When blueberries first show up at the market, it feels like sacrilege to bake with them — ditto with raspberries, blackberries and strawberries. Mother Nature made them perfect! Why drown them in batter, wilt them with heat and then leave them out to dry? What brutes we’d be! But there’s a day in August — I think it might have been yesterday* — when something shifts. The high for the day is in the 60s, you run out to the market and what is this? Did you wish you’d brought your cardigan? How strange! And all of a sudden the prospect of a berry baked into something warm and cozy, that you might eat with your first hot coffee of the season, seems very right.
And it is around this time every year that I try to find the best blueberry muffin. I’ve made them with buttermilk and yogurt and cream cheese too, with streusel and dipped in butter and rolled in cinnamon-sugar; I’ve tucked them into corn muffins and bran muffins too, back to one I got from Cook’s Illustrated eons ago (introduced to me by the lovely Elise), but that’s different from the recipes in the two Cook’s Illustrated cookbooks that I own and also at least three of the five other blueberry muffin recipes on their site (the last two are hidden behind a pay wall put between people already paying and people paying more than people who are paying, not that I’m venting or anything, ahem). It has a high dome and a thick batter that’s really more of a dough (a classically brilliant technique of CI’s to keep berries from sinking) and every time, they’re as pretty as a picture.
I mean, I play with them too. I like them with yogurt but I like them even more with sour cream. I halve the recipe because 10 muffins is just the perfect amount to keep you from getting in too much trouble. I find it doesn’t much matter whether your berries are frozen or fresh, but I don’t care for defrosting them first as they just get so wet and slumpy. And although I made these in greased muffin cups, I forgot that I prefer them with paper liners because occasionally, a blueberry gets lost, stuck to the pan, and that’s just no way for a blueberry to go out.
* Or two days before that, when I started writing the post. Why does it take so long to update these days? You’ll have to speak to the boss.
NEW: Watch me make these muffins on YouTube!
Previously
One year ago: Cubed, Hacked Caprese
Two years ago: Dimply Plum Cake and Crisp Rosemary Flatbread
Three years ago: Smoke-Roasted Stuffed Bell Peppers
Four years ago: Punition Sandwiches and Moules à la Marinière
Perfect Blueberry Muffins
- 5 tablespoons (70 grams) unsalted butter, cold is fine
- 1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces or 100 grams) sugar
- Finely grated zest from 1/2 a lemon (previously: 1/2 teaspoon zest)
- 3/4 cup plain unsweetened yogurt or sour cream
- 1 large egg
- 1 1/2 teaspoons (7 grams) baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea or table salt
- 1 1/2 cups (195 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups (215 to 255 grams) blueberries, fresh or frozen (no need to defrost) (previously: 3/4 cup, see note up top)
- 3 tablespoons turbinado (sugar in the raw) sugar
These, like most muffins, are best on the first day, we’ve found through extensive “research” that if you run them split open under a broiler on day two with a pat of salted butter, it’s so good that you’re going to forever hope for more blueberry muffin leftovers.
Nothin’ like a delicious blueberry muffin. I’m always in search for the perfect one!
I mix lemon zest from about 1/2 lemon with sparkling sugar let it sit overnight and break it up in the morning—the lemon sugar on top adds one more little punch of lemon that is delicious!
MMM, those look divine! Will definitely be making these this weekend. One quick question, where do you add the blueberries in the recipe? I’m assuming it’s after the second batch of flour mixture is stirred in?
“Whisk in baking powder, baking soda and salt until fully combined, then lightly fold in flour and berries.”
Pls share eggless blueberry muffins recipe or instant of egg wht can I use and wht should be the measurement
There’s plenty of egg substitutes available on the net, although it may affect the consistency of the dough – let everyone know if you try them 😊https://www.pccmarkets.com/taste/2013-03/egg_substitutes/
Hi, I do plain yogurt as an egg substitute and do sour cream for the 3/4 c sour cream or yogurt part and the texture is great :) my go to muffin recipe for sure :)
I have made these several times and they really are perfect. I usually just use the whole pint of blueberries (minus a few snacking blueberries). The raw sugar on top is not to be skipped, although we didn’t have any this last time and they were still delicious. The recipe makes six perfect jumbo muffins (which is our preferred way) or 10 regular muffins. The inside is so fluffy with the crunchy top.
How long do you bake for jumbo muffins? That tin is my preference for muffins, too!
I made these completely vegan substituting with simply egg from Trader Joe’s, coconut oil, and vegan yogurt. Worked well. So delicious!! They were moist and had a lil fluff factor despite their dense appearance. Blueberries certainly were bursting, which is my favorite part. I’ll have to make the non-vegan version to compare fluff factor but my vegan (and non-vegan) friends loved them!
These were absolutely perfect! They came together so easily. These muffins will become a Sunday staple for us!
As a reformed blueberry hater, I am recently intrigued by all the recipes I’ve been seeing for them. I made jam, and it was killer, but now I think I’m ready to move on to baked goods. Thanks, as always, for the inspiration.
I make a batch and a half of batter and use 6 jumbo muffins as big as the bakery. These are so delicious, my husband is in heaven each time. Ive even made apple ones! I admit i used a pinch more leavening agent super super recipe. The sugar on top little pricey for amt you get but invest in it. Love the little crunchies!
looks and sounds great. Got some blueberries in the fridge now and I think I’ll try with sour cream
Blueberries added last, fixed now.
Merry Jennifer — I always mean full-fat unless I suggest otherwise (but I also cannot think of a time I’ve done that). You can use low-fat, but it may taste less rich or moist.
so easy, one bowl and no pre-planning needed. my house smells amazing, like baked butter and sugar, muffins are so yummy!
Yes you did add the blueberries last but in the process you totally deleted adding the flour :-)
Forget I ever said that… It’s early in the morning. And flower is such an easy word to skip over :-)
These are exactly perfect, everytime.
Those look really tasty! I tried making a recipe recently on a whim with sour cream, but then overmixed them and they were tough, and not so sweet, and I was sad :( Butter and sugar are a MUST for these things, apparently :P
Oh my… and just what I was looking for. Does the boss enjoy them also?
these are most definitely the perfect blueberry muffins…and such beautiful shots of the fruit! i can taste them now with a bit of melted butter….yum :)
I’ve been using a lot of nonfat Greek yogurt instead of sour cream, so when you say “plain yogurt”, did you use full-fat or nonfat? I assumed it was Greek-style, but you know what they say about assuming, so I won’t do that.
I used 2% fat plain Greek yogurt, but the whole milk variety would be good too. A 5.3 oz container is very close to the 3/4 cup that is called for in the recipe.
I used Kirkland 0% Greek yogurt and they were amazing!
My first batch is in the oven now and I’ve been feeling anxious because I used 0% Greek yogurt – feeling a bit less concerned now! Might add another reply once tasted….
I’m so relieved to read this. My first batch is in the oven and I also used Kirkland 0% Greek as I always have it in the fridge 😊
Ooo – I’m staycating this weekend, and may have to make these! Also, I’m loving that the baby’s hair is turning blondish – he’s absolutely adorable!
Becca
These look gorgeous, Deb! I have been on a baking spree lately, zucchini bread and brownies and bagels oh my. Your muffins might be next!
perfect to bring to my new job on the first day of school!
Made these exactly as recipe instructions except I used half granulated and half dark brown sugar then I cooked 1C blueberries w a lemon zest and sugar 1tsp and swirled on top,then turbinado sugar they were bakery quality
I’ve get blueberries sitting in the fridge so I was excited when I saw the blueberry muffins in your flickr account. I usually don’t buy plain yogurt, rather I usually have the already sweetened vanilla yogurt, so I’ll see what comes out of the oven when I try and calculate how much sugar is already in the sweetened vanilla yogurt and subtract the amount from the 1/2 cup sugar requirement.
I’m so obsessed with blueberry muffins. Must try this weekend
Try mashing a few of the berries and mixing them in with the batter. Makes for a very blue muffin, and amps the blueberry flavor considerably.
I agree, the perfect blueberry muffins have yogurt/sour cream in them. Yogurt is usually my secret ingredient (thanks for spilling the beans! geez!). Isn’t it funny how everyone thinks that they have the perfect muffin recipe? It is just one of those foods that people seem to take a lot of pride in.
I also baked my first blueberry muffins of the season this past week. And I distinctly remember thinking that it seemed like a really wasteful thing to do back in June!
This is my favorite blueberry muffin recipe!! However. I’ve recently had to cut out dairy for feeding my baby. What can I replace the yogurt/sour cream with?
Almond milk yogurt? I think Silk makes one. You can also make your own. Good luck!
I made these yesterday with Silk plain coconut yogurt and they turned out wonderfully!
So I made this with monk fruit and coconut flour. They were really crumbly and didn’t hold together at all. I’m thinking less coconut flour? I just added butter and smooshed it together to eat them anyway 😂
Yes, coconut flour is extremely dry and fibrous.
I picked up this tip somewhere. Can’t remember where as this is all I saved in my notes…
“For every 1 cup of almond flour (or GF baking flour) sub 4 TBS coconut flour and add 1 extra egg.”
So, because there’s 1.5 cups of flour in this recipe, you’d use only 6 tbsp. of coconut flour and add 1.5 extra eggs.
It’s a great tip and has worked like a charm in other recipes for me although I didn’t try it with this recipe.
You read my mind! Onto the to-do list for this evening they go…
huge thanks for including weights!
My husband is a blueberry muffin fanatic, he will be very happy when I make these this weekend. And I completely agree with you on the Cook’s Illustrated website. I’m already paying for the magazine subscription… can’t they throw in the website access too? Or at least give it to me at a substantial discount?
I just made these… wanted to havee a dozen, sincee i share with my elderly neighbors.. i used 2 cups flour. 2 eggs. Added some Extra milk .. the rest of the recipe i followed to a “t”. They were yummy and my neighbors loved the.. i love these recepies
I will be trying these soon, I have been looking for the perfect blueberry muffin recipe myself for a while. My favorite of the search so far, works better for raspberries then blueberries.
-Robin
Do you think these could be mixed the night before, refrigerated, and scooped and baked off in the morning?
These look amazing; mine usually turn out purple and green from exploding berries in a wetter batter. Can’t wait to try this out!
I have what is likely a really stupid question with an obvious answer, but here goes. I have a new kitchen scale and love that you are including weights with your recipes. However, how exactly do you measure out the ingredients? Is it a tapered sprinkling until you hit the right weight? What if you’re measuring multiple ingredients or something like cocoa or brown sugar that does not sprinkle easily? Is it a two bowl operation? My fear is over-adding without being able to extract the extra.
You can place a fish or bowl on the scale then rare it so the scale goes to zero and measure away!
A fish 😂
Sounds (and looks) so delicious—I think I pondered it closely back when I had that issue on hand, though I don’t believe I ever tried it. That may have to change.
I’ve recently discovered an exceptionally wonderful basic muffin recipe (http://bit.ly/a9QGF3)—soaked oatmeal, some whole wheat, brown sugar, a fair bit of butter. It’s infinitely adaptable, too: Hello ginger-peach! blueberry-nectarine-white chocolate! red raspberry-dark chocolate!
