Blueberry Muffins
These from-scratch blueberry muffins are absolutely amazing. The crumb is moist and tender and they are topped with lemon zest and sugar!
I have another recipe for blueberry muffins on this blog. They are good. But these? These muffins are phenomenal.
The crumb is so moist and tender. Honestly – I’ve never had a from-scratch muffin turn out as delicious.
This could be helped along by the fact that these muffins are topped with a divine concoction of lemon zest and sugar. But really, the muffin itself takes the cake and I am excited to try the base muffin recipe with other add-ins (think: chocolate chips).
The great thing about these delectable morsels is they can be made with fresh or frozen berries.
Living in a winter tundra with a poor selection of fresh produce and unwilling to pay $36 for a pint of sub-par fresh blueberries, I chose to use frozen…and the result was stellar.
Blueberry Muffins
Ingredients
Lemon-Sugar Topping:
- ⅓ cup (71 g) sugar
- Zest from one lemon
Muffins:
- 2 cups frozen blueberries, or 2 cups fresh
- 1 ⅛ cups plus 1 teaspoon sugar
- 2 ½ cups (355 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- 4 tablespoons (57 g) butter, melted and cooled slightly
- ¼ cup oil, vegetable or canola
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
- For the topping, stir together sugar and lemon zest in a small bowl and set aside.
- For the muffins, adjust an oven rack to the middle position and preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a standard muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray.
- Rinse one cup frozen berries under cold water and spread on a double layer of paper towels to dry well. Bring remaining one cup berries and 1 teaspoon sugar to simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, mashing berries with a spoon several times and stirring frequently, until the berries have broken down and the mixture is thickened and reduced to about 1/3 cup, about 6-8 minutes.
- Transfer to a small bowl and cool to room temperature, about 10 to 15 minutes.
- Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl. Toss the berries that have dried on the paper towels in with the flour mixture. Whisk remaining 1 1/8 cups sugar and eggs together in a medium bowl until thick, about 45 seconds. Slowly whisk in the butter and oil until combined. Whisk in the buttermilk and vanilla until combined. Using a rubber spatula, fold egg mixture into flour mixture until just moistened. The batter will be lumpy with a few dry spots of flour – don’t overmix. This is the key to moist and tender muffins.
- Using ice cream scoop or large spoon, fill the muffin cups until they are about 3/4 full. Spoon a teaspoon of cooked berry mixture into the center of each mound of batter. Using a skewer (or a chopstick), gently swirl the berry filling into the batter using a figure eight motion. Sprinkle lemon sugar evenly over the muffins.
- Bake until the top of the muffins are golden and just firm, 17-18 minutes. Cool muffins in the muffin tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and cool 5 minutes before serving.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: adapted from Cook’s Illustrated
Hi Mel,
I made these this morning, but accidentally left out the oil…they were still very good…but can you tell me what the difference would have been had I not forgotten? Moister? I also left off the sugar coating on top as my wee one is having them too – but all in all, I am very pleased…thank you!! I just wondered about the oil…I like to understand these things 😉
Hey Melissa – mostly the oil helps the crumb of the muffin to be tender and moist. It also can help the muffin texture not crumble.
ohhhhh, Mellll….we sure do love you around here!! I was wondering if you think I could make this recipe in a 9×13 pan and if so would i need to double it??
Thanks Cyndi! That’s a great question but I’m afraid I’ve never tried it. I do think just looking at the recipe that it would probably need to be doubled for a 9×13. Good luck!
hi Mel, a quick question ! way back in the spring( I believe) I requested if you could come up with or have your own personal recipe “cream of wheat” that you would share with us .. the box version is going against all my kitchen rules.-its coming up to that time of year again and we live in northern Ontario–Very,very cold !!! 6 hr drive to quebec (were my n-laws live).True Canadians. This is one comfort dish that I would love to refer to and give to my daughter before getting on the school bus in the morning -lol just think some brown sugar on top with piping hot creamy cream of wheat & some plump raisins. Mel, considering how busy you are do you think it would be possible to address my otherwise patient adrenaline????thank you mel so far for all your hard work & recipes,they are awesome. your the best !!!!
I haven’t forgotten about your request; promise! I’ve actually been experimenting with how coarse/fine to grind the wheat and toasting it. I hope to post a version soon but only when it is just right. Good luck with that brutal cold!
Hi, I just made these but I made one mistake. I accidentally added the sugar into the flour bowl. Then in a different bowl I did the egg mixture. My muffins turned out pretty thick-even the batter was really thick. Could the sugar mistake be why? I want to make these again knowing that putting the sugar in the egg mixture bowl will give me moist muffins.
Thanks!
