Homemade Blueberry Muffins

What Makes This Blueberry Muffin Recipe Different?

My blueberry muffin experience started with a blue boxed mix, complete with tiny dried blueberries. My mom would often make them to accompany dinner, and we would devour them slathered in too much butter. I started baking them from scratch while working at the Blue Heron Coffeehouse; I always loved that their recipe added nutmeg and I took that little trick with me when I left.

This recipe is revamped from my first book and now included in my latest cookbook, 100 Morning Treats; I found adding almond flour keeps the crumb tender and light, and also adds rich flavor. Bumping up the baking powder and adding another egg helped those muffins dance beautifully over the rim. You’ll find nutmeg incorporated in the perfectly sugary top (please don’t skip this!); the crunch being a perfect contrast to the moist muffin.

Why Do You Fill Every Other Muffin Cup?

Filling the muffin cups so that every other cup is empty can help the muffins bake higher. Leaving that extra space in between muffins gives them more room to rise, and their tops won’t bake into each other in the pan. This does mean you will have to use two pans for baking, but I find it is worth the extra trouble. I don’t fill the empty cups with water – I leave them empty.

I have never had any problems with the pan warping, and wipe out any oil from the pan spray that may have gotten in there before it goes in the oven.

Making the Muffin Batter Ahead of Time

The muffin batter can be stored, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours before baking. This makes for a very convenient baking schedule.

Fresh or Frozen Berries

You can use either fresh or frozen berries in this recipe. Frozen berries may add a few minutes to the bake time. If your berries are out of season, adding a little “berry boost” can help ramp up the flavor. Combine 2 tablespoons [8 g] of freeze-dried berry powder, 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon of water, a pinch of salt, and the blueberries in a small saucepan.

Cook over low heat until the berries are warm and coated in the sugar powder, about 3 minutes. Set aside to cool, then swirl into the recipe where the blueberries are called for.

My Preferred Muffin Pan

Standard muffin pans are surprisingly varied. After baking thousands of muffins in dozens of different pans over the last two decades, I can report that nearly every brand of muffin pan is slightly different. Because of this, your muffins may not bake up exactly like mine.

When testing recipes for this book, I found that I preferred Nordic Ware Naturals twelve-cup aluminum muffin pans. My round scoop matched the dimensions of the muffin cups perfectly, and I liked the way my muffins baked up. I give an amount of batter for each cup and how full the cup should be for this recipe, but baking a test muffin in your pan to see how it performs is a good idea.

Greasing a Muffin Pan

If you’re using muffin liners, you don’t have to grease the muffin cups. Otherwise, it is absolutely necessary. Your best bet is to use a pastry brush to “paint” butter into the cavities and then dust with flour. Pan spray works well too. If the muffins are not in liners, I also like to give the top of the pan a spray, so the muffin tops don’t stick as much.

I use a floured pan spray in the cavities, and a non-floured pan spray for the tops (the flour can burn on the top of the pan as the muffins are baking in the oven). I find this usually ensures an easy release.

More Muffin Recipes:

• Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins with Streusel
• Banana Poppy Seed Muffins with Hazelnut Streusel
• Banana Espresso Muffins

Homemade Blueberry Muffins

Servings: 12 muffins

These are the most perfect, moist blueberry muffins that are packed with juicy berries and a hint of lemon. Almond flour keeps the crumb tender and light, and also adds rich flavor. Bumping up the baking powder and adding another egg helped those muffins dance beautifully over the rim.

Sarah Kieffer

5 from 10 votes

Print Pin Rate

Ingredients

Sugar Topping

• 1/2 cup [100 g] granulated sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Muffins

• 2 cups [284 g] all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup [50 g] finely blanched almond flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon fine salt
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1 cup [200 g] granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup [180 g] buttermilk, room temperature
• 5 tablespoons [70 g] unsalted butter, melted
• 1/3 cup [75 g] vegetables or canola oil
• 1/4 cup [60 g] sour cream
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 7 1/2 ounces [215 g] fresh or frozen blueberries

Equipment

• Two 12-cup muffin pans
• 2 ounce scoop

Instructions

• Position an oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F [190 degrees C]. Grease two standard twelve-cup muffin tins.

For the sugar topping

• In a small bowl, whisk together the sugar and the nutmeg.

For the muffins

• In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, almond flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and lemon zest. Make a well in the center.
• In a large bowl or liquid measuring cup, whisk together the sugar, buttermilk, melted butter, oil, sour cream, eggs, lemon juice, and vanilla until completely combined. Pour into the well of the dry ingredients and gently mix until almost all combined. Fold in the blueberries until just incorporated, as to not overwork the batter. It should not be completely smooth; there should be some visible lumps and bumps. The batter can be stored, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours before baking.
• Scoop a scant 1/3 cup of the batter into every other muffin cup. The batter should fill the cup and mound slightly (using a scoop helps the tops mound). Sprinkle 1 to 2 teaspoons of the sugar mixture evenly over each muffin.
• Bake until the muffins are light golden brown and toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out with a few crumbs, rotating the pan halfway through baking, 17 to 20 minutes. Let the muffins cool in the tin for about 5 minutes, then gently remove and transfer to a wire rack to cool.
• Muffins are best the day they are made, but can be stored in airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.

Notes

*If your berries are out of season, adding a little “berry boost” can help ramp up the flavor. Combine 2 tablespoons [8 g] of freeze-dried berry powder, 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon of water, a pinch of salt, and the blueberries in a small saucepan. Cook over low heat until the berries are warm and coated in the sugar powder, about 3 minutes. Set aside to cool, then swirl into the recipe where the blueberries are called for.

*The muffin batter can be stored, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours before baking. To freeze muffins, wrap cooled muffins in plastic wrap and place in an airtight, freezer-safe container or plastic bag. Store in the freezer for up to 2 weeks. The night before serving, put the muffins in the refrigerator to thaw. I like to heat my muffin in the microwave for 10 to 15 seconds to warm it up a bit before eating. 

*Throughout my recipes posted on this website, 1 cup of flour equals 142g. Please note that 1 cup of flour can range anywhere from 120g to 142g, depending on the baker or website. I found that after weighting many cups of flour and averaging the total, mine always ended up around this number. Weighing your flour instead of using cup measurements is the surest way to get the result I intended when developing the recipe.

*Different brands of flour have varying levels of protein, ranging from low to high, which can result in very different outcomes when baking. I’ve found Gold Medal all-purpose unbleached flour to be the best option for many of my recipes; I use it in all the baked goods that don’t use yeast.