There is nothing more quintessentially breakfast than blueberry muffins. This recipe is easy to make and creates perfect, moist muffins packed with blueberries.
For me a blueberry muffin has to be chock full of contrasts. It should have enough sweetness to feel decadent, but balanced by the tartness of the blueberries and lemon zest. A perfect muffin also has a top that has a thin crust of spiced streusel and under it is the tender muffin, stuffed with fruit.
I tried to put as many blueberries in this muffin as it could possibly hold without losing its structure. Blueberries alone have a subtle flavor, so they are there to add some flavor, but even more moisture to the muffin.
Muffins are super easy to make, but to have a tender crumb, that doesn’t become tough, you need to mix it just enough to incorporate everything evenly, but stop before you develop too much gluten. I baked the BIG blueberry muffins in 7 tulip muffin papers and used individual, straight sided, molds, but they are just as good in regular muffin cups* baked in traditional muffin pans.
Blueberry Muffins Video Tutorial
Blueberry Muffins Ingredients
- Blueberries: Can’t have the muffins without the berries! Fresh blueberries are unbeatable, but frozen or store-bought berries work too.
- Streusel Topping: Flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and butter give these muffins the beautiful, crunchy topping.
- Lemon Zest and Buttermilk: These add a little zest to the muffins themselves.
Find there rest of the ingredients and full recipe below!
Frequently Asked Questions: Blueberry Muffins
Question: Can I use gluten-free flour in these blueberry muffins?
Answer: Yes. You can use any “cup for cup” gluten-free flour mix, such as King Arthur Flour gluten-free flour, Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free flour or cup4cup gluten-free flour.
Question: What can I use instead of buttermilk or sour cream?
Answer: You can use any kind of yogurt or crème fraîche for this recipe.
Question: Can I use sourdough discard in this recipe?
Answer: I have not tried it myself, but I don’t see why you couldn’t use it for your leavening. It will require that there is some time for the sourdough to do its work to make things rise, which means it won’t be a quick bread. If you try this, please let me know how it goes in the comments below!
Question: Do I need to use lemon zest in my blueberry muffins?
Answer: If you aren’t crazy about lemon flavor, just use a small amount of lemon zest—maybe 1/2-1 teaspoon. If you omit it completely the flavor will be a little flat. You can also use orange zest.
Question: Can I use frozen blueberries instead of fresh?
Answer: Yes. Just keep them frozen until the absolute last moment before you stir them in to the batter. If you use frozen berries, the bake time will need to be adjusted. Tip: Toss your frozen berries in a little flour before stirring into the batter and it will help them suspend in the muffin mix.
Question: I don’t have a muffin pan, what else can I bake these in?
Answer: You can make them in mini soufflé pans (like the copper molds in my photos above). You can also make them in ceramic ramekins. Use parchment paper inside both. The bake time does change based on the size of the container you’re baking in.
Question: Can I use any other fruit?
Answer: Yes. You can use any berries. I’ve also made them with peaches and rhubarb. You can use any fruit you want!
Question: Can I freeze these muffins?
Answer: Absolutely. Thaw them out and then pop them in the oven for about 10 minutes to warm them up.
You can see me make these muffins on the Breakfast Basics episode on Season 2 of Zoë Bakes on Magnolia Network!
Fun Fact: the blueberry muffin is the Minnesota State Muffin, read more about the history of how that came to be: here!
The Ultimate Blueberry Muffins Recipes
Video
Ingredients
Topping
- 1/2 cup (60g) all-purpose flour bleached or unbleached will work
- 2/3 cup (125g) brown sugar well packed
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
- 4 tbsp (57g) unsalted butter room temperature
Muffins
- 2 cups spoon and sweep (240g) all-purpose flour (bleached or unbleached)*
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 + 1/8 tsp baking soda
- 3/4 tsp kosher salt
- 6 tbsp (86g) unsalted butter room temperature
- 3/4 cup (150g) sugar
- 2 tbsp (30g) brown sugar
- 1 lemon zested
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 whole egg room temperature
- 1 yolk room temperature
- 1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp (135g) sour cream or buttermilk crème fraîche or yogurt work too!
- 1 1/2 cups (175g) fresh or frozen blueberries**
- 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Prepare the topping by mixing all the ingredients in a bowl until it turns into uniform clumps. Refrigerate until ready to sprinkle on muffins.
- Prepare regular muffin tins with 7 LARGE liners. (You can bake regular sized muffins by dividing it into 12) I used mini copper soufflé moulds, but they are just as good made in regular muffin tins.
- Whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a bowl, set aside.
- Cream the butter, sugars and zest together on medium speed, in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add vanilla. Add the egg and yolk, one at a time, mixing on low just until combined. It may seem a bit curdled, because it is a lot of liquid to add to that amount of butter. It will all come together in the end.
- Add half the flour and half the sour cream. Mix on low until combined. Add the remaining flour and sour cream.
