Rumford Apple Corn Muffins

With sugar rationing during WWII people started to experiment with recipes to find substitutions for the difficult to get sweetener. Honey, corn syrup, and maple syrup were common swaps.  Food companies took the opportunity to publish cookbooks and flyers that included recipes that omitted or reduced rationed items. All touted to be the answer for frustrated homemakers

This recipe for Apple Corn Muffins comes from The Rumford Sugarless Recipes pamphlet 1944 , which provided recipes for sugarless cake, muffins, cookies and a bread recipe.

What were they like? Well.. they were easy to make.. smaller than I thought and as the recipe suggests.. not very sweet at all. I found them a little dry... but a lot of corn muffins can be. Nevertheless... they were all eaten.. some with butter.. which somewhat defeats the object of rationing... I also think they could stand having more apples added. 1/3 cup didnt go that far and would help with sweetness and moisture

¾ cup sifted flower
1/3 cup cornmeal
3 tsp Baking Powder
½ tsp salt
¼ cup sliced raw apple
1 egg, well beaten
1/3 cup milk
¼ cup honey
3 Tbsp melted shortening ( butter was a rationed item)

• Sift together flour, cornmeal, Rumford Baking Powder, and salt.
• Wash, pare, and cut apple into eighths.
• Remove core and cut crosswise in very thin slices.
• Combine egg, milk, and honey.
• Add to dry ingredients, stirring only enough to dampen well.
• Stir in melted shortening.
• Fold in apple.

• Fill well-greased muffin tins 2/3 full 
• Bake in a moderately hot oven (400 degrees) for 25 minutes

• Makes 12 medium sized muffins.

Let’s face it: America has a sweet tooth. We love our cookies, cakes, pies, and ice cream. Sugar rationing during WWII put a damper on desserts until folks started to experiment with recipes to find substitutions for the difficult-to-get sweetener. Honey, corn syrup, and maple syrup were common swaps.


Food companies took the opportunity to publish cookbooks and flyers that included recipes that omitted or reduced rationed items. All touted to be the answer for frustrated homemakers.
The following was on the back of the Rumford Sugarless Recipes pamphlet:


“When you view your half-empty sugar bowl with alarm…when your sugar ration runs short…when you pine for a good Rumford cake, shortages or not – that’s the time to dip into this little treasury of
Rumford Sugarless Recipes. There’s not a spoonful of sugar in any of them – but they taste mighty good just the same! Baking without sugar is no secret of the wizards; it’s a little different, that’s all.”
The leaflet cautioned cooks to:


“Follow the recipes given here exactly. The experts have worked out just what happens when you switch to syrups, etc. and you will have the best results if you follow directions to the letter. Generally speaking, you can replace one-fourth the sugar in any recipe with corn syrup (although our recipes here use no sugar). Another thing to expect is slightly different texture from what you’re used to.”