Looks amazing – as usual! Think they would also be fantastic with red currants instead of blueberries and served with creme fraiche or whipped cream to lighten the freshness up :-)
Is one of the hidden Cook’s Illustrated blueberry muffins that you’re referencing the one that uses buttermilk, lemon sugar, and cooked blueberries swirled into the top? That recipe is wonderful, albeit kind of fussy. This looks much simpler – I’ll look forward to NOT ending up spending 2 hours on a single batch of muffins.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE blueberries. I make a Blueberry Lemon Tart about six times during a two month period. However, I went to the store on Monday to get more blueberries for mom’s birthday tart, and the price had shot through the roof from 3 quarts for $10, to $3.99 for ONE PINT! Ahhh, should’ve stocked up and froze them last week!
I use a Sara Moulten recipe for perfect blueberry muffins. The tops are a bit soft for my liking, but they’re perfect otherwise. I can’t wait to try your version with its craggy tops!
These look wonderful!
I made these yesterday and they are gone today! we opted to make 6 large bakery style muffins and they were amazing!! Perfect recipe, Deb, I’ll definitely be using this as a base and adding in different fruits and mix-ins in the future. Thanks!
Did you change the cooking time and temperature for six muffins?
Nothing needs to change for a smaller yield.
What if you don’t have coarse/turbinado sugar on hand? I’m sure one can use “regular” sugar but texture of the “topping” will be different. Thanks.
Yes. you can use regular sugar. It will be less crunchy but you’ll still get some texture.
“(the last two are hidden behind a pay wall put between people already pay and people paying more than people who are paying, not that I’m venting or anything, ahem)”
people *who* already pay?
And that annoys me to no end about the CI site, too… (but have you tried their blueberry scones? divine. http://www.cooksillustrated.com/recipes/detail.asp?docid=8545)
There are few things that are better than fresh blueberry muffins. I make them almost every weekend and it is a fantastic start to my day.
Thanks for another great recipe!
#23 Kate, you’re overthinking this, and I bet you’re a talented baker! Try adding your ingredients to the mixing bowl (which you’ve set on the scale, after which you’ve hit the tare/zero button on your scale) and then adding your ingredient slowly to start. If you’re worried about adding too much, by all means, use another bowl for scaling.
And Deb, on the halving of batches: our way of working with large-batch recipes is usually to freeze the extras. We always have a mixed bag of frozen breads (sliced bread, muffins, biscuits, rolls, etc.) in the freezer; the microwave and/or toaster oven freshens them right up. This way, we always have a selection of delicious, homemade breads to accompany any meal (or to have as a snack).
Side note: you are so proficient at anticipating your readers’ questions and comments, whether they concern recipes, equipment, ingredients, or anything else. I love that. It’s a great way of meeting your readers where they are.
I’m a little sad that the blueberries in my market are now coming from Canada (wahh, why is northeast blueberry season SO short!!?), but that will not stop me from baking with them. Baked goods with fruit always seem at least a little healthy :)
I’m in California and always wait to buy until I see Canadian blueberries; they taste so much better than the ones we get from farther south!
While these do look tasty, I will have to disagree that they are muffins. They are really little blueberry cakes. The creaming of butter and sugar gives it away everytime. I can also tell from the texture in your split muffin photo. A muffin is a quick bread. The “muffin method” is combine wet, combine dry, mix wet into dry. And, they should have a lighter, more airy texture. I’m not saying this isn’t a good recipe, it’s just semantics!
Jasmine — The only thing that separates muffins from cake is semantics. I think we Americans have called small cakes muffins to give ourselves permission to eat them for breakfast. I personally changed the order of creaming in the recipe to make this a one-bowl recipe. It didn’t change its crumb or rise in any noticeable way, and breakfast should be about simplicity.
These do sound perfect – I love when muffins call for sourcream. Blueberry muffins are my husband’s favorite, I’ll have to make these for him this weekend – before all of the good berries are gone!
I don’t doubt that these are fantabulous. Will be bookmarking and trying.
Oooooh. I went blueberry picking over the weekend and have been eating them by the handfuls from the fridge, on cereal and baking blueberry pies and tarts. These muffins are next on my list.
i am going to go home tonight, get everything ready and bake these first thing tomorrow morning! we don’t get many local blueberries around here (my county’s soil is just not conducive to blueberry bushes) but we have TONS of amazing raspberries. they’ll have to stand in for their fabulous blue cousins. ;)
also, i know just what you mean about that moment in august when baked goods suddenly sound like the most divine proposition you’ve ever heard, when long pants and shoes reappear, and morning robes are made of thicker fabric. i love this change, even though it means the end of summer, the beginning of fall. and in wisconsin, fall lasts all of one haertbeat. ;)
I have to give blueberry muffins another shot. I tried making them with the recipe in Giulia Melucci’s book (which I loathed) and I ended up with something closer to scones. I may have to get back on the horse and try again with this recipe.
Awesome. I have made millions of blueberry muffin recipes and my favorite so far are Dorie Greenspan’s Ricotta Berry muffins (I use blueberries and sub lemon zest for lime) and they are a very thick batter too, so I’m guessing these will be fantastic too. I made some Greek yogurt today so these are on the menu for breakfast tomorrow.
I love weight measurements! I have a hard time switching back to volume now. Thanks for converting me Deb!
How critical is using an actual sifter? I’d love to make these this weekend but doubt I will both retain that motivation and actually purchase a sifter by then – could, say, sprinkling gently by hand also do the trick?
Meredith — Sorry, I don’t even own a real sifter so it doesn’t need to be a sifter per se. I use a mesh strainer to sift.
LauraN — This site is free. Cook’s Illustrated is a magazine, not a blog. They don’t have any advertising, so their subscription price is higher than we are used to and they have a separate fee for accessing their website. I pay that fee (having little use for paper magazines these days, though I hang onto my years of CIs) but was surprised to find that there was an even higher level of membership for certain recipes. Honestly, I don’t mean to pick on them too much. We’re very used to content being free, because advertisers pay the tab and it’s much harder to make a subscription based business model work. They’re obviously doing what they need to. That said, differentiating their many, many blueberry muffin recipes in clear ways for readers would be at least editorially (and financially, if they can make their case for why the higher-priced recipe is better) helpful.
Fresh berries do seem quite perfect and do not last at all in my house. My children are no longer young and easy to monitor! Not a problem, I have a berry bowl that I fill up and just simply give in. Although, I will buy extra berries and freeze them when they are abundant and in their prime season and those are easy to use in recipes in the winter.
So I guess my point is – I know how you feel.
PS. I am super happy about the cooler weather on the east coast and hope not to turn on my A/C until next year. We’ll see about that.
I’m curious now about the pay wall. Do you have subscribers who pay to see all your content? Or you’re paying for the web/server space, but they want you to pay more to post all of your content? Sorry for the entirely unimformed question, I am just trying to learn more about blogging.
I hate that about the CI site too. I pay for the both magazines and then they want you to pay for the sites too. I have never seen a discount. The CI site makes me so mad.
If I can manage to stop eating all these blueberries straight out of the container I might have enough tonight to make these! YUM!
Oh yes. I have 34 ziploc bags of blueberries in my freezer…I’ve been hoarding them until the fresh summer fruit is all gone, but this might be cause for an exception to the rule!
Can I make this as a bread instead of muffins?
I think that most fruit muffins are the best eaten the day they are baked. They start getting a funny texture the next day. Thanks for the great recipe.
Oh, my. Jacob has grown so much. And his curls are so cute!
They look sooo yummy! I can’t wait for fall!!
I must say, I thought I had found the perfect blueberry muffin recipe (browned butter blueberry muffins from joy the baker), but now you have me wanting to try these as well. yum :)
Sounds delicious. Think I’ll make them tonight. Question though….I don’t have lemon zest. Can I substitute it with anything else?
Where’s the baby link????
Also, I love that you now do the measurements by weight. It’s so much easier than using a millions cups and spoons to measure.
Of all the muffins out there, blueberry ones are my favorite and these look perfect!
I have to say one of the best gifts my mom got me was a subscription to Cooks Ilustrated, I love their recipes!
I am resisting the urge to run home and start baking these RIGHT NOW. Thanks again for the recipe.
I’ll have to try these. It would be interesting to find a recipe that tops the Jordan Marsh department store blueberry muffin recipe that both Nick Malgieri and King Arthur Flour recommend.
Wonderful news about the sifter! Mesh strainers, I have a lot of. Thanks (and my weekend house guests will thank you also, I suspect)!
Once again, you and i are completely on the same page. I STILL use that CI recipe as my definitive blube muffin recipe…perfect every time, and the muffins are a nice, proper size. And i also do not pay the extra fee for the extra recipes. And it does make me feel a bit peeved that they did that!
ok, no matter how hard I try my blueberry muffins often turn out purple. Mostlybecause I’ve used frozen blueberries and the color just bleeds. I’ve used fresh too and got purple muffins (not appealing). Any advice??
thank you for sharing this. yesterday i bought some fresh b.berries and i think muffins for dinner sounds perfect. oh, and reading your opinion on CI’s site made me happy. i have a ‘love/annoyed’ (not quite hate) thing with them and their site makes my teeth grind.
Ahhh, thanks for this recipe, Deb. I love blueberry muffins that use sour cream, but the others I have made (including a CI recipe) have never come out browned and craggy like these, which is how I like them.
I am on the same page with you on the CI thing. I subscribed to their magazines (both) for years, and have only recently finally let both of my subscriptions lapse. Sometimes I think that trying to break away from the Test Kitchen is like trying to leave a cult. They may not advertise but man, they can shower you with emails and postcards like nobody’s business.
Blueberry muffins are my favorite. What i want to know though is how the heck do you keep your muffin tins so beautiful and clean? I soak and clean and scrub mine and they look like they’ve been through a war zone. Definitely not pretty enough for pictures. What’s your secret?
Kari – I almost always use frozen berries for muffins because they’re usually a last-minute thing in our house and I always have them in the freezer. I spread mine out on a paper towel and blot them heavily before folding them into the batter. It’s not 100%, but it does get rid of a lot of the purple color.
oh – blueberries – my husband’s favorite! I just might have to add this to my list of things to try. I make a mean blueberry pancake that he already loves but this would be even better!
so true… nothing sounds better on a chilly 60º day than something warm out of the oven…
these look delich!
xx
HA! SO true about CI. I love CI recipes, but hate their marketing. After stopping my CI subscription I was only able to get them to leave me alone by vacating the country!
I ran into the same thing on the CI website. Don’t get me started. The word Fleece comes to mind. But I love blueberries and I love your site. And- I plan to pay for your content, I mean book, as soon as I am able!
I agree with you — it’s hard to use beautiful fresh fruit in baking. I was just thinking about making blueberry muffins! Thanks for the recipe.
This is wonderful timing!! Thanks Deb!! I actually searched on your site a couple of days ago for a blueberry muffin recipe to no avail – luckily the berries are still sitting patiently in the fridge. I’m now going to change my plans tonight so I can stay home and bake these puppies up instead! : )
Finally a recipe that calls for lemon zest but not juice! Now I can prove to my boyfriend that there is a point to me zesting lemons and keeping the zest in the freezer.
When the air changes, it’s always bitter sweet. I love fall so much, but the end of summer harvest is such a bummer. I recently added greek yogurt to my blueberry muffins with great success.
I do agree-these Cooks Illustrated muffins are fantastic (I can’t resist making them French puffs with a little butter and sugar). I agree with your frustration with the their website.
