Best Blueberry Muffins
The Best Blueberry Muffins recipe with your choice of a Lemon Sugar or Streusel Topping. These muffins are bakery style and have a fresh blueberry jam swirled into the batter. The perfect addition to a breakfast or brunch!
This post was originally published on April 29, 2009. It has been update with new photos and commentary in August 2020.
Many years ago, I found this Best Blueberry Muffins recipe in a paper copy of Cook’s Illustrated. It includes two options for topping: a Lemon Sugar topping and a Streusel topping. I made the muffins for my labmates when we came in very early on a Saturday to do a big radioactivity experiment. I used the Lemon Sugar topping and had never tried the Streusel topping.
This recipe has been buried in my blog archives, and I’m so glad I’ve rediscovered it. I made these recently for Bob and the girls, and they LOVED them! Bob said they were the best blueberry muffins he’s ever had! I even used gluten free flour.
I made half with the Lemon Sugar topping and half with the Streusel topping. We liked both, but I think the consensus for next time is Streusel.
Recipe Notes
The idea behind this recipe, according to the author, is to have a blueberry muffin recipe that works with any kind of blueberries, even the “watery supermarket kind.”
To do this, she came up with a simple homemade jam that you swirl into the batter before baking.
The muffin batter is prepared, and fresh blueberries are folded into the batter. Once the batter has been added to the muffin cups, the homemade jam is swirled through, and then the topping of choice is added before baking.
The result is a moist, bakery style muffin with lots of blueberry flavor!
Although I originally found this recipe in a paper copy of Cook’s Illustrated, it’s also in my Complete America’s Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook, which is my go to cookbook for most recipes!
Make the Muffin Topping
To make these muffins, you can choose between a Lemon Sugar topping or a Streusel topping. For this most recent time, I decided to do half of each. In the recipe card, I have the amount of topping listed for a full batch, so if you’d like to do half and half, you’ll need to cut the toppings down by half.
Lemon Sugar Topping
The Lemon Sugar topping is very simple. It’s just lemon zest mixed with granulated sugar.
Streusel Topping
The Streusel topping is a little more involved than the Lemon Sugar topping (but well worth it!) Flour, salt, granulated sugar, and brown sugar are combined with melted butter until the topping is in large chunks.
Making the Homemade Blueberry Jam
To make the jam, fresh blueberries are combined with a small amount of sugar in a saucepan and heated until the berries burst and release their juices. I use a small silicone spatula to press the blueberries against the bottom and sides of the pan.
The blueberry jam is then set aside to cool while you make the muffin batter.
Make the Muffin Batter
For the batter, the dry ingredients are combined and set aside. The wet ingredients are whisked together in a separate bowl.
Then the wet ingredients are folded into the dry. I use a silicone spatula to do this.
Now you’re left with the homemade blueberry jam, the muffin batter, and the remaining fresh blueberries.
The fresh berries are folded into the batter.
The batter is ready to be added to the muffin pan.
Assemble and Bake the Muffins
I like to use muffin liners when baking in a metal muffin pan. If you don’t use muffin liners, you’ll want to spray your muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray or grease each well to prevent the muffins from sticking. The batter is divided between the muffin cups.
Next, the homemade blueberry jam is scooped on top of each muffin.
Then using a wooden skewer, swirl the jam into the batter.
Repeat with all of the muffins.
Add the Topping
Next you’ll add your choice of topping. I made 6 with Lemon Sugar topping and 6 with Streusel topping.
The topping is divided evenly among the muffins.
Here’s the Lemon Sugar topped muffins.
And the Streusel topped muffins.
Here are the muffins after baking, with Lemon Sugar topping on the left and Streusel topping on the right.
Close up of the Lemon Sugar Topping after baking.
Close up of the Streusel topping after baking.
These muffins are ready to eat! Pour yourself a cup of coffee and dig in!
Blueberry Muffin Recipe FAQ
Yes. Store bought jam should work fine and save you a bit of time.
Yes. The frozen blueberries that go in the muffin batter will need to be rinsed and dried. These notes are included in the recipe card below.
Yes. The recipe card includes the amount of topping for 12 muffins. To make 6 of each, simply prepare half the amount of each topping listed in the recipe.
Gluten Free Best Blueberry Muffins
I have made these using Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1 to 1 Baking Flour as a substitute for all purpose flour with great results!
Want more Muffins?
Check out these Allspice Crumb Muffins, Chocolate Banana Bread Muffins, and Monkey Bread Muffins. You may also like this Blueberry Boy Bait Coffee Cake.
Looking for More Breakfast Recipes?