Kristen – The order of ingredients can definitely make a difference in the consistency of a batter like this. Did you bake the muffins? If they came out light and moist it sounds like it was ok. If not, I’d wager another try mixing it the other way will make a better difference. Good luck!
can you tell me when it asks for buttermilk if the batter changes or tastes different if you make your own with fat free milk and lemon juice? thanks
cheryl frankart – You can definitely make your own buttermilk with milk and lemon juice but I’ve never tried it in this recipe with fat free milk so I don’t know how that would affect it (I’ve done it with lowfat, 1% milk, with good results).
Feel free to visit my webpage … web page; Russel,
These definitely are the best muffins I’ve ever made. Now I just need to get a jumbo muffin pan I make bakery size muffins! Thanks for all your great recipes.
Made these for breakfast today and they were awesome! I used mini muffin tins and got 30 minis out of this recipe. Loved the blueberry syrup and lemon sugar that goes on top. So good!
Oops, ignore my duplicate question. I didn’t see where to click “newer comments”, which would have answered my original question… 🙂
Do you ever make these muffins with whole white wheat flour? Do you think it will change the texture or flavor? I am always a fan of sneaking in more fiber 🙂
Have you ever made these with whole wheat flour? Or does it compromise the flavor or texture? Love all your recipes!
Elizabeth – I’ve never made these with whole wheat. I think it’s possible but the muffins won’t be as light and fluffy as with 100% white flour. Good luck!
Hi Mel, have you ever tried using browned butter for the melted butter? Do you think that would work? Thanks in advance!!
Stephanie – I haven’t but your suggestion is brilliant! I think it would be divine.
I made this these this morning after preparing your Beef Stew in the slow cooker, and my kitchen looks like a bomb went off! A lot of steps and bowls, but they ARE the best! I made 18, but thought I might, so made a little extra sugar/lemon zest and it was perfect! I’ve eaten 3 already – yikes! Off to clean up my kitchen before making your french bread to go with the stew.
Mel these are AMAZING!!! I didn’t have buttermilk so I did the milk and lemon juice trick and it added just enough extra lemon to the batter. Awesome recipe, as usual! Thank you!
I didn’t have blueberries so I used a combination of raspberries and strawberries. I make never make them with blueberries they were sooo good!
Mel, I know you substitute whole wheat flour quite often, but I can’t tell if you have tried that with these. I was thinking I would make them with WW pastry flour (soft white wheat). Thanks!
Hi Jodi – the most I’ve subbed wheat flour in these muffins is half wheat flour (white wheat) and half all-purpose. It makes them a tad bit more dense but still delicious.
Made these with fresh blueberries yesterday. A little more work than my usual Joy of Cooking muffins, but sooooo worth it. Hands down best blueberry muffins I have ever made!
Mel – These are delicious! Thanks so much for sharing. I made them for a MOPS meeting this morning and got a thumbs up from across the room =). I love your site!!
sorry it would help if I had read things through! I see 375f
Hi,
I can’t see anywhere what the temp should be. I would never assume anything in baking. Most recipes say either 375f or 400f. If you could advise that would be great.
Thanks.
Hi Mel,
Do you recommed making these in the morning or is it okay to make them the night before? I am taking them to a get together. Thanks!!
Stacey – if you have time, I’d recommend making them the morning of. They are best as fresh as can be.
Nikki – the temperature is stated in the the second paragraph of the instructions: 375 degrees F.
Fantastic!
I made a batch yesterday and they didn’t even last 24 hours. Tonight I decided to make them again, but instead I used some strawberries… the were wonderful too!! I didn’t do the sugar topping with the strawberry ones, but I will definetly say that I’ll be making them again, both ways!!
Hi Mel, I decided to make these muffins for my husband and kids and they were fabulous! My husband said they were the best blueberry muffins he’s tasted. I don’t usually eat blueberry muffins because I don’t like them but I really liked these. I’ve made 2 batches in 3 days and my kids are begging me to make more. I will be making these often!
And for a buttermilk substitute, I used lemon juice to curdle my milk. It worked great. Just a tablespoon of lemon juice and then fill up to the cup level in a measuring cup and let it stand while you do the rest of the recipe. By the time you’re ready to add it, you have buttermilk!
This muffin was great – thanks for the recipe! It had a really nice crumb to it, and it tasted delicious. I didn’t have enough blueberries, so I used half blueberry/half cranberry and loved it.
I forgot to top it with sugar before baking, so instead I poked holes in the muffins once they came out of the oven and used a lemon glaze – so good. I would like to try it with the sugar too, though. Will definitely make these again 🙂
I made these today for a church potluck, but I had to use the ingredients that I had on hand. Mixed frozen berries from Schwans, and lime zest instead of lemon. Delicious!
I have made these muffins several times, but when I started to make them this morning I noticed I had no buttermilk, so in a panic I substituted sour cream. They turned out awesome just as good as buttermilk. This is such a great recipe and the lemon is the finishing touch. I also mixed blackberries in with the blueberries. Absolutely delicious!