On fresh vs. frozen — I actually used berries this time I’d bought fresh and froze. If you stir them in still frozen, it shouldn’t muddy the batter. Also, sometimes those wild colorations can come from using a baking powder with aluminum in it. I try to avoid them, especially when baking with acidic fruits.
I’m always on the search for the best blueberry muffin around. I’m getting berries today to make these, YUM!
And add me to the ranks of CI frustrated people. Love their recipe and shows but the fees get old!
FINALLY!!! I am blueberry muffin obsessed and every summer as I hunt for the perfect recipe I come to look in your archives and am shocked over and over again that you don’t have one. I am making these this weekend!
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
blueberry muffins, oh my (I know) they look dreamy indeed, I will have to make some…as soon as I get off my strawberry obsession, you’ve been there right?
I hear you on the CI semi-rant. They “double-dip” on their recipes across publications and you’ll find that you end up with the same buttermilk coleslaw (delicious btw) recipe in 3 different places. I’m getting their new ATK Healthy Family Cookbook due out in August, and that’s *it*. I had no idea that you had to pay extra after already paying to get the entire database of content. I’m all paying for value, but not in that sneaky way.
at the moment I’m still obsessed with my darling strawberries, but these are tempting me to stray……
Oops, that new ATK book is due in October.
Tried baking blueberry muffins once without using paper liners. My muffin pan is now forever stained with blueberry. *sob*
I have a muffin recipe that I love….but these look seriously delicious. I think I might have to give them a try!
oooooh yummy! I just made huckleberry muffins that were divine. It was a recipe with buttermilk which I’m assuming plays a similar role as the sour cream. Looks like I’ll have to make muffins again next week, with your recipe! Thanks!
I’ll add my chord of discontent with CI as well. We have the magazine subscription—for about three years now, even before we got married—and it irritates me no end that I can’t have web access on their site without paying more. Still, the magazine alone suffices.
I will be making these muffins this Sunday as part of my “time alone before the husband gets up” ritual.
p.s. CI is nowhere near as sneaky and jerky as Saveur. I love them to pieces but when I want to lapse my subscription, threatening me with a mark on my credit record does not win any love here.
I was just happy that the directions said to melt butter “in the bottom..” of a large bowl…otherwise, I may have melted it on the top…!
You know, Fine Cooking does the same darn thing on their website, and it annoys me to no end. Even though I pay for the magazine subscription, I would have to pay an additional fee to access the same stuff on their website! I recently made Barefoot Contessa’s blueberry muffins and they were good, but just not quite great. I am definitely going to try these – thanks!
I think this is the blueberry muffin recipe in my Cooks Illustrated Baking cookbook, but I’ve been using their new posting on the website for the “perfect blueberry muffin” which starts off taking one cup of the blueberries and turning them into jam, then placing a teaspoon of jam to be placed inside the muffin before slipping them into the oven.
I’ve made that recipe twice and have had quite a few raves for them.
Sounds wonderful!
I will opt for making a crumble topping to go on these rather than the salted butter. I’m sure either would be delicious though!
I’ve seen this recipe before! It’s on my metal list of things to try. :)
oh can i just say how much i love that you give metric qtys too? thank you!!
Looks fantastic, I am glad that you have used yoghurt/ sour cream, some recipes call for buttermilk which is so hard to find in the UK and I have not been successful in making it. I really look forward to trying this recipe out
I have seen this recipe, but never made them. I am sure the butter and yogurt make alll the difference. I will be making these for my class next semester.
If all I have is greek yogurt, can I use that??
sorry–should have read more carefully. my bad.
My husband absolutley loves blueberries. This recipe is great for his breakfast while he is studying for exams!
I’m curious if these could dethrone my mom’s version. Will have to try this for some back to school snacks.
Perfect for the fresh picked-but-froze Blueberries I have thawing my fridge right now!
I read your blog religiously, even though I can’t cook and can barely bake (which is just as well, since my oven is on its last legs). So please know that the following question comes from a faithful reader with the best of intentions: where, oh where, is today’s picture of Jacob? I’ve carefully cursored over every words, have even tried clicking on every word. I’m left bereft. Bereft, I tell you.
How did you know I was planning on making blueberry muffins this weekend and was looking for a “perfect” recipe?? I love it.
Also, almost every time I make muffins (which is usually about once a month), I make a full batch and freeze them. They seem to stay fresh forever (or at least for as long as I let them), and that way you can just pull one out and zap it in the microwave for 20 seconds whenever you feel like one, and not feel like you have to finish all of them before they go bad. I have been throwing a frozen muffin in my purse at least 3 times a week for quite some time now, and I will never go back!
#97: It’s there under the muffins on the rack. Look for “the boss” . I love those photos too. It’s like an additional little surprise hidden within the post…kind of like “Where’s Jacob?” :-)
I have been trying to decide what to do with my blueberries… not a bad idea!
i was thinking about blueberry muffins only yeterday!
how uncanny!
Pity it’s the middle of winter where i live!
I just baked a batch with my 2-year-old helping and they are fantastic. We had so much fun measuring and mixing and stirring and scooping! Thanks for the recipe, Deb!
This is kind of funny, I just picked the last of the wild blueberries in my yard last weekend and have been waiting to make muffins with them. I ended up using a recipe from Alton Brown that is very similar to this- the yogurt makes the recipe! Delicious!
I love topping them with a mix of sugar and nutmeg…nutmeg done amazing things to blueberries.
To always eat them fresh (and not all in one sitting) I freeze the pan with the batter in paper liners, then bag once frozen. To bake I have a 6 muffin tin that fits in the toaster oven. Bake muffins from frozen by adding 5 minutes to the cooking time. Whahla…freshly baked
OMG, Cook’s Illustrated is driving me CRAZY with all those Editor’s whatever recipes. I used to be able to access them a few months ago, I know I could.
Oh, I love blueberry muffins! Have you ever heard of dusting the blueberries in flour before mixing them in? It prevents them from sinking to the bottom of the muffin.
I made this delicious recipe for the first time today, and plan many repeats. I added the blueberries with the flour and found that quite a few of them sank to the bottom of my muffins regardless, so next time I’ll coat them with some of the flour before folding in with the rest of it.
Novice baker here. I don’t have an electric mixer – I’ll beat the butter and sugar together with a whisk. But, what should it look like when it’s creamed? Like frosting?
Payal — Creamed is like frosting. You might try melting the butter and not creaming it, just whisking it well. Creamed butter is used to get extra air in the batter, give it more lift, but many of the CI blueberry muffin recipes start with melted butter so I suspect no harm will come from started with melted, and it will save you energy.
How should this recipe be adjusted for high altitude baking? Thanks!
I love that you can say ‘high of 60’ and ‘a day in august’ in the same sentence. In Texas at 7pm it’s still 104.. but it hasn’t stopped me from craving warm goodies like spicy black bean soup and buttery blueberry muffins. Can’t wait to try this out. :)
I have an almost identical recipe, and the lemon zest is what makes it! Try sprinkling the tops with a teeeeensy bit of raw sugar.
Goodness, I just went to your site to see what you have for blueberries as I couldn’t resist getting them today and here you are! That’s so sweet of you to read my mind. :)
60s!!! I was excited that it was ONLY 97 degrees here today! :)
cannot WAIT to try these!
Yes, he would certainly be *my* boss! And how did you know I was hungering for blueberry muffins. And I am still licking my chops over your eggplant crostini. A perfect lunch it was today.
great. now I want a muffin. haha
Is there something special about unsalted butter, or can I substitute salted butter and just use less salt?
Jestempies — There’s no reason you can’t just use salted butter. Most baking recipes call for unsalted so that you can control the amount of salt in the recipe because different brands of salted butter have different amounts of salt in them. But really, you’ll be fine.
Jessica — Nearly identical. Which reminds me, I need to link Elise up in there.
They do look perfect. We, down here in Indiana, are also feeling the return of cool weather. I decided to bake last night too, but now I might want to make muffins too.
I just made Ina Garten’s blueberry coffee cake muffins last week and they were amazing. Those used sour cream, too – I really think that does the trick. Can’t wait to try these though!
Deb, this is off topic, but wondering if you wouldn’t mind sharing what High Chair Jacob has, and if you’re happy with it. I’m in the market for one since the one we inherited seems to make z squirm and yours looks comfy. Thanks!
Ohh sour cream sounds amazing, but I’d love to try these with buttermilk. yum!
OMG those looks simply delicious, I wish I could bite them!^^
I am the same way with blueberry muffins – always trying new versions. As I look at your muffins, a light bulb hit me: The pan! I really do think it makes a huge difference. I think the dark color helps with browning and even cooking. I’ve occasionally made muffins in silicone pans (for the record, ew) and light colored muffin tins. The dark ones area always better to me.
I am always torn, when making blueberry muffins, between a yummy, simple cakey one with yogurt or buttermilk, and blueberry cornmeal muffins, which are a whole different animal but equally tasty. What are your thoughts on introducing cornmeal to the blueberry muffin?
I am SO jealous that you have had weather in the sixties any time recently. It’ll be at LEAST another two to three months before we even start seeing that at night here in Florida. I can’t wait.
These look super yummy! Can’t wait to try! I have been hoarding my CSA blueberries…but I am down to 4 bags left….I will have to use them for this recipe in the Fall! Can’t wait!
Deb, how do these compare to the blueberry muffin recipe from simply recipes that you link to in your lemon raspberry muffin post? I only ask because that has been my go-to blueberry muffin recipe since you posted it. :-)
Well my husband just walked by and immediately spotted these on my screen (I swear, if there’s a blueberry within 50 miles he can find it) so I guess I’ll be making these this weekend!
You are spot-on about the sinking, sticking blueberries. I am anxious for the morning to come so I can give these babies a whirl for some friends coming on the red-eye. Usually, I stay away from new recipes for guests…but I trust you!
Mmmm. I can’t wait for the morning chill to linger just a little longer. It really is almost muffin season!
YES. Absolute deliciousness! I’m guessing that this recipe would work with other kinds of berries as well…?
Can’t wait to try this recipe — we took the kids blueberry picking in June and we ate as many fresh berries as humanly possible, but I still have 5 gallons in the freezer. Perfect for their first day of school breakfast, thanks!
Oh we love that you’re baking with blueberries…you’re helping us with our guilt of baking summer fruit and not eating it fresh and ripe and plump…
Deb–have you ever substituted any whole wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour in this recipe? I bake with a lot of whole wheat flour in my quickbreads to up our fiber intake and to send my kiddos off to school after a heartier breakfast. . .Sometims it works great to sub half whole wheat flour in and sometimes it doesn’t work so well–if you have any tips for this recipe, I’d love it!
I would like to eat one right now, they look perfectly delicious!!!
Gosh is it 1 year already since the cubed, hacked caprese? Feels like yesterday. The image is so vivid in my mind!
Boy I hear ya about the fees at the Cook’s site. I’ve paid for the mag from the premier issue – I’m not paying for access to their website.
Corn pancakes tonight for supper – woo hoo!! fabulouso. Thanks, Smitten Kitchen!!
I have not use sour cream for baking yet, I shd give it a try. The blueberries muffin looks great!
These are truly amazing!! :)
If you’re looking for another way to bake up blueberries Good to the Grain‘s Huckle Buckle is amazing. The spelt flour and whole wheat pastry flour in the recipe produce a tender, moist crumb and the streusel on top crisps up beautifully.
