Muffins for Presidents Day: A recipe inspired by John and Abigail Adams

In a 1774 journal entry, John Adams wrote about enjoying a breakfast that included muffins. Wan notes that these muffins would have resembled what we call “English Muffins,” which came to these shores from Wales in the mid-18th century. Perhaps we should call them Welsh Muffins.

In a 1774 journal entry, John Adams wrote about enjoying a breakfast that included muffins. Wan notes that these muffins would have resembled what we call “English Muffins,” which came to these shores from Wales in the mid-18th century. Perhaps we should call them Welsh Muffins. PHOTO BY TINKY WEISBLAT

According to Rosana Wan, who wrote “The Culinary Lives of John & Abigail Adams,” in John and Abigail’s day, the muffins would have been made with ale yeast. “An alternative would be barm, which is foam from the top of a fermented alcoholic drink,” Wan writes. Luckily, Wan translated the recipe so regular yeast may be used.

According to Rosana Wan, who wrote “The Culinary Lives of John & Abigail Adams,” in John and Abigail’s day, the muffins would have been made with ale yeast. “An alternative would be barm, which is foam from the top of a fermented alcoholic drink,” Wan writes. Luckily, Wan translated the recipe so regular yeast may be used. PHOTO BY TINKY WEISBLAT

John Adams loved to eat. In 1766, Abigail Adams wrote to a friend, “My Good Man is so very fat that I am lean as a rail.”

John Adams loved to eat. In 1766, Abigail Adams wrote to a friend, “My Good Man is so very fat that I am lean as a rail.” CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Abigail Adams is perhaps best known for her request in a letter from March 31, 1776, which has rung a bell with feminists over the years. “I desire you would Remember the Ladies,” she wrote, “and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors … Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the Husbands.”

Abigail Adams is perhaps best known for her request in a letter from March 31, 1776, which has rung a bell with feminists over the years. “I desire you would Remember the Ladies,” she wrote, “and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors … Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the Husbands.” LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

By TINKY WEISBLAT

For the Recorder

Published: 02-17-2025 7:10 PM

I’m celebrating Presidents Day a day late … with a recipe for treats our second president enjoyed at the breakfast table: muffins.

I have had a soft spot in my heart for John and Abigail Adams since my parents took me to the musical “1776” when I was very small.

As readers may know, the musical is mostly set in Philadelphia’s Independence Hall in July 1776.

It follows the efforts of John Adams (William Daniels in the original cast), Thomas Jefferson (Ken Howard) and Benjamin Franklin (Howard Da Silva) to draft a Declaration of Independence and convince their colleagues in the Continental Congress to sign it.

John Adams is portrayed as patriotic, intelligent, hard-working and imaginative. He is also portrayed as short-tempered, quick to insult, stubborn and tactless. In the patter preceding the show’s opening song, “Sit Down, John,” he opines:

“I have come to the conclusion that one useless man is called a disgrace, that two are called a law firm, and that three or more become a congress. And by God I have had this congress ... Good God, what the devil are they waiting for?”

In a later number, he admits that he is “obnoxious and disliked.” No one argues with him.

I was tickled by his acknowledgment of his failings. I was occasionally obnoxious myself, although I tried to avoid being disliked. I later learned in history classes that much of the portrayal of Adams in the musical was true to life.

Your Daily Puzzles

Cross|Word

Flipart

Typeshift

SpellTower

Really Bad Chess

Although he and Jefferson were close friends for many years, they spent more than a decade (from 1800 to 1811) not speaking to each other after a particularly nasty election in which Jefferson ousted Adams as president. Clearly, both men had an overabundance of pride, ambition and hot-headedness.

The musical “1776” isn’t just about our Founding Fathers. It throws in a couple of Founding Mothers for good measure, particularly Abigail Adams, the future president’s wife.

Although she was not in Philadelphia for the signing of the Declaration, she and her husband read from (and sing from) some of their correspondence in the show.

Frequently separated, the pair exchanged more than 1,000 letters over the course of their lifetimes. They talked about events in their lives — his mostly political, hers mainly social and domestic — as well as literature and philosophy. Both were intellectually curious.

Abigail is perhaps best known for her request in a letter from March 31, 1776, which has rung a bell with feminists over the years.

“I long to hear that you have declared an independency,” she wrote, “and by the way in the new Code of Laws which I suppose it will be necessary for you to make I desire you would Remember the Ladies, and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors.

“Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the Husbands. Remember all Men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention is not paid to the Ladies we are determined to foment a Rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any Laws in which we have no voice, or Representation.”

Unfortunately, no such provision was put into the Declaration, which also omitted a resolve to end slavery. Neither idea would have flown with the conservative men involved, particularly the Southerners.

Nevertheless, Abigail wrote to ask for that provision, and if John didn’t manage to follow her instructions, he was unfailingly devoted to her and was less tyrannical than many of the husbands of their day.

John and Abigail Adams are grist to the food writer’s mill for a couple of reasons. First, John loved to eat. In 1766, Abigail wrote to a friend, “My Good Man is so very fat that I am lean as a rail.”

The couple also appeal because, unlike many other first ladies in our early history, Abigail knew how to cook and did it frequently. She had helpers, but she could, and did, perform a lot of the work herself. She was particularly proud of her skill at churning butter.

Martha Washington may have designed famous menus, but the cooking in her home was done by enslaved workers. Dolley Madison may have popularized ice cream, but she didn’t churn it herself. The Adamses weren’t poor, but they weren’t rich, either, and Abigail did a lot of housework, including cooking.

I found the recipe below, as well as a trove of interesting facts about John and Abigail Adams’ diet, in the 2014 book “The Culinary Lives of John & Abigail Adams” by Rosana Wan (Schiffer Publishing, 152 pages).

In a 1774 journal entry, John Adams wrote about enjoying a breakfast that included muffins. Wan notes that these muffins would have resembled what we call “English Muffins,” which came to these shores from Wales in the mid-18th century. Perhaps we should call them Welsh Muffins.

In John and Abigail’s day, according to Wan, the muffins would have been made with ale yeast.

“An alternative would be barm, which is foam from the top of a fermented alcoholic drink,” the author writes.

Luckily, Wan has translated the recipe so the contemporary reader has no need to search for ale yeast or barm.

Happy belated Presidents Day. Raise a glass — and/or a muffin — to Abigail and John Adams.

Welsh Muffins

Ingredients:

1 package yeast (regular, not instant, about 2¼ teaspoons)

1 cup lukewarm whole milk

1 large egg

2½ cups flour plus a little more if needed

1 teaspoon salt (this isn’t in the original recipe, but for a contemporary eater I think the muffins will need it)

Butter as needed to grease the pan and brush on the muffins later

Instructions:

Add the yeast to the warm milk. Allow it to sit for a few minutes to proof. You will know it is ready when it bubbles up and comes to life.

Use a fork to beat the egg into the yeasty milk. Place the flour in a bowl.

Make a well in the center of the flour and stir in the milk mixture.

On a lightly floured board (or using your mixer’s dough hook, something not available to Abigail Adams), knead the mixture for at least five minutes. After the first couple of minutes of kneading, knead in the salt.

The amount of kneading needed is a little confusing. Wan suggests kneading until the dough is no longer sticky, but she also says one should avoid adding very much flour to keep it from sticking. This isn’t possible. I kneaded until it seemed to be starting to be less sticky.

I think next time I would probably ignore the advice about adding more flour, which would reduce the stickiness. My dough was very sticky and it was hard to shape. In fact, I almost threw it out and decided to try again. The final product was quite tasty, however, so I was glad I had kept my sticky but delicious muffin dough.

Wan doesn’t suggest letting the muffin dough rise, but I wanted to give it a chance to do so. I moved the dough into a greased bowl, covered it with plastic wrap and let it rise for an hour or so, until it was noticeably larger.

Toward the end of the rising period, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Use butter to grease a large cookie sheet.

Using floured hands, divide the dough into small circular disks.

Wan says that these should be about 1 to 2 inches thick; mine didn’t want to be that thick and were about ½ inch thick. Shape them gently with your hands. This process will be messy if the dough is sticky. Place the disks on the prepared sheet.

Brush melted butter on top of the muffins. Bake them until they smell like fresh-baked bread, about 25 to 30 minutes.

Serve warm, split in half with butter and anything else you choose. I drizzled on a little honey.

Makes six to eight muffins, best eaten shortly after baking. My creations seemed like a combination of an English muffin and a scone, with crunchy bottom crusts and soft insides.

Tinky Weisblat is an award-winning cookbook author and singer known as the Diva of Deliciousness. Visit her website, TinkyCooks.com.