Graham Muffins with Whole Wheat (1918)
Small whole wheat breakfast muffins with milk and melted butter, adapted from Farmer's 1918 Graham Muffins II for a modern metal muffin pan.
- Original yieldYield
- 4 breakfast servings; about 8 to 10 small muffins (estimated)4 breakfast servingsabout 8 to 10 small muffins (estimated)
- PrepPrep time
- CookCook time
- TotalTotal time
Estimated: 15 minutes for setup and mixing, up to 25 minutes baking, then 5 minutes in the pan. Preheat during preparation; further cooling is optional.
Published
Original recipe: 4 breakfast servings; about 8 to 10 small muffins (estimated)
The story behind the recipe
Farmer prints two Graham muffin recipes on page 73. This is the second: whole wheat and white flour, an egg, a quarter cup of sugar and five teaspoons of baking powder. We use her entire-wheat option and a modern metal muffin pan in place of the buttered gem pans.
Flour, not cracker crumbs
Look for plain whole wheat flour, with the bran and germ included. Graham cracker crumbs contain other ingredients and aren't the flour meant here. White all-purpose flour accounts for the rest of the grain mixture, so these aren't all-whole-wheat muffins. The two flours give the crumb its light brown color and visible wheat flecks.
Read more about this recipe
Two Graham recipes on one page
In the revised 1918 Boston Cooking-School Cook Book, Graham Muffins I uses molasses, sour milk and baking soda. The second uses sugar, milk, an egg and baking powder. Both include melted butter, but they aren't the same batter with a different sweetener.
We follow the second, with plain milk and granulated sugar. The first recipe's sour milk and molasses belong to a different balance of ingredients, so neither is a casual substitution for the milk or sugar here.
Farmer also permits either Graham or entire wheat flour in this formula. Elsewhere in the book, she gives different cup weights for those two flours. Here, ordinary whole wheat is the defined choice, and the accompanying weight comes from her entire-wheat measure.
A level cup was part of the recipe
Farmer's measuring instructions ask cooks to sift flour before measuring, spoon it into the cup and level it without shaking. They also distinguish an actual measuring tablespoon from a larger mixing spoon.
The weights beside our flour and sugar measures are calculated from the book's tables, then rounded to whole grams. They give a scale user a way to follow this version without packing flour into a cup. Keep all the bran when sifting whole wheat; discarding it would change the ingredient we chose.
The book calls for five teaspoons of baking powder in this mixture. We keep that amount and specify a modern double-acting product. Use level measuring teaspoons, as Farmer directs for spoon measures throughout the book.
Choosing the pan we actually have
The original calls for buttered gem pans and a hot oven, with a twenty-five-minute bake. It doesn't specify the pan material or cavity capacity. A nearby muffin entry does give instructions for heating iron pans first; those instructions belong to that entry.
Our adaptation, explained in Gem Pans and Muffin Tins, uses a room-temperature metal muffin pan with wells holding about 120 ml to the rim. The wells are filled about two-thirds full, leaving space above the batter. The 400°F oven setting and doneness cues are modern choices.
Serve the muffins warm, split across the middle. Their sugar is in the batter rather than a glaze or topping, with the wheat flecks visible through the cut crumb.
Make it your wayOriginal: 4 servings · Makes 4 breakfast servings; about 8 to 10 small muffins (estimated)
Original recipe: 4 breakfast servings; about 8 to 10 small muffins (estimated)
Ingredients
For 4 breakfast servings; about 8 to 10 small muffins (estimated). Quantities are shown as written.
Source measurement convention: US customary. Explicit unit definitions take precedence; unconfirmed measures must be checked before conversion.
Original quantities for 4 breakfast servings; about 8 to 10 small muffins (estimated).
- Whole wheat flour1 cupAuthor measures: 117 g.
- All-purpose flour3/4 cupAuthor measures: 85 g.
- Granulated sugar1/4 cupAuthor measures: 57 g.
- Double-acting baking powder5 tsp
- Fine salt1 tsp
- Whole milk1 cup
- Large egg1
- Unsalted butter, melted and cooled until lukewarm3 tbspAuthor measures: 43 g.
- Unsalted butter, melted, for greasing2 tsp
Measurement notes
- whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, whole milk: US cup: 1 = 236.5882 ml (rounded).
- double-acting baking powder, fine salt, unsalted butter, melted, for greasing: US tsp: 1 = 4.9289 ml (rounded).
- unsalted butter, melted and cooled until lukewarm: US tbsp: 1 = 14.7868 ml (rounded).
Measurement notes
Original ingredients
- 1 cup (117 g) whole wheat flourUS cup: 1 = 236.5882 ml (rounded).