I can’t wait to try these! I/we have fallen in love with your blueberry pancakes, never have tasted anything so wonderful… Tomorrow these are going in the oven!!
Woke up to a cool morning and a bowl of blueberries! These are amazing Deb, thank you!
I have never made muffins in the mixer, it was very easy and delicious!
After reading your post this afternoon, I could not stop myself from stopping by the grocery store for Greek yogurt on the way home. I had a bag of frozen blueberries from my parents farm in the freezer, and those muffins were calling my name. I don’t even really like muffins all that much! I made one half batch with sour cream and lemon zest, and the other with the greek yogurt and orange peel. OH MY! Both were amazing. I took a dozen to book club, and between the 5 of us that showed up, there wasn’t a muffin left! Thank you for sharing this recipe!
I love baking recipes from your site! So far everything I’ve made has been perfect. Defintely going to try this =D!
Lovely. Just made them and they turned out lovely. I do like my muffins either really “cakey” or really dry and these are definitely on the “cakier” side. Really liked the light crunch on the top — my favourite part of a muffin. Thank you for posting this as I was looking for something new to do with all the blueberries that my mother grows and gives to me during frequent visits.
HOW did you know our locally-owned market just had a sale on blueberries?
.59 a pint!
NO TYPO.
.59 per pint.
this version looks delicious…i tried few days back eggless ones,..
I just made these and they turned out SOOOOO good. Thank you for once again posting an amazing recipe that is easy to follow.
You put it so perfectly! I’m with you, I cannot get myself to bake with a berry all summer long, and even on the first chilly day I still can’t always be persuaded to bake with them, but I will have to talk myself into it using this recipe. How delish!
thanks for the recipe, deb. just made them for breakfast (10 am here in austria/europe) with wild strawberries and lime (because we were out of lemons) and they tasted extremely delicious. i do like the dough very much: it’s fluffy and moist (but not too much), but also crispy on top. our sour cream here in austria has approx. 15 % fat, i used 200 g and that was just perfect. the dough was not as stiff as yours, got 9 muffins out of it.
Just made these for breakfast and they were gorgeous – thanks!
Love your writing, love how you cook, love how you feel about food, love getting your recipes. Today I thought “wouldn’t it be delicious to make blueberry muffins with a little tartness with the sweet” and then I get an email notice from Smitten Kitchen presenting the VERY recipe. This happens often. It’s practically magic. A food idea is on my mind, and then it shows up from you! I don’t know how that works, but I like it!!! Thanks so much for your passion for all things delicious…
Mmmmmm, those look delicious. Making me very hungry xx
Thanks so much for this, have been looking for a good recipe for the kids. Your photos are fabulous and I love your blog. (I sound like a Smitten Kitchen cliche–sorry about that!)
Deb, have I missed something? Was there something chocolate in the last couple of days that Alex got for his birthday? Or has poor Alex been sidelined by “the boss”?
i got all excited when i saw the first pic because i thought they were blueberry scones which i love almost as much as i love life itself. but muffins as just as good and with sour cream sounds divine.
It’s a miracle.
My boyfriend came back from England with a box of blueberries, as I live in Israel and never had any.
We ate some and decided to bake with the rest, and I was really wondering what recipe I should use as I didn’t know any. When I got tired of searching, I naturally decided to turn to smittenkitchen – and viola, blueberry muffins on the front page. Thank you.
I shall make these today, and share my taste buds’ opinion!
I got a recipe from Cooks Illustrated this year and this simple step will make these muffins pop with flavor.Take a cup of blueberries and 1 teaspoon of sugar in a saucepan and let it cook for about 6 to 7 minutes, smashing the blueberries as you stir them. Let it cool and before you put the muffins in the oven, put 1 teaspoon of this mixture on top of each muffin. Swirl it gently with a chopstick or skewer. They also topped that with a sugar and lemon zest mixture. This method absolutely takes blueberry muffins over the top with blueberry flavor.
We (kids) have a serious egg allergy here. Is there anything that can be substituted for the egg (baked goods are so frustrating with this! ) or what would happen if we left out the egg? In the past, adding more baking soda or powder didn’t do it.
Any ideas would be really helpful. Thanks,
Joan
Use aquafava (cooking liquid from chickpeas or liquid from can of chickpeas ) 4 tablespoons is equal to one egg. It’s amazing, I found out about it earlier this year and am hooked! You can make mayo, pancakes, meringues! Try it and you’re on FB look up ‘aquafava hits and misses’ page and follow that for lots of fun ideas and other peoples recipes.
I was just talking about making blueberry muffins… hmmmmmm…
I love receiving my Cook’s Illustrated and trying out the fool-proof recipes. I was planning on making a blueberry crisp. Now I’m gonna have to buy more blueberries and make these muffins as well. My blueberry-loving husband thanks you.
I woke up early, stumbled to my computer, coffee in hand, and found your delicious site! I, like you, have always been on a quest to find the perfect blueberry muffin. I’m on my way to the kitchen now to try these. Will report back later.
Thanks ,
Sheila
Smitten! That was sneaky….before reading blog I scan for baby link….You almost scared me half to death….until the last words….the boss! Don’t do that to me again.
P.S. Does this kid ever cry? The happiest baby ever!
These do sound perfect!! I love fresh blueberry muffins. Yum!
I am so smitten. love the blueberry muffins and the pictures. can’t wait to try the recipe. ALSO… and don’t feel like you have to play… but i wanted everyone i know to know about you too… so i gave you a little award thingy on my blog. hope you enjoy! http://tinyurl.com/2c6duhm
Can’t wait to try this….LOVE blueberry muffins. I’m sure I’ll eat way too many even if I do only 1/2 batch. I’ve never tried the sour cream – yogurt yes, but not that – seems like a logical step just never thought of it. Thanks for the tips on the baking powder and toweling of the blueberries…I usually end up with purple or strange colored muffins and now maybe they’ll look better.
I did not know that I needed blueberry muffins until this post. I made these this morning and they are wonderful. I only had mini muffin pans and the recipe made 36 muffins. I followed the recipe exactly as stated and they were easy, fluffy, and delicious. Between the two of us, we ate them all! Thank you!! No more box muffins for us!
Monica, thank you for posting about the mini muffin tins. I was reading the comments to see if the recipe worked using the smaller tins. Thanks.
60s? *sigh* Here in Florida it’s not even getting that low at night.
My family recently flew down from Maine with jars of homemade blueberry jam made 2 days previous. Between english muffins and pancakes, we devoured it over the weekend and now I’m in need of a blueberry fix. Muffins are perfect for that!
I made these last night and I ate one as soon as they were cool enough. I wasn’t completely sold on them at first–it seems I haven’t had a muffin made from scratch in a LONG time! I was expecting something as brutally sweet as what Starbucks carries, but I should have known better!
These muffins are perfect. A little sweet, but mostly they’re just satisfyingly delicious. I think they tasted better this morning after having some time to “marinate” on my counter.
I make a similar recipe with yogurt–and they are pretty perfect! I like to add ground lavender buds to mine for extra flavor!
I just ODed on these muffins. Talk about halving the recipe to minimise damages.
I made them last night to the letter, but the sugar monster living in my gut demanded more sweetness. This morning I woke up to an empty plate (the horror) and did another batch. This time I added 20 more grams of light brown sugar, nixed the lemon peel in favour of vanilla, and used the self-raising flower that has been slowly fossilizing in my pantry. Yummm!! I think vanilla worked better as it allowed the taste of blueberry to come through. And I discovered this: the first degree burns are so totally worth it! I’ll never eat a cold muffin again!
I made these last night…..so easy and soooooo delicious! Loved the hint of lemon….
Ha! I meant flour..
Warning: consuming too much muffins may lead to linguistic incoherence, and an inexplicable swelling of the waist.
And thanks a million for the wonderful website! It feeds both my gastral and ovarian cravings!
Made these last night. Probably the best blueberry muffins I have ever made (which isn’t hard because I rarely make blueberry muffins) or eaten. I think it was the lemon peel for me, it just added a nice sour hint to the blueberries, but I LOVED them. They were still tasty this morning slightly cold, but much better warm last night. My roommate was equally pleased by them. Apparently, this was the first time she had eaten blueberry muffins with fresh blueberries in them.
Anyway, excellent recipe. And as soon as this batch runs out (which is likely this afternoon because I plan on finishing them for a snack this afternoon), I’ll be out to buy more blueberries to make more.
Given that there are about a million and a half blueberry muffin recipes, I gave a shout of delight when I saw that you seem to have the same take on my personal favorite. I sometimes swap in 1/3 whole wheat flour and throw in a spoonful or two of milled golden flaxseed to feel a little more virtuous while still retaining the delicious factor.
Like you, I’ve tried a million different versions and think I might even have this one from CI in my bag of tricks…but no matter; right now, I have blueberries and a hankering and you landed in my inbox at the perfect time for me to try the perfect blueberry muffin.
I see one comment asking for high altitude directions. I live in Denver at 5280 but I always cite the ‘normal’ recipe on my site. I’ve put together a page with High Altitude baking revisions if that will help: http://vinolucistyle.com/recipes/high-altitude-baking/
Barbara — Thank you! I’ve been meaning to add high altitude baking tips to my tips blog for eons, I will certainly link out to you when I do. It’s such a common request!
Fatima — So sad, Alex did not get a special birthday cake this year. We were staying at the beach (so he had a week long celebration!) and I was not equipped. I didn’t get a homemade birthday cake either this year! I guess this is life with a baby around. Jacob, however, will be turning one frighteningly soon and obviously, his birthday cake will top all. In fact, I already did a test round yesterday. 1st birthday cakes are serious business. :)
Jendorf — I haven’t, but I often with breakfast baked goods do a 1/4 amount swap with whole wheat flour just because I like the more complex flavor and crumb it gets. It certainly doesn’t make it whole wheat, but it gives it a heft that separates it a little from most cake.
I recently tried one of the Cook’s Illustrated recipes– it was the one from about a year ago, maybe, that involved making a blueberry jam that gets swirled into each individual muffin. Talk about fussy! It made sense, in theory, but the muffins were actually pretty awful.
Fourteen comments ago I was on my way to the kitchen to bake up some of your blueberry muffins. I’m back, with one less on the cooling rack! Yum! They are quite delicious. I love the cake-like texture, and the fact that they are not overly sweet. I did make the following changes…I used 1/2cup Greek yogurt and 1/4 cup light sour cream, increased the blueberries to 1cup, and sprinkled a little sugar on top before baking on the convection setting. I also love that the flavor of the lemon zest comes through so well.
I would just like to say that the high here is 96F and I thought that was a little chilly.
Oh, this looks fantastic. And I noticed, the blueberries don’t look all drained and withered. You see, before, when I made blueberry muffins, they tasted great, but I wanted the blueberries to be a little firmer – and these look just right to me! I’ll try them soon!
By the way, for any of you cooks and bakers out there, stop on over to my blog for a little GIVEAWAY I’m hosting. I would LOVE it if all of you entered. And, I’m sure you’ll appreciate it!
Rachel
Sometimes I wish we had blueberries in India… sigh!
Beautiful post as always Deb!
Well, I thought I had the perfect ones with Ottolenghi’s recipe (lots of texture, with streusel on top and also a cubed granny smith apple inside the batter!). But the recipe yield is not consistent, and weirdly enough, it works better with frozen blueberries. There is always room for improvement, and yours look really so simple, it would be a shame not to give them a try, now that: a) it is cold as winter b) the market is full of fresh blueberries.