Cyndi, was it a 1 to 1 substitute?
I just made these, very delicious – and worth the 20 minute clean up after dumping the blueberry slurry on the kitchen floor!
evina – I think that should work, although I’ve never tried it. You might want to thin it down with a bit of regular milk.
Can I substitute buttermilk with sour cream? Because it’s hard to find buttermilk in my country. Thank you
OMG! I felt like a pro after i made this muffin.. These are sooooooooooooooo good.. Thanks so much!!
Ok, seriously. There are not even words to describe these muffins. Let the fact that in the last 2 days I have probably eaten 8 speak for itself. I have been dreaming up things I can top with lemon sugar. Mel, would you send me a picture of yourself that I can frame and hang in my kitchen?
thanks for posting this! I have been searching for THE blueberry muffin recipe and this is it! I made a double batch of these on Sat (did the part where you boil them w/ sugar also). They were so perfect!! I gave them to several neighbors and got many compliments.
I made these today with fresh blueberries. Amazing!
I used regular sized muffin tins with cupcake liners and filled them 1/2 way full so as to not have them too large and that was just right to yield 21 muffins. Also, I used one extra large lemon and ended up with 2 teaspoons lemon zest so I put one in the batter and one in the topping. Because I ended up with more muffins than the recipe calls for, I think I would double the lemon topping next time to get more of the crumble effect on top. Besides, it is just that delicious! I also used reduced fat buttermilk to save some calories and the results were good (my husband ate four in one sitting). I, too, reduced the baking time to 15 minutes for my oven and sized muffins and that was perfect.
Finally, I was wondering if you could reduce the amount of vanilla extract and replace it with some lemon extract instead for some additional lemon flavor. Just curious if you have ever tried that, Mel.
I’m gonna definitely make these again and also try substituting the blueberries with raspberries. I think that would be heavenly with the lemon topping. Anyway, thanks for another great recipe! I *heart* your blog and am slowly working through your recipes! My husband and I thank you for making me a better cook!
Just went to the blueberry farm yesterday and picked 18 lbs. (at $2/lb. I HAD to stock the freezer!) so I have been searching for a different muffin recipe to try. Do believe it will have to be this one!! Can’t wait to try it out tomorrow!! 🙂
That lemon zest sugar mixture was genius! It gave the muffin that extra boost of flavor and texture. Soooooo good!
Have these in the oven right now—I live in FL and we went blueberry picking today, got 2 lbs for $5. That’s always the best, because we make sure the full two pounds are only the fattest, bluest berries. But don’t worry, we are punished here with heat and humidity so don’t be too jealous. I’m crazy for this lemon sugar topping—thanks for a great recipe!
This recipe is amazing! I worked as the lead pastry chef at a bakery for four years, and this is by far one of the best blueberry muffin recipes I’ve tried. Looking forward to trying your other recipes!
Nice recipe 🙂 I love blueberry muffins… Such a great snack.
Here’s another recipe you might like.
http://www.wascene.com/food-drink/recipes/blueberry-muffin-recipe/
Thanks for sharing.
Nat
Hi! Thank you so much for your recipe. My mom shared with me and it was amazing! These have it all.. The look, the taste, the texture.. Bravo! One question for those of you cooks who are WAY more experienced than myself.. If I were to prepare everything the night before (the batter, the blueberry topping, and the sugar topping) then assemble and cook the next morning, would I have the same results? Obviously trying will be an easy way to find out but I wanted to see if anyone else had tried this before I wasted my time. Thanks!
These are so delicious! Made them again with coconut & white chocolate chips sprinkled with toasted coconut for another yummy hit! Love your website – always know I can trust your recipes!
These are so yummy. I subbed half of the flour with whole white wheat, and used applesauce instead of the oil. They turned out delicious! Another great recipe! I plan to freeze them so I don’t eat them all in one day, which is very possible. Hope they freeze well!
So tasty! I love the lemon-sugar topping! Mmmmm!
I LOVED these muffins…and the zest was a gourmet touch!!
I’ve seen this recipe on America’s Test Kitchen and I’ve wanted to try it. They were so good! For some reason my batter made 23 muffins but I’m not complaining. I especially loved the lemon zest. It was a great combination with the fresh blueberries.
I just made these muffins today, step by step and they were fantastic! I made 12 huge muffins, and now three hours later, only 4 are left! This will be my ultimate go to blueberry muffing recipe and thank you for sharing it 🙂
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM…………………………….
I wish I had some of those soft-tasty-fluffy-looking muffins in my mouth right now!
I made these today only I had to sub orange zest for lemon since that’s what I had. They were so delicious. The citrus adds a great flavor. I want to try these with lemon now because I bet they are even better with the lemon.
These were so moist! Loved them! Thanks Mel for another great one.