- 3/4 cup (85 g) all-purpose flourUS cup: 1 = 236.5882 ml (rounded).
- 1/4 cup (57 g) granulated sugarUS cup: 1 = 236.5882 ml (rounded).
- 5 tsp double-acting baking powderUS tsp: 1 = 4.9289 ml (rounded).
- 1 tsp fine saltUS tsp: 1 = 4.9289 ml (rounded).
- 1 cup whole milkUS cup: 1 = 236.5882 ml (rounded).
- 1 large egg
- 3 tbsp (43 g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled until lukewarmUS tbsp: 1 = 14.7868 ml (rounded).
- 2 tsp unsalted butter, melted, for greasingUS tsp: 1 = 4.9289 ml (rounded).
Equipment
12-cup metal muffin pan (about 120 ml per well)
Wire cooling rack
Instructions
Prepare the oven and pan
Heat a conventional oven to 400°F (205°C), with a rack in the middle. Use a room-temperature metal muffin pan with 12 wells of about 120 ml each, measured to the rim. Brush the bottoms and sides with the 2 tsp melted butter for greasing; do not heat the empty pan.
Measure and sift the grain ingredients
If using cups, sift the whole wheat flour and all-purpose flour separately before measuring. Return any bran caught in the sieve to the whole wheat flour, stir it through, then spoon each flour into its cup and level without packing. If using the stated weights, weigh the flours directly, then sift together, returning all the bran.
Mix in the leavener and seasoning
Add the sugar, baking powder and salt to the flours and mix thoroughly so no pockets of leavener remain.
Combine the batter
Beat the egg in a small bowl. Stir the milk gradually into the dry ingredients, then add the beaten egg and the 3 tbsp melted butter. Stir until the dry ingredients are moistened and the mixture is evenly combined; do not beat it until smooth.
Fill the muffin wells
Spoon all the batter into the greased wells, filling each about two-thirds full. Expect roughly 8 to 10 portions, but use another well rather than overfilling to match a count. A final smaller portion is fine; it may finish sooner.
Bake until the centers are set
Bake immediately for about 20 to 25 minutes, checking from 20 minutes. The tops should be set and lightly browned, and a skewer inserted into the center of a muffin should come out without wet batter. Remove smaller portions sooner if they are already done.
Rest and unmold
Let the muffins stand in the pan for 5 minutes. Loosen the edges gently, lift them onto the wire rack and serve warm, or let them cool completely before covering.
Estimated calories 390 kcal
Nutrition portion: 1/4 of recipe · Original yield: 4 breakfast servings; about 8 to 10 small muffins (estimated)
Source & assumptions
Ingredient-based estimate using CoFID 2021, identified manufacturer information. Approximately 390 kcal per nutrition portion. One-quarter of the original batter, regardless of muffin count. Includes all measured greasing butter. Ingredients, brands and preparation affect values.
Recipe notes
When adjusting quantities
Keep the same pan material, cavity size and fill when scaling. Use additional pans or mix separate batches just before baking; do not leave wet batter waiting through another bake. Times and temperatures do not scale. For a half batch, beat the egg and use half by weight.
Original recipe notes
These notes describe the original recipe. Quantities mentioned here do not change when you adjust servings.
The batch serves four as the bread portion of breakfast; the estimated muffin count is our planning figure, not Farmer's yield. Portion by the stated fill level.
Use regular whole wheat flour, not self-rising flour, cracker crumbs or a premixed muffin blend. Use plain all-purpose flour for the white flour portion. If measuring by weight, use this recipe's stated weights rather than a different flour chart.
Pan finish, actual portions and oven behavior can change the baking time. Use the stated window as a guide and check the center as described in the method. A different pan material or cavity size needs a separately adjusted baking schedule.
For a larger quantity, keep each portion at the same fill in the same size well. Mix extra batches just before their pan goes into the oven. Scaling ingredients does not change the fixed pan capacity, oven setting or written timing.
Read the scaling guide. Times, temperatures and equipment need their own consideration. Open the recipe tool to review and correct individual amounts.
Sources and attribution
Fannie Merritt Farmer, The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book, revised edition (Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1918), Graham Muffins II, p. 73
Farmer, revised1918 edition, Graham Muffins II
Fannie Merritt Farmer, *The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book*, revised edition, 1918, “Graham Muffins II,” p. 73; measuring directions and tables, pp. 25–28.
Recipe details
- Recipe tradition
- Vintage
- Cuisine
- American
- Source decade
- 1910s
- Cooking method
- Oven
- Browse category
- Breakfast & Brunch