I love the addition of lemon zest to blueberry baked goods and yoghurt/sour cream always just seems to take these things to the next level…this might be a new go to for me!
I yearn for cardigan-wearing weather. I think it’s still a few weeks away for us. However, I would be happy to enjoy these moist-looking muffins well before then.
“The boss” is getting so big! And what a cutie he is.
This will be on the Sunday breakfast menu for my family…yummy. Thanks so much!
Karen
WOW – i have been looking for the perfect blueberry muffin. I have to try this.
Yum! I have a tiny amount of blueberries left, so I will have to try this and see what I have around to supplement!
You know… I love blueberry sour cream coffeecake, but have never added sour cream to blueberry muffins. I have a tried-and-true favorite blueberry muffin recipe, but I may have to try this version. I always add a little bit of cinnamon to my blueberry muffin batter – something about blueberries and a hint of cinnamon just works wonderfully. So when I try this one I will probably add a pinch of cinnamon.
They look great. We’ve been trying to eat a lot more berries and fruits this year, and especially since we’ve gone on an elimination diet. We’ve been surprised as we’ve started to research the importance of the good ol’ natural fruits and vegetables (duh). I guess we should have paid more attention in Kindergarten when they taught us to eat good food (that’s good for you too) :)
Howdy Deb – Yum! I love me a good blueberry muffin. I’ve read a few reviews, and didn’t think I saw this… but I add a half-packet of vanilla pudding mix to my batter, plus the sour cream. Oh boy – delish.
Can I ask where you bought Jacob’s high chair? (I would have asked on Flickr if I had a Yahoo! account. I know. Must change this.) I’m pregnant (!) and due in March, and trying to collect nice, non-cartooned baby ideas. Thanks!
Kate
I’d settle for even a publicly-accessible index of the CI magazine recipes. It seems crazy to need to pay a fee to quickly identify which of my dozens of issues has a particular recipe. This one is a keeper, though.
This muffin recipe is so similar to the one I used to use and can’t find, anywhere..I think I lost it on a crashed computer a few generations ago. It’s been that long since I’ve made them. Mine used lemon yogurt and I remember the batter being more of a dough, too. I’m anxious to give these a try.
.
My gosh, is it birthday time already? When you look back, doesn’t it seem like only yesterday he was a wee bobble-headed infant? Now he’s sitting up in a high chair and has teef! That first year just seemed to fly by, as I recall.
You’re so right about it being a “sacrilege to bake” at the start of the season… why does this always happen (and not just for blueberries)? I suppose we should be reassured given that it’s called a ‘season’ and not ‘one day event’… but it never works :-) I love food musings almost as much as I like the recipes on this site!
Wow I am so happy that I just found your site! The layout and photos are gorgeous and the recipes look delicious. I can’t wait to try this recipe for blueberry muffins…yum!
This is an amazing site with so many interesting comments as well. Your blueberry muffins look wonderful too :)
Deb,
I love your site, your food attitude, and recipes that make me want to cook, and cook some more! I’m on your site daily but never see that beautiful little one. Where are you hiding his photos
Ahtinah
This recipe was perfect timing! I sat down and literally said “I’m going to find a blueberry muffin recipe to make for tomorrow” and your site was the first one I went to. These muffins were meant to be! Thanks!
Gorgeous photo’s and recipe, thanks!
I love the addition of sour cream or yoghurt – it gives a little extra depth to the flavour!
I made these today, but with vanilla yogurt instead of plan, and quartered raspberries instead of blueberries. It tasted great! I can’t wait to try it with blueberries. Definitely one amazing muffin recipe!
Help please? How do I adjust this (or any muffin recipe) for baking at high altitude?
I don’t eat blueberries, but I’m guessing these muffins will make a delicious raspberry muffin too :)
the CI double corn with blueberries is another one worth trying. but will do these for breakfast tomorrow
Absolutely amazing!
Thank you so much for this awesome post, I really love muffins!
Just finished baking -and eating – them for breakfast with soft boiled eggs and bacon. PERFECT! and not too sweet…I used the Greek yogurt…mmm
Deb! I love that you incorporate both simple recipes (I’m lookin’ at you, scrambled eggs) and gourmet dishes into this blog. The search for the perfect blueberry muffin was one of my first cooking endeavors when I moved into my first apartment… and this one looks absolutely DELICIOUS! Two things — I like to mash some of the blueberries so that the muffins get purpley… anyone else out there do this? Also, have you ever eaten frozen muffins? I know it sounds weird… but try it. It’s like a muffin popsicle. Thanks again for an amazing post!
I can’t convince any of my 3 kids to eat muffins. The rascals! Maybe this will change their minds…
I can’t wait for that first “is fall coming?” day. it’s still in the 100’s here in vegas… oh well, i’m still going to make muffins! (mixed berry though)
Hi all, this muffin`s recipe is awsome. I`ve tried it this morning and they were gone immediately. Thanks. My only question would be (and I apologize if anyone asked it before) how to put the blueberries into the dough without mashing them completely?
I want them to look just like yours muffins, but they were all purple instesd. Thanks again.
Natasha — Were you using defrosted berries?
these are just perfect. i have just taken them out of the oven (aga) and the elderly husband has had two.
they work really well in the aga too!
how funny! i JUST made the CI recipe for blueberry muffins (from the 10yr anniversary book – not the site) this morning! I used frozen berries as well, and I tried using 1.5 cups AP flour, and 1cup whole wheat, but i thought they still tasted great! your cooking time was much closer to how long i had to cook mine – the CI recipe says a mere 18 minutes for a muffin tin filled to the top with batter AND with blueberry sauce then mixed in as well. I love your ideas for making it in one bowl – a definite change to the recipe next time i make these :)
I have just made your delicious blueberry muffins. Have you tried the new paddle beater for the Kitchen Aid mixers that is like a spatula? It fluffed up the butter, sugar and egg so nicely, that I had enough batter for 12 muffins! I placed an extra blueberry or two on top of each before baking, as well as a little sprinkle of sugar. Next time I may add just a drop more of sugar in the batter, to counteract the tartness of the berries. I liked the lemon zest in the batter, lemony but not too lemony. Very nice! Thank you for this lovely recipe. I am taking some to my Daddy who is sick in the hospital, and who needs some blueberries!
I just made this with a few substitutions and I have to say it actually worked well. Replaced sugar with Splenda, and replaced the all-purpose flour with: 1/2 all purpose, 1/2 whole wheat flour, and 1/2 cup flax seed meal. Just wanted to lower sugar content in general and add some fiber. I also didn’t have any yogurt or sour cream around, so I used 1% cottage cheese.
The batter filled my 12 muffin pan, and it took 20 minutes to bake with the convection fan on. Good thing I checked on them, or else they would’ve been over done.
It turned out fabulous! Tasty and moist. :)
i should try these! yum i love blueberry muffins :)
I use a recipe similar to this to make my “sunday morning scones” which I admit are really more muffiny than sconey…but we love them anyway. But I had to comment because you climbed on my Cooks Illustrated soapbox. It’s so irritating that they have that pay wall. So really…thank you for sharing all of your delightful recipes. You’re way more fun than Cook’s Illustrated anyway!
These look heavenly! ;)
These are simply scrumptious! Just made these today, and I can honestly say they are the BEST blueberry muffin ever, in the history of ever! The perfect hint of lemon combined with juicy blueberries make this muffin stand out from any other muffin I’ve tasted. Thanks for such a marvellous website, with marvellous recipes! Cheers! :)
Dang it! Now I WANT blueberry muffins. It is too late at night to start baking muffins, even if they would be divine on a sunday morning.
I am making these tomorrow! The pictures alone are enough of an enticement to make me eager to get baking! Autumn is suddenly in the air. I made an error while shopping recently and bought a quart of full-fat plain Greek yogurt instead of the non-fat kind I usually buy. And it’s SO amazingly rich and incredibly tasty that I may continue to make this “mistake” every time I buy Greek yogurt from now on. My, oh my! A little of this yogurt with some blueberries and a bit of fresh granola is such a great breakfast. I’m so glad I have it in the house. :)
I saw these post last week and have had the tab open ever since as a constant reminder to make them this weekend! I did just that yesterday and forced myself to wait until this morning to taste. My sunday morning is now complete because of this recipe!! So moist and so delicious; this has trumped the other recipe I have been using! These really are the perfect blueberry muffins!!! Thank you for sharing and making my sunday morning wonderful!
Your muffins look absolutely delish. And although I’m not sure if I will ever find THE perfect blueberry muffin (or chocolate chip cookie for that matter) recipe, I will definitely give yours a try. :)
This is the first of your recipes I have actually tried. I normally read them just for the pleasure of imagining how they taste, but then I found some blueberries at the market, and I thought ‘why not’. Success! They taste delicious. I especially like that you started using grams, it’s so much more precise and there is much less to wash and clean up afterwards. Thanks!
I love blueberry muffins, but I recently discovered that i LOVE raspberry muffins. Do you think I could just sub out the berries with no other changes? I’ve been searching for a raspberry muffin for ages!
I made these this morning using Greek yogurt. They are absolutely amazing! Mine were done after about 15 minutes, though.
I tried these this morning and they were great! I used unthawed frozen blueberries. I didn’t have a problem with my batter turning purple. I also used a combo of 2% greek yogurt and low-fat vanilla, simply because that’s what I had in my fridge. I loved the hint of salt. Yummy! Thanks Deb.
I prefer the wild ones…they have more taste. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to find those on the marktets :-)
I am loving your site and your tone and written voice, quite wonderful! I recently tried this recipe from Her Majesty Queen Ruth Reichl, I had them in the oven in 6 minutes and they were pretty perfect!
http://www.ruthreichl.com/2010/08/blueberry-muffins.html
I’m going to make these with blackberries and see how they turn out. We’ve got an abundance of wild blackberries growing in our backyard currently.
Yup, I have to join the Cook’s Illustrated banter. I pay for paper as well as on-line. I’m so frustrated by their new level. I have been their biggest fan until this.
I made these this morning. Used sour cream and they were super moist and not too sweet. Definitely will make them again.
Deb, have you ever thought of making an iPhone app? Sometimes I’m at the grocery store, trying to figure out what else I need to make something delicious of yours, and I’ll sit in my car with Safari open trying to do a quick search, and.. anyway, what I’m saying is, if you had an iPhone app? I’d totally use it. I’d probably even pay 99 cents for it. (Get on it! Wee Jacob needs a college fund! ;))
I made these for breakfast Saturday wiith a few substitutions: I used half whole wheat flour, and a mashed banana in place of sugar because I’m trying to go sugar-free. I also made these into jumbo muffins, because I don’t use my jumbo muffin tin nearly as much as I should. My 4-year-old just took the last muffin from me! These were a hit!
Ooooh thank you for this (old) note, Amanda! I want to make these sugar free too, so the bananas is such a good idea.
About the America’s Test Kitchens, you can watch the videos, and write the recipe down for yourself. Sadly, our muffins didn’t last long. Now I have to make more…
I made these and they are sooo good. I didn’t have enough sour cream, so I used some half and half instead and then for half of the batter, I added mashed bananas and chocolate chips instead of blueberries. It was awesome. I say was because they are all gone. WOW!!!
this is the best time of year and these look like the best muffins for it! i love your description of the seasonal shift. yes, it is that way.
