Blueberry Cream Cheese Muffins
Who knew that blueberry muffins would be a million times better with cream cheese? These simple blueberry cream cheese muffins are spectacular.
What a wild, wild weekend.
Our little corner of Idaho has been slammed with some crazy winter weather the last week (hello, four school snow days in a row), but this weekend was insane. Snow, ice, rain – even church was canceled, which is relatively unheard of.
Our local grocery store was packed with people panicking to get water and toilet paper and food and dark chocolate (wait, that was just me).
We knew there was a chance of power outages, so our family prepared as best we could – filling up the bathtubs each night in case the power went out the next day (our well pump is powered by electricity that unfortunately our generator can’t hook into…yet).
And we also made sure we had wood for our fireplace and propane for our independent Big Buddy heaters, if needed (sidenote: this is totally unsponsored, but I just have to say, those heaters are amazing; if you don’t have one, they are worth the investment as they are safe to use indoors and are a very effective source of heat in an emergency – or even when working in a cold garage or something like that).
And then we just hunkered down and hoped for the best.
And by we, I mean me and the kids. Brian spent much of the weekend with his 4-wheeler + plow making sure everyone in a 5-mile radius could get out of their driveways.
Not that anyone was driving anywhere. But if they needed to, they could! For about six minutes before it filled in again with inches of snow (and now rain and ice).
Anyway, all is well so far, and thankfully it wasn’t as bad as it could have been (although the constant moisture, now rain, has been pretty awful for our already leaky ceiling).
It was definitely a good chance to take stock of how prepared we are for an emergency, especially since I’m kind of an emergency preparedness junkie.
Now on to more exciting things!
Like blueberry muffins.
And not just any blueberry muffins. Blueberry cream cheese muffins.
I wasn’t actually planning on posting this recipe quite yet, because I have the most amazing vanilla bean pudding cake to share with you.
But figured maybe these muffins might be a better choice until January’s over, since some of you crazy cats aren’t eating sweets this month, and I’m trying to patiently honor that decision).
Plus, when I showed you a teaser of these muffins on Instagram, you went crazy.
So. Here you go.
I love blueberry muffins any which way, but I’d have a hard time saying these blueberry cream cheese muffins are not my current favorite.
First of all: cream cheese in the batter.
Not swirled in, not dolloped on the top, it’s mixed right into the batter with the butter and sugar.
The cream cheese lends a creamy flavor to the muffins, but it also gives the blueberry cream cheese muffins a slightly more dense and deliciously soft texture that is irresistible (as in, try to eat only one – I dare you).
Second of all: buttermilk, baby.
I happen to believe in buttermilk. I love buttermilk. And I think buttermilk makes almost any baked good better. I always keep it on hand or rely on my handy-dandy homemade buttermilk substitutions.
And in the case of these muffins, it makes the crumb extra tender and flavorful.
While these muffins may look like any ordinary blueberry muffin, I promise they are special and just unique enough to warrant an immediate drop-whatever-you-are-doing-and-make-them moment.
Because it’s the middle of January, and I’m not willing to sell one of my children (most days) to buy sub-par blueberries at the grocery store, I immediately reached for my stash of freeze-dried blueberries for this recipe.
Best decision ever.
Of course fresh berries will work, too, but I was thrilled that the freeze-dried berries worked out so well, and I can’t wait to experiment with other berries, like raspberries or blackberries, both of which I also have in my food storage in freeze-dried form.
A versatile muffin is a very good muffin indeed.
A big thanks to my virtual friend, Heather, who emailed me the recipe for these blueberry cream cheese muffins last week and insisted I make them. We were currently on snow day #2 at that point, so these divine blueberry muffins happened almost immediately.
They happened to be a sanity-saver that day. A snow day diversion. A total pick-me-up. And additionally, they are one of the tastiest blueberry muffins to cross my blueberry muffin loving lips (and hips).
One Year Ago: Cheesy Black Bean Lasagna
Two Years Ago: 60-Second Chocolate Chip Mug Cookie
Three Years Ago: Spinach Salad with Sweet-Spicy Nuts, Apples, Feta and Bacon
Blueberry Cream Cheese Muffins
Ingredients
- 8 ounces (227 g) cream cheese, softened
- 4 tablespoons (57 g) butter, softened
- 1 ½ cups (318 g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups (284 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup buttermilk
- 2 cups blueberries (see note)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two 12-cup muffin tins with paper/parchment liners. Set aside.
- With an electric handheld mixer (or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment), cream together the cream cheese, butter, and sugar until light and fluffy, 1-2 minutes.