- Toss the blueberries with flour and if using frozen berries immediately fold them into the batter with two or three gentle stirs. If you over mix, the batter will turn purple and then gray. Scoop into the muffin liners.
- Sprinkle the topping over the muffins. Bake for about 35-40 minutes or until golden brown and a tester comes out with moist, but not wet, crumbs. If you are baking smaller muffins, bake for 20-25 minutes. Cool slightly and serve warm or at room temperature.
Rate and Review!
- If you've made this recipe, please leave a rating and review! I love to hear how you've adapted my recipes to your own tastes, so please share how it went for you. It helps other people find my recipes. Thank you!
Notes
**If you use frozen blueberries, keep them frozen until the last minute. These muffins can be frozen. Thaw them out and reheat in a warm oven for about 10 minutes to serve. What is spoon and sweep? If you use measuring cups instead of weighing your ingredients with a scale, you need to be sure to use the spoon and sweep method of measuring so you don’t use too much flour. Spoon the flour into your measuring cup and then sweep the top clean with a knife. Spooning the flour into the cup aerates it, so it isn’t so densely packed.
The best bluberry muffins I have ever made.
This is by far the best blueberry muffin recipe I’ve ever made. Every one went nuts for these the first time I baked them. And they just come out looking so beautiful.
Best muffin recipe ever!
These muffins are fabulous! I made them and my husband wanted me to bake enough for his office. Everyone loved them.
They turned out fantastic! I even folded my own parchment muffin liners. Peeked into oven at the 20 minute mark and I was giddy. They had risen so high and beautiful. Great recipe.
I made these muffins and they turned out awesome. Great recipe with or without the buttery goodness on top. I added chopped cashews to the topping. Love Zoe ❤️❤️❤️
I am making these tomorrow for a bake sale! Can this recipe be doubled? Thank you!
It sure can! Enjoy!
Made these with GF flour and they were amazing! My husband loved them too!
Im wondering if you could make this recipe in a loaf pan (like banana bread)?
These are the blueberry muffins of my dreams! Thanks for sharing this excellent recipe!
This is a perfect recipe!! So so delicious & a keeper for your recipe box!!
Delicious!!! Excited to try more of your recipes!
So easy, so delicious! By far the best blueberry muffins I have made. I purchased the same muffins papers which I love as well
Perfect blueberry muffin recipe!
These are perfect! I’ve deleted all other blueberry muffin recipes. My husband and kids said “mmmmm” the whole time they were eating them! Light and fluffy.
Is the nutrition information posted anywhere? Thank you!
Right?! Love when it’s there.
Hi Zoe (hopefully you read this but it’s ok if you don’t),
My mom made these muffins yesterday and they were so good!! Any recipe that she has made that was yours has not gone wrong yet. She makes your baguettes, bread bowls, and a few of your cakes for my niece and nephew. She made your Boston crème cake for my birthday and it was amazing. Thank you for making baking fun. I plan to try some of your recipes soon.
Thanks so much,
Jane
Best recipe I have ever used! Definitely a keeper. I love the lemon zest and they come out so perfect! My husband really enjoyed them so much! The only recipe I will ever use now.
Made it in a tea loaf pan and used 1 C blueberries, 1/2 C mango and small amount of lime zest Super light texture, delicious! Will make again, try different fruits. Thanks!
I’m sitting at my kitchen counter eating a warm blueberry muffin. I best I’ve ever made! Thank you, Zoe for sharing this recipe and all the others that you have so generously shared. This is a new chapter in baking for me. So far, all I’ve ever really known about desserts I learned from several Maida Heatter’s cookbooks – which I treasure. There’s always something to learn with Zoe as she gives very thorough directions too!
Scrumptious!!! Tender, berry filled, bakery style muffins. Exactly what I was hoping for.
Hi! I am allergic to nutmeg. Can I just leave it out of the topping, or should I add more cinnamon? Thank you!
Hi Joani! You can absolutely just omit the nutmeg. Happy baking!
Can I add small bits of cream cheese into the batter?
Hi Lei, Zoe hasn’t tried this, but it should work. Just don’t go overboard! Happy baking!
These blueberry muffins are the best muffins, EVER! I gave some to my neighbor who rated them A+++! One of the things we loved about them was that they stayed fresh tasting and delicious, without freezing, for a few days. My husband is a big streusel fan, so he absolutely loved these for that reason. I am going to try them with other fruit as well. This recipe is a definite keeper.
These were the best blueberry muffins I have ever made!
can you use a hand mixer, don’t have a stand mixer?
Absolutely. Just be sure to fold with a spatula starting in step 6. Happy baking!
These are the best muffins I have ever eaten!!
Delicious! I used large liners and mine still overflowed a bit, but VERY delicious . Will try a sturdier liner next time. Love your enthusiasm and all your shows. Sooo informative and inspirational!