Just made these using chobani greek yogurt — and they are delicious!! The lemon zest was so perfect in them. Thanks!
Fabulous! I just ate one hot out of the oven. First time commenter long time reader/recipe junkie. Thanks for feeding my addiction…
Just popped some in the oven! Yum can’t wait for the 30 minutes to be up. Delicious.
I have been meaning to say “Thanks” for ages Deb. Thanks!! As an international visitor to your blog I love how you save me time by providing multiple conversions of your measurements. Now to bake…..
I made these this morning and they are wonderful. So light and tender, the crumb reminiscent of a coffee cake base. There was just enough lemon flavor to complement the flavor of the blueberries, which suits me pefectly. I got 12 muffins from the batter. I think my old muffin tins are more shallow than the tins I’ve seen since cupcakes became a rage. (Husband just peeked in and said these are the best BB muffins he’s had, ever! Fancy that!)
Wow, not sure if I like the photos or the recipe best. Your pics are so mouth watering. Have printed this recipe for later.
Deb- blueberries were like 10 min out from deep freezer before I put them into dough. Do you think they were too mellow already. Thanks for re.
natasha — Only if they were soft already. If not, that didn’t cause it. Do you use a baking powder with aluminum in it?
I made this with chopped plums instead & in the round bundt-type pan. It turned out very well, but could have used more like 2 cups of chopped plum.
And used the full fat greek strained yogurt, Fage. (which also seems like a good idea for icing, it’s so sturdy & good.)
Your recipes are SO DEPENDABLE. I like knowing that I’m not about to waste my time and ingredients on something sub-par. Thanks to your one bowl method, these were so fast to whip up! And this thick doughy batter is phenomenal I was successful with non-fat plain yogurt, as it was all I had on hand, they were still very moist–although, later this week I believe I will be using full fat sour cream. I also had a handful of blackberries from the backyard, so I just used those, which I know doesn’t even compare to how delicious I know these will be with blueberries. can’t wait.
thanks!
I have to tell you, in the past week I have made the corn pancakes, eggplant bruschetta and the muffins (made some flours changes for those) all of the recipes
were ever so good. I am a loyal reader of smitten kictchen and just have no idea how you keep coming up with such great recipes.
For the flour in the muffins I used the all purpose mixed with pulsed oatmeal and whole wheat flour and they are AMAZING. The oatmeal kives the dome just a slight crunch but is unnoticeable otherwise. Gotta get those whole grains in my kids!
Hey! Have you seen this blog:
http://www.deliciousdays.com/
It’s interesting because it’s by a woman from Bavaria so the recipes are quite loca (German/Bavarian/Austrian) but also others AND it’s written in English. With beautiful photos too. Just thought you might be interested to check it out!
The braided lemon bread was amazing!!
Nina — It’s on my Good Reads page. I’ve been reading them since day one!
I just made these–but I made mini muffins! At 375, they took 15-20 minutes. The recipe yielded about three and a half dozen minis. http://www.flickr.com/photos/30368264@N08/4943773804/
Just made these – SO delicious! Pertfectly not-too-sweet.
These truly are THE perfect blueberry muffin.
I only had 1/2 cup of sour cream in my fridge so subbed in plain yogurt for the rest. My mom also made this recipe and subbed in buttermilk for part of the sour cream. The results were amazing on both counts.
These should be renamed “Perfect Anything Muffins” because I can’t wait to experiment with different seasonal fruit/berries/citrus combinations. I have no doubt they will all be equally delicious.
This is definitely my new go-to muffin recipe. Thanks!!
oh these look so good. and thank you for halving the recipe. can’t wait to make them. i’m a sort of new baker… :o)
Deb, I see, that could be the problem, yes. Will try and find aluminium free baking powder and see what happens. Thank you so much for revealing me “the secret”.
Since I have some blueberries left I might just try another round of perfect muffins this coming weekend again.
thank you so much for all the metric measurements of ingredients….many of my
u k and continental cooking friends, have found the cup measurement difficult ,easier if you have learnt in childhood, especially if the final product doesn’t seem quite right….many thanks
I made these last night! Soooo good. I love blueberry with lemon, and the zest adds the perfect hint. They are currently sitting on my desk here at work, but I’m going to have to move them…dangerous!
I love blueberry muffins! Can’t wait to make these this weekend. Thanks for sharing.
These were fantastic. Great dome and oh so fluffy. Just 4 points each, for those counting like I am!
I just made these for me and my boys. They are GREAT! For those wondering about flour substitutions…I doubled the recipe (3 growing boys here) and I used 1 cup of white whole wheat flour, 1 cup of oat flour and 1 cup of white flour and they taste GREAT! You’d never know there was only 1 cup of white flour in them. They are light and fluffy and yummy. As a matter of fact, I’m going to eat another one right now :)
I just baked these babies. And wow, my mom’s recipe has certainly been dethroned.
I added a tiny bit of vanilla and baked 6 of them in a mega tin. AMAZING! 25 minutes was lots in my gas oven. They are moist and fluffy and just plain perfect. I can’t stop looking at them and congratulating myself.
Thanks Deb!
So, I browsed over here today and saw this, and, being a family of blueberry muffins, had to try it. Now, I didn’t have any plain yogurt, or lemon zest, so I used what I did have, which was very good honey yogurt and some ground orange peel. I cut back a bit on the sugar to adjust for the honey in the yogurt. By all tasting accounts, these babies still turned out great!! Thanks so much for all your great posts!!
Just made these. YUM!!!! I followed the recipe to the T and they turned out delicious!
I’m totally obsessed with Cook’s Illustrated/America’s Test Kitchen, but have been SO ANNOYED about all the things you mentioned. They should just be a little bit better than that. Alas.
Anyway, I’ve been making their recipe with the jam mixed in a lemon topping, and liked that, but it’s a bit fussy. I’ve never tried this one, so I’ll have to give it a go!
These muffins were amazing. I found that the batter made about 12 for me, and the hubby said they were the best ever!!
I made these on Monday and they are perfect!
Wonderful recipe, I made these yesterday and they were a hit! I used fresh blueberries that I had frozen (gave them a good rinse, dried them off, spread them out on a cookie sheet and put in the freezer until frozen, about four hours, then put them in a freezer bag). Those particular blueberries were rather large, would like to try this again with some smaller (maybe wild maine blueberries??) blueberries, a few muffins didn’t have much fruit, but still tasty with the lemon. Ohhh, and the batter! It was a miracle any got baked!
I froze some fresh blueberries one month ago. I was just waiting for the good recipe, the good idea. This is THE perfect recipe to soothe the feeling of summer ending. Thanks! [Also, tried your carrot cake recipe, finally a good one!!!]
So inspiring. I also mixed extra lemon zest and sugar and sprinkled it on top, a trick I learned from one of those CI recipes, because I like the crunchy sweet and sour top. Your site is my favorite break at work… shhhh!
I adore blueberries & my daughters can’t get enough of them. These are on our menu for this weekend as we anticipate staying in to enjoy the Hurricane Earl =) Anyone know if you still get the health benefits of blueberries in baked goodness?
Boo…this was a total failure for me. The only change I did was using whole wheat flour. But I got 12 muffins that were baked once pulled out of the oven (knife came out clean) but are now just gummy and untasty. I cannot taste the lemon at all. It is really humid in Chicago right now so I am wondering if that had something to do with it?
Everything else I have made from you Deb has been awesome though otherwise!
My muffins turned out a bit gummy, too, and I also used whole wheat pastry flour. Maybe that’s the connection. It’s still a delicious muffin full of nutrition and love, though. Off I go for another!
Easy to make and fabulous to eat and share!
LOVE this recipe! I tried muffins before that ended up gummy and icky…not these! light, airy, tasty…I added Callebaut callets just because…what a treat. Thank you for a keeper recipe!
I made these in mini form for my daughter’s first snack day in kindergarten. Everyone LOVED them! Thanks.
LOVED THEM!!!! Thank you so much for sharing. I used the zest of a whole lemon and it was delicious. The best blueberry muffins I’ve had.
These are the perfect blueberry muffins. Everything from the taste to how they look and the amount of blueberries in each muffin are perfect. Made them with my 6 year old yesterday. I love how it is all done in one bowl. This recipe really features the blueberries. I love how they are not overly sweet. The lemon zest really aids in providing a nice, fresh taste. The texture when you open the muffin is perfect: tender and moist. We easily doubled the recipe and made 20. My 6 year old and I ate 6 of them after they came out of the oven. Thanks for the tip to eat them with a pat of butter. It was muffin heaven.
Just made these! Not only do they look perfect, they taste amazing! I only had half a cup of reduced fat sour cream so I added in some lowfat vanilla yogurt. I also didn’t sift any of the dry ingredients. Delish!
These really were the perfect muffins! I made mine with fresh blueberries & sour cream. Not only did they taste great, but they looked great too!
Charity, whole wheat flour isn’t as versatile as we’d like sometimes; a complete substitution like your will give you results just like that. You should be able to swap in WHITE whole wheat flour for the AP and get a nearly identical product, though. You can also try substituting WWF for one-quarter of the AP to start.
Man, I just made these for the second time and ate 3 right out of the oven. Heaven! I made 12 this time and baked them for 20 min. Yum, thanks!
Yum, the perfect weekend treat! I made these today and they were great, buttery but tart and the hint of lemon make them divine. I’ve been making a muffin recipe with oil for years, but I think those days are over…
I’m still at the point of loving blueberry soda more than anything blueberry in the universe. Blueberry syrup: a few pounds of blueberries and your choice of sugar content (1/2 cup per pound does it for me, but more gives you more of a classic pop flavor), boiled for 10 minutes (a little more at altitudes of about 5,000 feet or more) makes 3-4 cups to be stored in the fridge in a glass bottle. The recipe says it keeps for 2 weeks, but mine has been just fine after as much as 4.
But I’ll save this recipe for a gloomy winter morning, because a proper muffin is hard to beat.
Hi I have been reading your blog sometime but first time leaving a comment…. I made blueberry muffins this afternoon and they were gorgeous! My family including my daughter who loves cooking loved them. What was nice was that they were not too sweet like ones you can buy in the shop. Thank you for this recipe and will use them again and again….
So amazingly good, I made this today because I was cleaning out my fridge/freezer and I had all the ingredients (or so I thought) lying in wait, however halfway though I discovered I only had 1/4 cup of sour cream so I just made up the rest with some part skim riccota cheese.
So so good, the lemon zest is just the perfect thing to balance the cakey sweetness.
these just came out of the oven…. OH MY GOSH!!! Even though I have garlic breath from my pasta dinner, I couldn’t help but shove my face with these. SOOO Good! I love those buttery sugar cookies that have the crystals on top, and these muffins are just like those cookies + blueberries + muffin. In other words, thanks for yet another fab recipe.
http://bit.ly/9adWTx
ps. What do you think about using lemon yogurt?
These were the best, and I have tried a few. Thanks for all of the wonderful recipes
i have made 6 batches of these since you published this recipe. they came out perfect every time! i gave them to my neighbors as a thank you gift and they RAVED about them! my boyfriend doesn’t even like blueberry muffins and he ate these up! i use full fat sour cream and added in some lime zest instead of lemon . oh, i also topped them with raw sugar which gave it a nice crust on top!! thank you so much for the recipe. and i love your site.
These look great. I need to adjust for a gluten free recipe. Have you ever made them gluten free?
