ever had...
-
I don't know about BJ's JM muffins or about the actual JM muffins (even though I lived in Boston for a number of years). Recently, though, my daughter made a batch of Jordan Marsh blueberry muffins from one of Nick Malgieri's cookbooks and, boy, were they ever good. And very easy to make, too.
