Pumpkin Muffins from 1661

You might not think you need another pumpkin muffin/bread recipe, but this one is a real curiosity. I found it in Margaret Rudkin's "Pepperidge Farm Cookbook" (1963). She has a chapter called "Cooking from Antique Cookbooks," in which she takes a number of 16th and 17th century recipes and translates them to modern terms. I find this endlessly fascinating ... and so I'm sharing a few of them, because I'm not sure this book is even still in print.

• Ready In: 50 mins
• Serves: 15

Ingredients

• 1⁄2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1  cup all-purpose flour
• 1  cup cornmeal
• 1  tablespoon baking powder
• 1  teaspoon salt
• 1⁄4 cup honey
• 1⁄4 cup molasses (light)
• 1⁄2 cup pumpkin (use solid-packed canned pumpkin)
• 2  eggs, small and well-beaten
• 1⁄4 cup butter, melted
• 1  cup buttermilk

Directions

1. Sift together the flour, cornmeal, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
2. Beat the eggs well.
3. Add pumpkin, honey, molasses, and buttermilk to the eggs, and mix thoroughly.
4. Add sifted dry ingredients to pumpkin mixture and stir until just mixed.
5. Stir in melted butter.
6. Spray a muffin pan with baking spray and fill tins 2/3 full. Bake at 425-450 for 18-20 minutes.