As soon as I saw this post I went right into the kitchen and baked them up. Eating them right now, and they really are perfect! I’m so happy to have a go to recipe – thank you!!
I am definitely making these. I have been craving a baked good with blueberries all summer. Every time I purchase one it doesn’t live up to my anticipation. So now I’m going to take my needs into my own hands! These look great and easy. Definitely going for the sour cream!
Hi Deb! Thanks for the wonderful recipe. I made these muffins a couple of days ago and for the most part they were excellent. I did run into one small issue though- the bottoms were a bit soggy. Could this be because I lined my muffin tin with foil muffin wrappers? Tops and middles were great though!
Can I replace the dairy ingredients? Will juice or soy milk work?
I’ve been wanting to make this recipe for so long. I finally went to my local produce and grabbed a pint of blueberries. Until of course I remembered that I don’t have muffin trays at home to bake these in. After a trip to Wal-Mart, I was ready to go.
The muffins came out exactly like how you showed them in your photos. I was a little hesitant to use the muffin tray that’s non-stick not knowing if it’s going to stick true to its name but lo and behold, they came out gorgeous and yummy. Perfectly crispy on the top, enough muffin body (I only like muffin tops!), a good balance between sweet and tangy.
Definitely will be making these again! :)
Oh, I also wanted to say that considering how many people tune into your recipes and the fact that you have enough to make a book, I think it would be worth it to install some sort “star-rating” on your posts. It’ll make it easier to find those recipes that makes people want to come back and make it again and again. :)
Anyway, thank you for sharing your recipe!
Patricia — Thanks for the suggestion, I agree star ratings would be great. P.S. The book will be 90% new recipes.
Just made these with chocolate chips instead of blueberries, minus the lemon zest, plus vanilla, used yogurt. Had to be the best muffins I’ve ever made, they were great!
I did these once like the recipe, and once with whole wheat flour, cinnamon, oats, vanilla and cranberries. They turned out great! Superbe breakfast material, If I may say so myself.
Thanks for being so awesome, lots of love from Sweden! :)
I just baked these muffins and they are fabulous! I made a slight alteration to the recipe. I used about a half cup of applesauce instead of the sour cream/yogurt. They turned out great. Thanks!
Thanks, Joanne! I was wondering if this would work.
Made these this morning with my 2 1/2 year old daughter…they were indeed perfect…even before they were baked! (daughter consumed at least one raw muffin) I have put some in the freezer and look forward to seeing how they turn out rewarmed too.
I’ve made these 3 times now. Once with sour cream — agree with you — this is the best option; once with Greek yogurt and once with sour cream, raspberries and orange zest rather than lemon zest. Recipe is fantastic; so easy to put together and love that weights are now included in recipes.
This is the best blueberry muffin recipe EVAH.
I’m going to try it with strawberries soon.
You really are an amazing cook and teacher. Thank you.
I have these in the oven right now, and the batter was amazing (I probably ate an entire muffin’s worth), so I can’t wait for them to finish baking.
I did make a couple of changes– I didn’t have the full amount of yogurt, so I just dumped the rest of the container in. It looked like about half a cup, maybe a little more, so I wasn’t off that badly. I also added a little extra lemon zest with a teeny tiny bit of lemon juice (maybe 1/2 tsp), as well as 1/2 tsp vanilla and about 1 and 1/2 tablespoons of poppy seeds. Everything’s better with poppy seeds.
I’m also a space cat and forgot to add the egg– luckily I remembered right before the blueberries and stirred it in. I just got them out of the oven. All is well, and they are delicious.
excellent recipe. made them with coconut milk yogurt, since i have a lactose issue, and they turned out spectacularly. thanks for the recipes and inspiration!
Just made these, half the batch is already gone. Divine. I used sour cream, 100% whole wheat pastry flour, and added some rosemary :) I’m so glad I found this recipe; I’ve had the blueberry-rosemary muffins idea since I had those ingredients aromatically side-by-side a while ago and swooned, but was heaving sighs in my efforts to find a good-sounding recipe. Yay! Thanks for passing them on, Deb!
Made these this morning and they were so delicious! I skipped the lemon zest out of sheer laziness and added a half teaspoon of ground cinnamon. The batter (made with fat free greek yogurt) yielded ten muffins with a just a little bit left over on the spatula as a pre-muffin snack. Thanks for the great recipe!
I MADE THESE AND THEY ARE AMAZING!!!!! I seriously love blueberry muffins, they remind me of going to soup plantation with my dad and cousins as a kid. DEFINITELY served with butter haha. I took pictures and they are on my tumblr!
Just made these and loved them – especially the yogurt and lemon zest part. They are perfectly fluffy and sweet. Next time, I will be doubling the recipe (our yield of 12 was not enough for our family of four and our neighbors who lent us an egg)!
Thanks so much for making me feel like I can bake! Especially at 8AM.
Wow, some of the best I’ve ever tasted and definitely the best I’ve ever made.
I do have a tip for stopping the purple colour spreading throughout — lightly coat the frozen berries in a little bit of flour before adding them to the mix. I can’t remember where I read this but I tried it today and it worked perfectly — creamy golden muffins with hits of dark indigo berries.
wow! these were sooo good! I think I’ll double it next time.
Wow. Just made these…so good! Will never buy store bought blue berry muffins again.
I can now personally attest to the fact that this batter freezes well. I’d made a batch using my silicone muffin cups and had a little bit too much batter. So I froze it and then brought it down with me on the train to see my boyfriend (letting it thaw on the train but then putting it in the fridge after my arrival). I baked it this morning and it was just as tasty!
When you first posted this recipe, I made these muffins for an unexpected roadtrip my husband and I had to take and they were so easy to make in a flash, and were the perfect car snack, delicious but not too sweet. I was determined to make them again for a camping trip a few weeks ago, and I couldn’t find blueberries at a decent price, but did get some raspberries to try in them. Those were even more delicious! I added a 1/2 pint and left the berries whole, but they naturally separated a bit when stirring them in. Those berries we so utterly juicy and delicious when biting into the muffin – it was the perfect balance of moistness that was added. Thanks so much for your inspiration. I love reading your posts!
This is my first comment post on your site and I’ve been making your recipes since the summer. I tried this recipe back in August in my first attempt at making muffins. They were perfect! I’ve been craving these muffins again but wanted something more seasonal so viola!! — I subbed cranberries for the blueberries and orange zest for the lemon zest!
Hi, could I flash freeze these?
Well I completely mutilated this recipe – firstly I made them with dried cranberries and white chocolate as opposed to blueberries – I also added cinnamon to the dry mix. I didn’t have sour cream so used double cream – at this point I should add I am a Brit living in China so I buy my cooking ingredients from a store which manly carries American style goods – ok so I used double cream but when I opened the tub it was almost solid! Is that normal? Not in the UK anyway.. I also used two wee eggs instead of one big one. But here’s the fun part – I don’t have measuring cups or scales in my flat (or an electric mixer for that matter) so I had to kind of guess all the quantities – thank goodness the recipe described the consistency of the batter!
They are absolutely delicious by the way – incredibly sweet – but super yummy.
I made these today and they came out absolutely perfect. I had been looking for a “perfect” blueberry muffin recipe, and this was exactly it!! Thank you :) Next, I am going to make the crescent jam cookies. They look amazing!
I made these today with a couple changes. I used 2 T of butter and 3 T of oil. I also used 1/2 c WW flour and added about 1/8 c of wheat germ and a couple tablespoons of milled flax seed because I like my muffins a little heartier. I used fresh blueberries that had been frozen. They turned out delicious! Oh and I used the above amounts and got 36 mini muffins with paper liners, which I wouldn’t reccomend because they are way too easy to eat! :-) Thank you so much for your blog.
I’m planning to make these for a brunch on Sunday and want them to be fresh but with an 8 month old at home, there’s never a guarantee that I will have enough time to make the batter and bake them all in one setting. Do you think the batter would hold up if I made it a day or 2 ahead of time and then just added the berries last minute before I put them in the oven?
SOOO good! I doubled it this time ;-)
Oh my goodness gracious, these are truly PERFECT muffins! I just made them and consequently stuffed myself full of them.
I substituted whole wheat pastry flour for the all-purpose flour and used 0% fat Greek yogurt. You can’t even tell that these are a healthier version of your average muffin. They are perfect, Deb!
These were baller. Used sour cream, and sprinkled a bit of cinnamon on top before baking.
These are perfect! More like a scone, which the whole family loved. They did keep very well for a couple of days, just put them in airtight container. My new go-to blueberry muffin recipe.
Yummmmmm. I just made the BEST blueberry muffins. Thanks for such a wonderful recipe.
These are unreal. I used nonfat Greek yogurt because that is all I had on hand. Although they are “healthier”, I took down 3 right from the oven. They are so delicious and simple. I would probably put in more blueberries next time! Thanks for the recipe!
I was itching to bake something after having been snowed under 2 feet of snow in Chicago this week – these were just the ticket!
I used 75% WW pastry flour, regular old nonfat yogurt, and frozen wild blueberries.
So easy! And my apartment is now warm.
Unbelievable, this has always been my favorite Cooks Illustrated Blueberry muffin mix- and I also cut it in half! I do make two changes: 1) I substitute a couple of tablespoons of flour for cornmeal – makes them crisper; and 2)I add more blueberries. It makes the muffins fall apart a bit – but isn’t that the joy of eating homemade muffins right from the stove?
Thanks for cutting the recipe in half! Just a perfect amount of muffins. I wouldn’t need anymore.
My first attempt at muffins and at your recipes. Subbed lemon zest for orange zest and used 2% Greek yogurt. When I tried to mix the frozen blueberries in, they started to color the batter purple. I stopped stirring and just added them in by hand into the muffin pan.
Turned out great! Thanks for the recipe. Will try it with sour cream and brown sugar next time!
P.S. I already ate 3. Oh my :)
I was trapped inside on a snowy Monday morning a few weeks ago, so I did a Google search for “The best blueberry muffin recipe,” and it landed me here. Yum. Definitely one of the best blueberry muffins I’ve tried. I made two batches–once with full fat sour cream and once with non-fat yogurt. Both were delicious, and in fact–I actually preferred the yogurt version. It seemed lighter. …Or maybe it’s just because I didn’t feel as guilty eating 4 at a time! Thanks for the wonderful recipe.
Oh good god these are fabulous! I overbaked them by a few minutes and they were perfect while a dark light brown. A nice crust on them, and so so so good with that lemony zest that adds a subtle wow. I used lowfat plain yogurt and no extra subs. Would be great with 1/3 WW flour, and some crunch sugar on top. Yield: 11 full size muffins and 3 baby ones.
LOVE these!
Yum! Blueberry muffins are the best!! I actually like them better with out muffin liners, I think they lookn prettier that way.
Hi there!
I love Smitten Kitchen. Was sucked in by the Blueberry Boy Bait – which I am now positively evangelical about and am spreading the word to all my friends here in Wellington, NZ – and have just tried this recipe too. Well… kinda tried it. I substituted blackberries for blueberries (as we are in the middle of a blackberry glut here and the wild ones down the road are so juicy and tempting!), doubled the lemon rind, used 1/3 wholemeal and 2/3 all-purpose flour, browned the butter instead of creaming it and used half brown and half white sugar. SO good – am definitely gonna be using this again – thanks for an inspired recipe base! Keep up the good work, I’m loving it!
