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.
These muffins are delicious! If I want to use less sugar so what is a safe amount to take out without affecting the texture? I also did not use the topping.
Hi Brenda! Glad you enjoyed these blueberry muffins! You could try reducing the sugar by 1/4 cup to see if you’re happy with the results. Sugar is important not just for the sweetness, but structure as well, so you don’t want to reduce it too much the first time you try. I hope this helps!
These were wonderful! Besides zesting a lemon, I added a bit of lemon extract and increased the cinnamon in the topping quite a bit. Thank you Zoe! #ForeverFan
Best ever!!! The sour cream and lemon zest take them to a higher level of goodness!
Recipe was easy to follow and turned out perfectly, my family and friends loved them!
True and tried recipe that is a friend and family favorite. Love the soft batter and crunchy sweet top. Perfect balance to a perfect blueberry muffin.
These turned out just as they should have…..Perfect!!
Wonderful recipe, absolutely delicious. Tender crumbs and the streusel is amazing.
I used buttermilk in my muffins.
This is a definitely a keeper recipe
These blueberry muffins are so delicious!!! The lemon zest just adds something special not to mention the addition of nutmeg in the streusel topping. Wow!!!!
I have made this recipe twice and my husband and I obsessed the muffin are light and truly packed full of blueberries. My husband wants them every week. We are also love Zoe’s baking show. I just found it this year and have been binge watching.
Blueberry muffins used the same fancy muffin fillers and follow recipe exactly but muffins stuck to paper fillers??
We just love your Blueberry Muffins. I watch a lot of cooking shows, but your recipes I use over and over again.
Omg these were AMAZING. I didn’t have any muffin liners and they spread out and looked very ugly but I had 2 in one sitting. I just ordered some muffin liners on Amazon so I can make another batch that will look nicer so I can gift them to friends and neighbors. I’ve never felt confident enough to gift baked goods so I am thrilled with this recipe. Thank you!
Hi Zoe!
Best muffin recipe I have ever baked! Nice crunch with streusel top, moist and delicate cake with a hint of lemon in every bite, I used 1 3/4 cup of fresh blueberries, not as many berries in mine as compared to your pictures. Should I go to 2 cups?
Thanks for sharing!
Truly is the best blueberry muffin I’ve had! They are moist and incredibly tender but more importantly the flavor is perfectly sweet with a touch of crunch in the streusel topping. I used sour cream and just loved how they turned out.
I have tried several times over the 4 years I found it. Its a hit… just do it with fat greek yoghurt as it’s hard to find the buttermilk in Portugal 🙂 but they come very good…
Not sure what that last 1 tbsp of flour is for, I didn’t use it. The recipe is def the best blueberry muffin recipe I’ve tried especially with that lemon zest! Would always go back to this recipe!
Hi Vanessa! The additional 1 Tbsp of flour is for tossing the blueberries so they don’t all sink to the bottom of the batter. We’re so happy you enjoyed the muffins!
These did not work for me! My batter was too thick. I added some milk but the batter was not at all pourable, more like cookie dough! The muffins were heavy not light and fluffy at all. I did not weigh my flour but measured scoop and level. It was Five Roses My sour cream was fairly thick too. I live in Canada. The flavour was good. ♀️
Hi Robin,
The batter is meant to be thick and should be scooped, not poured into the muffin cups. The flour in Canada does tend to be a bit higher in protein, so it may require using a little less. If you have a scale, then it may help with the amounts. If not, then use a spoon and sweep method of filling the cup. Adding the extra milk after the batter is done will make sure a dense muffin. I am glad they tasted good despite the texture issues.
Thanks, Zoë
This recipe was amazing. I omitted the lemon zest, I like straight up blueberry flavor. I also omitted 1 tablespoon of butter and replaced it with 1 tablespoon of oil . In addition I deleted the additional 2 tablespoons of sour cream and used 2 tablespoons of buttermilk. The one thing that you didn’t include in the recipe that you did on TV was the additional sprinkle of blueberries on the top of the batter before adding the crumbles which I did, delicious!
I’ve made this recipe SO many times and I always get rave reactions after the first bite. They are truly amazingly delicious!!!!
I am wondering if I could make it a cake instead of muy. Would that work?
Hi Dora,
Yes, you can, just don’t make it too thick, maybe a lined 9-inch or 10-inch springform pan. The timing will depend how thick the batter is.
Thanks, Zoë
Love the copper soufflé tins. If I was going to spring for 6! of them ($$$), would the batternremain stable enough to wait for 6 to bake and then bake another set of 6?
Thank you!!
Hi Jenn,
Yes, you can make the 6 and store the remaining batter in the refrigerator until the first batch is baked.
Enjoy! Zoë
Oh my goodness these little gems are fantastic. I got so many compliments on how moist they were. Will be making these again and again. . Thank you for the recipe !
Made these today using blueberries we had picked this summer and frozen. This is an awesome recipe! Highly recommend although I did need to reduce baking time by a few min. Just keep an eye on them at about 25 min bake time. My husband loved them and said this recipe is a keeper!
Well, I made these today and my husband could not stop saying how amazing they taste. LOL-no more box muffins for him! The recipe made 12 regular sized muffins as it said it would, so I feel confident making these when I need to be sure I have a certain number. Followed the recipe as it is. Thank you!
Bee, we are thrilled your family enjoyed them and you’ll come back to this recipe again. Cheers!
I cannot explain how delicious these muffins are, they just are! I make them often, I freeze them, they do not last…
The blueberry muffins are delicious! Very tender & soft crumb. The lemon zest is just enough to brighten the muffins. I did make twelve regular size muffins. I also halved the streusel topping. I made 6 with the streusel topping and 6 sprinkled with big sugar crystals. Thank you for sharing the recipe. I enjoy watching Zoe on Magnolia and can’t wait for more episodes. She is very entertaining and warm. She makes everything very approachable.
Delicious muffins! Tender, moist & fluffy, flavorful. I usually find blueberry muffins disappointing — too sweet, kind of a waste of blueberries but I will definitely make this recipe again, maybe try it with peaches and raspberries too. My mom who does not like muffins really liked these. The streusel and lemon zest enhance the texture and flavor nicely, plenty of topping to cover 12 regular size muffins. I did add extra blueberries to the batter because I had to use them up, next time I’ll add extra to the top like Zoe did on tv. I forgot to take out some King Arthur flour after I weighed it but it didn’t seem to matter.
Hi Vanessa, we’re so thrilled you and your family enjoyed the recipe. Thank you for taking the time to leave a rating/review. Cheers!
The best blueberry muffins I have ever tried. So delicious