A 1922 cookbook, Good Housekeeping’s Book of Menus, Recipes, and Household Discoveries, contains sample menus for each month of the year. It’s fascinating how the word “dinner” is used in two different ways on a page with October menus. In the Sunday menu, it is the noon meal; while on the Monday menu, it’s the evening meal.
When browsing through hundred-year-old cookbooks I sometimes come across recipes that are different modern recipes, yet sound intriguing. This was one of those times. I found an old recipe for Bacon Muffins which sounded a bit unusual – yet similar enough to some modern foods (think bacon and egg muffins minus the eggs) that I decided to give it a try.
The recipe turned out well. The muffins are a nice way to add variety to a breakfast or brunch menu.
Here’s the original recipe:
The bacon that I used was salty, so I didn’t add any additional salt when I made this recipe.
Here is the recipe updated for modern cooks:
1/4 pound bacon
1 tablespoon sugar
1 egg, beaten
1/12 cups milk
2 1/2 cups bread flour
5 teaspoons baking powder
Preheat oven to 400° F. Chop bacon into small pieces; put into a small skillet and fly until crisp. Drain the bacon fat; reserving 2 tablespoons of the fat (as well as the bacon pieces).
Put the sugar and 2 tablespoons bacon fat in a mixing bowl and stir to combine, then add the egg and milk and stir until mixed. Stir together the flour and the baking powder, then add to the mixture in the mixing bowl; stir to combine. Then fold in the bacon pieces. Pour into greased muffin pans. Fill each muffin cup about 2/3 full. Put in oven and bake about 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Best when served warm.
