History of Muffins

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Muffin - a small, cup-shaped bread, often sweetened and usually served hot.

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The derivation of the word muffin comes from the French word moufflet which is often times applied to bread and means soft.
The two main types of muffins are English muffins and American style muffins. They vary in style as well as flavor and history.
English muffins are a flat yeast raised muffin with nooks and crannies that are cooked on a hot griddle. English muffin history dates all the way back to the 10th and 11th centuries in Wales.

Early English muffins were cooked in muffin rings which were hooplike and placed directly on a stove or the bottom of a skillet.

American style muffins on the other hand are more of a quick bread that is made in individual molds. The molds are necessary due to the mixture being a batter rather than dough.

Muffin recipes first began to appear in print in the mid 18th century and quickly caught on. By the 19th century muffin men walked the streets of England at tea time to sell there muffins. They wore trays of English muffins on there heads and rang there bells to call customers to there wares.
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Three states in the United States of America have adopted official muffins. Minnesota has adopted the blueberry muffin as the official state muffin. Massachusetts in 1986 adopted the Corn Muffin as the official state muffin. Then in 1987 New York took on the Apple Muffin as its official muffin of choice.

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Did you ever wonder???

As we made peanut butter kiss cookies the other night, Mindy's question was, "Why are they called kisses?"

Check out this link for the answer, and see some other fun facts as well...

http://http://www.hersheys.com/kisses/about/funfacts.asp

And here's a link that will take you to a video tour of the Hershey's factory...I thought it was pretty neat to watch!
http://www.hersheys.com/discover/tour_video.asp

Did you ever wonder???

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Almost everyone likes some kind of cookie. Have you ever wondered where cookies came from? .There are thousands of cookie recipes in the world, let's learn a little bit about them...

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In America, a cookie is described as a thin, sweet, usually small cake. By definition, a cookie can be any of a variety of hand-held, flour-based sweet cakes, either crisp or soft.

Each country has its own word for "cookie." ---------------------------
What we know as cookies are called biscuits in England and Australia, in Spain they're galletas, Germans call them keks or Plätzchen for Christmas cookies, and in Italy there are several names to identify various forms of cookies including amaretti and biscotti, (bee-SKAWT-tee.) The word biscotto is derived from bis (twice) and cotto (cooked).
The name cookie is derived from the Dutch word koekje, meaning "small or little cake."

Biscuit comes from the Latin word bis coctum, which means, "twice baked."

According to culinary historians, the first historic record of cookies was their use as test cakes. A small amount of cake batter was baked to test the oven temperature.

Did you ever wonder???

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Why is peanut butter so common? When did it become popular; and why?

Here's the story...

Peanut butter (as we know it today) was invented in the second half of the 19th century. Did you know this product was originally marketed as a health food? Nut butters were valued for their high protein content and easy digestion. At first, peanut butter was a food known mostly to wealthy people who frequented health spas.

Before long, the product was available to the public at large, though companies targeted their promotions to the upper classes. Recipes for early 20th century fancy tea sandwiches included peanut butter. When that market was saturated, companies began adding sugar to make the product more appealing to children. Bingo! The popularity of the product soared and to this day is a staple in many American pantries.

The relationship between children and peanut butter was cemented in the late 1920s, when Gustav Papendick invented a process for slicing and wrapping bread. Sliced bread meant that children could make sandwiches themselves without slicing the bread with a potentially dangerous knife. As a consequence of low cost, high nutrition, and ease of assembling, peanut butter sandwiches became one of the top children's meals during the Depression.

Nationwide food rationing was instituted in the United States during World War II. Each member of the family was issued ration books, and it was the challenge of the homemaker to pool the stamps and plan the family's meals within the set limits. Margarine, butter, sugar, lard, shortening, oils and assorted fresh meats were rationed and expensive. Peanut butter was a good cheap (peanut butter sold for 24 cents a jar) alternative and a readily available source of protein. Peanut butter was not rationed.