Check out some of my favorite recipes for Breakfast:
Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes
Blue Cornmeal Pancakes
Lemon Ricotta Pancakes and Blueberry Ricotta Pancakes
Easy Blueberry Cheese Danish
Apple Cider Doughnuts
Ultimate Steel Cut Oatmeal
Baked Oatmeal
Breakfast Chicken Sausage Patties
Perfect Crispy Potatoes and Breakfast Skillets
Quiche Lorraine Florentine
Best Blueberry Muffins
Ingredients
For the Lemon Sugar Topping:
- 1/2 cup sugar (2 1/3 ounces )
- 1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest from 1 lemon
For the Streusel Topping:
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons dark brown sugar
- pinch of table salt
- 1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons unbleached all purpose flour (3 1/2 ounces )
- 5 tablespoons warm, melted unsalted butter
For the Jam:
- 1 cup fresh blueberries, picked over, about 5 ounces (see note below if using frozen blueberries)
- 1 teaspoon sugar
For the Muffins:
- 1 cup fresh blueberries, picked over, about 5 ounces (see note below if using frozen blueberries)
- 1 1/8 cups sugar (1 cup plus 2 tablespoons)
- 2 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour (12 1/2 ounces )
- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon table salt
- 2 large eggs
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly (1/2 stick )
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup buttermilk (see note below)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
Make the Topping:
- For the Lemon Sugar Topping: stir together sugar and lemon zest in a small bowl until combined; set aside.
- For the Streusel Topping: combine 3 tablespoons granulated sugar, 3 tablespoons dark brown sugar, a pinch of table salt, and 1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons unbleached all purpose flour in a small bowl. Drizzle with 5 tablespoons warm, melted unsalted butter and toss with a fork until evenly moistened and mixture forms large chunks with some pea-sized pieces throughout.
Make the Jam:
- Bring 1 cup blueberries and 1 teaspoon sugar to simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, mashing berries with spoon several times and stirring frequently, until berries have broken down and mixture is thickened and reduced to 1/4 cup, about 6 minutes.
- Transfer to small bowl and cool to room temperature, 10 to 15 minutes. Meanwhile, make the muffin batter.
Make the Muffins:
- Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat to 425 degrees F. Spray standard muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray. Use cupcake liners if desired.
- Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl, set aside.
- In a separate, medium-sized bowl, whisk remaining 1 1/8 cups sugar and eggs together until thick and homogenous, about 45 seconds. Slowly whisk in butter and oil until combined. Whisk in buttermilk and vanilla until combined.
- Using a rubber spatula, fold egg mixture and remaining cup blueberries into flour mixture until just moistened. Batter will be very lumpy with a few spots of dry flour; do not overmix.
- Use an ice cream scoop or large spoon to divide batter equally among prepared muffin cups. Batter should completely fill cups and mound slightly.
- Spoon a teaspoon of cooked berry mixture into the center of each mound of batter. Using a chopstick or skewer, gently swirl berry filling into batter using figure-eight motion.
- Sprinkle lemon sugar or streusel topping evenly over muffins.
- Bake until muffin tops are golden and just firm, 17 to 19 minutes, rotating muffin tin from front to back halfway through baking time. Cool muffins in muffin pan for 5 minutes, then transfer too wire rack and cool 5 minutes before serving.
I make a blueberry muffin w/ streusel topping-it’s my family’s fave. But, I love the combo of lemon and blueberry, so I’ll be trying the lemon sugar topping!
Wow, these look so awesome! Yummy.
Yum- these look divine. Blueberry muffins are a favorite around here!
I have this recipe printed out and have yet to make it. Looks yummy
Those look AMAZING!
Awww, that was so sweet of you to bring in muffins for your lab! I love blueberries muffins and the addition of lemon-sugar topping sounds fantastic!
Will you marry me? Or, hrm, I mean, send me some muffins? I have a soft spot for blueberry muffins, they are my favorite kind. If this is what a mess up looks like, I’d love to see a success!
Also, note that if one needs to improvise buttermilk, standard milk mixed with a tablespoon or so of plain white yogurt that is allowed to ripen at room temp. for a bit is a much closer substitute – it will have a very similar microbial makeup as yogurt contains the same bugs as cultured buttermilk. I often do this instead of buying a big old container of cultured buttermilk. I think the rule is 1 tbl per cup or so. Same thing goes for crème fraîche (mostly) excepting of course, for the use of cream instead of milk.
The muffins look wonderful. I love blueberries, the more the merrier!
I agree with Nick…..what was wrong with these muffins???? They look fantastic, and you can make them for me anytime. 🙂 Even tho I am not a fan of too much lemon…I think it would complement the blueberries very well. I will try this recipe, for sure.
Thanks everyone 🙂
Nick – thanks for the tips on making buttermilk and creme fraiche. I was scrambling that morning to google a buttermilk substitute since I realized the buttermilk I had was past its expiration date!
MOM – I will have to tell you what I did with this recipe…big time airhead move 🙂
Wow! Those are the prettiest blueberry muffins I have ever seen!
I made these with crumb topping, and I made a couple of mistakes, like not using liners and not baking quite long enough; but, they were still the best! Actually, I like to underbake slightly, then when ready to eat, pop them in my toaster oven at 400 degrees for about 5-10 minutes before serving ….let cool a little and they get crunchy on the outside , but stay soft and moist on the inside. I didn’t think the melted butter in the topping would work, but that was the best!!
Love these…well-worth the effort. (I did cheat and used jarred blueberry preserves, tho.)