- Add the eggs, vanilla, and buttermilk, and mix again until well-combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Add the dry ingredients to the muffin batter and mix with a wooden spoon or spatula once or twice. There will be a lot of dry steaks remaining. Add the blueberries. Mix until JUST combined. Don’t overmix. It’s ok if it’s slightly lumpy.
- Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups. Bake for 14-17 minutes until the tops spring back lightly to the touch. Don’t overbake (the exact time will depend on the variance of temperature in your oven so if you have to add time, that’s ok).
- Remove the muffins to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in a covered container at room temp or in the refrigerator for several days. The tops of the muffin will soften as they are stored; they reheat beautifully for 10-15 seconds in the microwave and taste fresh as can be even days later.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: adapted slightly from this recipe after my friend, Heather, emailed me saying I should make them soon
Sooooo good! These are my favorite blueberry muffin recipe. They are especially good cold! Dense and moist. Thanks Mel for another great recipe!
The muffins tasted very nice and were quite sweet but unfortunately mine deflated while they cooled so they ended up looking like hockey pucks.
Maybe it was because I opened the oven twice to check if they were ready, but I’ve never had this issue before with other muffin recipes.
yummy, yummy. dense deliciousness!!! only thing that would make this a 6 star would be lemon zest sugar on top .
These were wonderful! I used fresh blueberries and found that they needed a bit longer to cook due to all the moisture from the berries. I also added lemon zest (from 1 lemon) to the batter and sprinkled some lemon sugar (1/2 cup sugar mixed with 1 tsp lemon zest) on the tops. These also freeze really well! Thanks for the recipe and suggestion of using lemon!
So good, even with one cup of sugar they were plenty sweet for us. I sprinkled some of the lemon zest sugar from The Best Blueberry muffin recipe on top and it gave a really nice crunch on top. I used frozen blueberries. My son, who has trouble with low appetite and is underweight, said the only thing wrong with them was they weren’t big enough so he had to eat three:) Cream cheese for the win! The batter tasted like cream cheese icing, I was licking the bowl out with a rubber spatula.
With ALABAMA temps plummeting, snow and ice and rain for the past few days, and now Covid in my house, we NEEDED something good and I found this recipe. How have I missed this for so long? Super yummy Mel! Thank you thank you! I used frozen blubs, and while they are a bit too large for ideal, they worked just fine. I think smaller ones would be better tho! Thank you!!!!
Loved this recipe! It turned out so delicious with a perfect soft texture.
I used 2.5 cups frozen blueberries to use all mine up, came out perfect. However some of the muffins were a little small, if I did it again with the same batch I probably would’ve made a few less to bulk up the rest.
I wanted to leave this here in case anyone had the same question as me. Didn’t have any muffin liners- I greased and floured my tins well, and then when they were done baking- to avoid having the muffins fall apart, would definitely recommend using a knife around the edges and then use a small rubber spatula to scoop each one out. That worked well for me so that they did not break apart at all. So it can be done! 🙂
Thanks for this awesome recipe Mel!!!
Can these be frozen?
Yes, they freeze well.
I tried these a few months ago and have been making them regularly since. Wowza. So good. Definitely a sweet muffin, and we all love them. I typically use frozen blueberries and they need a little more cook time.
Today I mixed it up with some fresh raspberries and white chocolate chips. The raspberries gave it a little tang. Definitely a winner. Thanks mel!
The fluffiest, tastiest blueberry muffins I’ve ever had! The cream cheese really makes a difference.
I used 30% less sugar and milk instead of buttermilk, as well as added a light streusel sugar topping. They came out so good and moist! My new favorite muffin recipe.
Try ‘em with peaches!
Just made these for the second time and made some slight adjustments – used frozen blueberries (because that’s all I have), filled the cups a little fuller (so made a few less muffins), and added a little brown sugar/cinnamon streusel on top. Also always make my own buttermilk with greek yogurt, for what it’s worth. OH MY GOODNESS. Amazing!!! They needed a little longer to bake, assuming because of the fuller cups and frozen blueberries, but MAN. I will for SURE be making these regularly. SO GOOD.
This recipe is so easy and delicious! This was a great one to teach my kids with.
Holy Moly ! These babies are AWESOME!! Just made them and they will for sure be in my breakfast rotation. Delicious!!!!
LOVE this recipe! I needed a recipe to use up some summer berries and stumbled across this one. I added lemon zest to the batter and topped the muffins with a lemon glaze. (I add a tiny pinch of salt and about 1 tsp of salted butter to my lemon glaze to cut the sugar shock.) The presentation and taste were such winners that I made more as neighbor gifts. Thank you!
