Q: Where do muffins come from?
A: The word "muffin" appeared in Britain around the 11th century, derived from the Old French moufflet,[1] which meant "soft" in reference to bread. Muffins may have started out as a form of small cake, or possibly an adaptation of cornbread. Early versions of these muffins tend to be less sweet and much less varied in ingredients than their contemporary forms. Made quickly and easily, they were useful as a breakfast food. They also rapidly grew stale, which prevented them from being a marketable baked good, and they were not seen much outside home kitchens until the mid-20th century. Recipes tended to be limited to different grains (corn, wheat, bran, or oatmeal) and a few readily available additives (raisins, apples in some form, or nuts). Fannie Merritt Farmer listed 15 recipes of this type in her Boston Cooking-School Cook Book of 1896, of which there were two each of "one-egg," "berry," oat, graham flour, and rye; one with cornmeal, one with cooked rice, and the remaining three slightly enriched versions of the plain "one-egg" muffin.