Seeing that yesterday was my cheat day (yes... another New Years diet) and I needed a good excuse to eat badly, I came up with the idea for the "Blueberry Muffin Challenge".  The idea being that I would ride a 26 mile loop through Marshfield, Duxbury, and Kingston, visiting all the local bakeries and sampling their blueberry muffins.

It should also be noted that I had already had 5 cookies, of various flavors, when I woke at 2:00am and discovered that it was technically my cheat day

The first stop was the Brant Rock Market which boasts its own in-house bakery.  If you are passing through the small peninsula village of Brant Rock in the morning, you can't help but notice the aroma of fresh baked breads coming from the market.  I am also happy to report that their blueberry muffin is quite good.  It is very moist and flavorful.  However, it lacked the amount of blueberries of some of it's competitors.

The second stop was just about a mile up the street from the first.  Therefore, I chose to ride around the perimeter of Brant Rock and along Green Harbor before coming back to the Coffee Shack.  The Coffee Shack has gret Breakfast sandwiches of all kinds.  I like the egg, ham, and cheese on a toasted english.  Unfortunately, their blueberry muffin doesn't fare as well.  It was all dough (possibly the same dough they use for their doughnuts) and lacked blueberries.  I didn't bother finishing it... and my wife says I have no self-control.

I then continued on into Duxbury and visited Breaking Ground, a small, quaint coffee shop tucked behind the ever popular Farfar's Ice Cream Shop.  I knew at the start that this would be the muffin to beat.  I first experienced it a few weeks prior and was immediately smitten.  To start, the blueberry muffin at Breaking Ground is large.  This, by itself, doesn't constitute a good muffin.  However, when it is so moist it melts in your mouth and is loaded with berries, the bigger the better.  When you request a muffin from Breaking Ground you are getting it straight from the tin and still slightly warm.  You bring it to your table (maybe next to the antique coffee roaster) and you already smell the berries.  On the outside the muffin has a slight crust.  However, this crust is all that is holding the muffin together.  When you break it open, be prepared with a napkin, for out will spill large crumbs of muffin and blueberry just ready to be popped into your mouth.

From Breaking Ground, I continued toward Powder Point and over to French Memories.  Here is where you go for intricately made French Pastries that you don't mind remortgaging your house for.  They are expensive... but worth every penny.  I am particular to their French Bread and Brie.  Their blueberry muffin was very good, but not quite to par with Breaking Ground.  Also, it was considerably smaller (typical of the French).

The temperature was dropping and the sky darkening, but I decided to make the trek over to Kingston for the last contestant.  I had only been to Sweet Plums once, but I had high expectations.  The blueberry scone I had on my previous visit was the best I have ever had.  Unfortunately, when I finally reached it's location, I discovered that it had been replaced by a nail salon... very disappointing.

So, the ranking for the 1st ever Blueberry Muffin Challenge is as follows:

1st) Breaking Ground

2nd) (Tied) Brant Rock Market & French Memories

4th) Coffee Shack

Maybe next weekend I'll continue my quest for the perfect blueberry muffin working north up the coastline.