These are quite possibly my new favorite muffins! I made them with a combination of dried blueberries, raspberries, and fresh blueberries (I didn’t have enough of any one of those so I added all 3). Amazing!
Oh my goodness!!!! These are AMAZING. I made them a couple days ago and I think I have eaten them for breakfast and lunch everyday since then. They are sooo moist and tender. I baked them for 16 minutes and they were perfect. I had intentions of bringing half of them to a neighbor… But oops, I have been eating them all myself. I guess I’m going to have to make more. Thank you for the great recipe! I ALWAYS know I can count on your stuff, it’s the only recipes I use now.. really! No need to look anywhere else! 🙂
I knew these would be good before I made them but WOW they are my new favorite muffin! My blueberry obsessed son said they made all of his blueberry dreams come true
Can you use regular whole milk? (I don’t want to buy milk that will only be used for one recipe then waisted)
Yes
This should convert to loaf pans well with longer baking time (of course), right? Sounds perfect for to go along with the quick bread assortment I’m making for our church’s coffee hour this weekend.
Technically, yes, although I haven’t tried it myself. Good luck if you experiment!
Wonderful! I got a giant tub of cream cheese at Costco so was looking for something to use it up. This recipe is a winner with my picky six-year-old. I bake muffins all the time and he usually doesn’t like what I make but he loves these! I’ll be making them again. I used fresh berries so next time I’ll try dried.
These muffins… are perfect in all of their ways. Officially BEST. MUFFINS. EVER!!!!!!!!
The muffins were super easy and turned out great!!!
Best muffins I have ever made. I have only been baking for a short time but these are really great.
These were quite tasty. I cooked the second tray about 3 minutes longer and the tops browned up the way I like them without drying out the inside. Delicious.
They don’t rise much, though, so I learned for the second tray to fill the paper muffin liners all the way up.
I just made this recipe and they turned out awesome, can’t wait for my family to try. I will make this again.
These muffins are so good and they are everything a muffin is supposed to be. This recipe has become one I make over and over again, because the entire family loves them. I have cut the sugar down to just one cup and I haven’t noticed a changed in taste or texture. I have also made them with a mixture of frozen blueberries, raspberries and blackberries and they turned out just as delicious.
I just made these and….. OH. MY. GOODNESS!!!!!!!! So light and fluffy!
These were awesome, I added a tsp almond extract and used frozen berries……sprinkled sugar on top…..Yum,
Could any other type of berry be used? I haven’t tried yet because I wasn’t sure if others would be good. I made them regularly, though and I loved them!
Yes, I think other berries could be used. Strawberries are a little too moist, but raspberries or blackberries might be yummy?
Thank you!
I made this recipe with blueberries the first time and blackberries the second time and both were amazing
These were a winner this morning for breakfast! Used frozen blueberries from our picking this summer. Reminded me of box muffins without all the extra stuff.
I’ve made these blueberry cream cheeze muffins countless times as my family like it very much. I’ve used both frozen and fresh blueberries and the end product always turn out good.
I didn’t care that it’s been well into the 90’s lately and suffocatingly humid–I really NEEDED something deliciously blueberry, regardless, and I love cream cheese in cake-type batters, so this recipe seemed like the ideal way to go. It was not merely ideal, however, it was blueberry perfection! Thanks, Mel!
I made these with partially frozen blueberries. These muffins were amazing! Thank you
I’ve got these in the oven. I had been looking for a cream cheese muffin recipe that had it in the batter, not as a filling. I also love buttermilk! I used partially rehydrated raisins instead. Thanks for the recipe!
These are awesome!! As soon as they come out of the oven and are still warm, I brush the tops with a little melted butter and sprinkle sparkling sugar on top. It makes them
so pretty and has a nice bit of crunch on top from the sugar.
I started making my own buttermilk from scratch. You just need a start from a good quality buttermilk (I used Winder Dairy) that is just cultured milk (no xantham gum or other yucky stuff preferably) and put about a cup of it in a Mason Jar. Fill it to the top with regular milk and stir it up or shake it up and let it sit out for 24-36 hours. When you use it, just refresh it with regular milk and let it sit out, then store it in the fridge. It is so great! Making these muffins now. I can’t wait!
Great tip, thank you!! Does it ever go bad? We go through buttermilk pretty regularly in my house and it’s frustrating tracking it down sometimes, as my husband REFUSES to ever let me use the powder as retirement.
Ooh, thank you!! Does the buttermilk ever go bad doing it that way?