I made these once again. Thanks for a great, easy recipe. I always use strained full fat Greek yoghurt.
Hello!Just made these muffins! Let me say, they are the most “perfect” little blueberry muffins ever!! I just ate three and my daughter two. Will definitely make these over and over. No need for another recipe.
Just made these this morning and they were AMAZING! They were light, fluffy, and delicious. I can’t wait to make them again…maybe tomorrow morning ;)
Searching the net for a muffin recipie I could eat (not the best cook me!) I found this one, now as Jasmine wrote to me, being in the UK, it wasnt a muffin as such but had a go anyway. WOW! So much better, fully and edible, even I can make them, so thanks. Oh and great you add the measurements in grams too, I’ve found some interesting US recipies but cant work out the cups measures, so thanks for thinking of us too!
I added both regular and wild blueberries, both frozen. The tiny wild mountain blueberries add a distinctly tart flavor, which is wonderful paired with the traditional blueberries! Thanks for a fabulous muffin recipe!
We partly put almond mill instead of flour, (more healthier) and it ended up so nice! The dough was stiff but when it was cooked it was very soft. Thankyou for the magnificent recipe!
That is absolutley deliecious!I just love it how its soft with a tang of slightly sourness from the blueberries. Its perfect for breakfast, lunch or tea with a cup of milk!
Amazing! My three year old more than agrees!
I love blueberry muffins from dunkin donuts,but only when i ask them to toast it perfect for breakfast and lunch yummy yummy
I just finished making a batch of 6 mega-muffins. This recipe is perfection! Lemon is what so many other recipes don’t have, but what I think definitely makes the muffin exceptional!
hi deb! the muffins turned out awesome! i doubled the recipe, which yielded 1 dozen + 6 large muffins. the regular-sized muffins only needed about 21 minutes (started to get golden at 18), but prob. due to my oven temps. i forget exactly how long it took for the larger muffin pan but they turned out lovely. not too sweet but the crumb was nice and tender. :)
I just made them and they are delish! Ate two in a few minutes after taking them out of the oven. Thanks for the recipe, this is a keeper!
I just made these because I went blueberry picking this past weekend. Easy to make and absolutely delicious.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/trulyalive/5857913412/in/photostream
I thought “perfect” might be a bit of an exaggeration, but it wasn’t. They truly are.
THE BEST BLUEBERRY MUFFINS RECIPE EVER! light and moist, not too sweet, the perfect balance of everything! thanks!
Made these last night they were delicious and gone in a flash in my house!
Used lime zest instead of lemon
Just made these at high altitude. Decreased the baking powder and baking soda by a bit. They turned out beautifully. Thanks, Deb!
Excellent muffin recipe and so nice and easy. As you pointed out, breakfast food should be quick and easy and these definitely were plus they taste great!!!
Just tried out this recipe. While they certainly turned out well and looked really pretty, I thought they were too cake-like for a muffin. Great pictures though!
I just made this recipe and it was SO good. The only thing I omitted was the zest..because I was out, and they still turned out yummy. They were super easy to make, and I think they have the perfect consistency for muffins. I should also mention, I made these with a 2 year old and a 4 year old helping, which always results in slightly too much of one thing and slightly too little of another, but this recipe stood up to their abuse and still turned out fantastic!
Just made these and love, love, love them. Great recipe! I combined butter and sugar and crumbled on top for a crunchy addition–awesome. Thanks for the recipe!
This has become my go-to blueberry muffin recipe. Thank you for providing weights of ingredients here. I’ve made them gluten-free and with whole wheat pastry flour now. No one could tell they were gluten-free either!
This is an amazing blue berry muffin recipe. I’ve never made muffins with sour cream in them…so moist! I’ve been a little obsessed with cutting sugar, and creating a sugar/honey (buckwheat honey to be exact) or sugar/maple syrup combinations. My honey was getting grainy, so I used the 1/2c sugar and did one third honey and two thirds sugar. I also didn’t have any plain greek yogurt, so I used Chobani 0% Vanilla (6 oz tub). I also added 1c more blue berries. Very moist delish muffing. My boyfriend was skeptical…as they are different from hisMom’s…but last I heard he ate the remaining 9 in 3 days (my batch yielded 12…I only got one!). So they must be good. Thanks
This a PERFECT recipe. I’ve made it several times, always with whole wheat pastry flour (aka atta I think). Made with yoghurt, a sprinkle of sugar on top, and a cup of blueberries. YUM.
I made these this morning, and they are fantastic! I used sour cream, but next time I will have to give the yogurt version a shot, as well as foraging for some wild blueberries. This recipe makes picturesque, perfectly domed little muffins… finally a blueberry muffin recipe worth celebrating!! Yay!
Sugar on top gives it that lovely extra crunch! They just came out of the oven and are delishhhhh. I finished off two already and am about to go for my third. Deb, you have yet to steer me wrong!
I just made these on Sunday morning and they were perfect! I used sour cream and thought they were fantastic, but will have to try the yogurt version just to see what the difference is. Thank you for this recipe!
I woke up this morning with a blueberry muffin craving, so I ran to the store for berries and sour cream and had these in the oven before I’d even had my coffee. They were delicious! Thank you so much for the recipe!
May I be so bold as to recommend the amending of your technique? I have experimented with oh-so-many blueberry recipes, and have found that instead of blending the berries into a batter or dough, it is far better to stir the berries into the sifted and mixed dry ingredients. They will not sink to the bottom, and they will stay intact much better. (One other little thing I would do is to add nearly the same quantity of berries as flour). I’m gonna make these right now! :)
Jessiet — The blueberries don’t sink in this recipe. That’s the best part! (A thick batter prevents sinking, so no special techniques are required.)
Uh, I know its 2011, but today is TOTALLY THE DAY in Richmond, VA for these puppies. I had to get out a WOOL BLANKET last night, and I realized to stay warm, I needed to bake something. These are the thing.
These muffins look delicious. I like how you adapted this into a one bowl recipe – I try to do similar things to reduce the number of dishes too. It makes enjoying the blueberry muffins even better when I know I don’t have to slave over the sink for hours afterwards!
Does the sour cream need to be at room temp?
These were excellent – thank you!
What are your thoughts on introducing cornmeal to the blueberry muffin?
Seriously the best muffins I’ve ever eaten or made. Thank you! They totally kicked the Bread Bible’s blueberry muffin recipe’s butt.
These muffins are delicious!! They are light and not too sweet. I made them for breakfast tomorrow and my husband and I scarfed more than I’d care to admit for dessert tonight. Smitten Kitchen, you haven’t steered us wrong yet. SO happy to have found your site!
This is a fantastic recipe. I tried it out with three different combos of flour – full all purpose, all purpose + whole wheat pastry flour, and full whole wheat pastry flour. All of them came out fantastic, but I preferred the whole wheat pastry flour batch the best. Also, I didn’t have just regular yogurt on hand so I added banana flavored yogurt – tastes amazing! Thanks for the recipe Deb.
Just made these with raspberries instead of blueberries, and the addition of coconut (dessicated, but not sweetened) to the batter. After I added the egg the mixture looked like it had started curdling….when I added the yoghurt (fat-free) it looked even worse but I carried on regardless and am so pleased with how they turned out – light, fluffy and delicious. Thanks Deb!
you’ve got a fantastic weblog here! would you want to make some invite posts on my blog site?
So yummmm…. I added a little streusal topping to satisfy the sweet tooth and they were incredible!! I love this website, your recipes are always delicious!!! This is the first site i go to and I always come out with a hit!! Thanks again!!!
I’ve always made blueberry muffins with an old Betty Crocker recipe that only used a tiny amount of ingredients, vegetable oil, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. The recipe is lovingly stable and dependable, but the thought of changing the oil to butter and adding sour cream sounds very compelling! I will definitely try it next time.
I think I am going to try this basic recipe, but sub chocolate chips for the berries. Kids are asking for choc chip muffins, and I need a new go-to for a special occasion breakfast
Deb, I’ve used several of your baking recipes and they came out divine. I was so looking forward to eating these as soon as they were cool enough. Something went wrong, they came out doughy and dense (not in a good way). I used a little more blueberries and greek yoghurt. Any thoughts on what could have happened?
I made these this morning and we couldn’t be more pleased– yum!
Made these this morning and had to make mini muffins and ended up with 20 of them and they turned out just divine after I reduced the baking time to 11 min or so. Thank you for a delicious and simple recipe for my frozen blueberries!
I made these today and couldn’t be more pleased – they are fabulous!
Made these today with whole milk yogurt and a little pinch of cinnamon instead of the zest. They were easy and fast, and turned out delicious!
How long would you bake these if you were using a mini muffin tin?
I can’t wait to make these!
I tried these last weekend with lemon non-fat Greek yogurt – delish! I left out the lemon zest (out of laziness!!) but they would be good with both. Could probably cut back on the sugar a little bit. Ever a favorite!
Hi Joy,
I just made these – they are fantastic! I’ll be making them many times over for family and friends. Can I double the recipe?
I’ve doubled the recipe and swapped yogurt for buttermilk – came out absolutely beautiful. Very tasty, fluffy, pretty and fast! Will be making these often :) Thanks so much for sharing!
Just made these and they are really good! I also added some raspberries since they were about to go bad. Will use this recipe again!
I have made these the last 3 weekends in a row. When I went to make them again tonight, I think they taste a little bread-y (if that makes sense). I wonder what I did wrong? Maybe I overmixed the batter?
Thank you for posting this recipe! I had a hankering for blueberry muffins last night so I went to the store to buy the berries. I, of course, didn’t consult a recipe until after the fact so I didn’t have any plain yogurt on hand. Luckily, I had a serving of Chobani’s lemon yogurt, and it worked beautifully. It is non-fat, something I am not normally a fan of, nevertheless, it worked in pinch.
This recipe was a revelation. I hate blueberry muffins – at least the kind of industrial ones you buy in shops and starbucks etc, so artificially sweet with almost slimy blueberries yuck. But I had some blueberries to use up, and thought I could give the muffins away. But they were actually very very delicious. So thank you!
The only change I might make next time would be to add some kind of crunchy sugar topping or streusel for a texture contrast.
Made these for easter brunch — tripled the recipe, came out fine. People loved ’em — got a ton of compliments, so many I had to stop by to say thanks. So, thanks!
Made these yesterday..have two left..I used vanilla yogurt and had to add a bit of water to thin batter out..I also agree these are the best..So moist and yummy..Thanks
What can I do to keep muffins from getting sticky on top?
That seems to happen when they’re wrapped, but not when they’re kept uncovered. Of course, if uncovered, they’ll dry out more quickly.
These are the best bb muffins I’ve ever made…no kidding! I used the full fat plain yogurt & they were so good that my hubby & I made utter pigs of ourselves, so thanks!
I just made these with ricotta (I had some I needed to use up) instead of sour cream/yogurt and they turned out great! Thanks!
After reading a book called Henry In Love to my little ones which had a fun illustration of a very BLUE blueberry muffin I thought I would add just a touch of blue food coloring to the batter. Turned my back to talk to the 5YO and the 3YO added red. So we ate the most Perfect PINK Blueberry Muffins! Have printed out the recipe and can’t wait to make again. Thank you!
This amount made six jumbo muffins perfectly. I lowered the oven temp as I am past the altitude threshold for baking, and lowered the time as well. Tender crumb, not too sweet. I appreciated the weights in the recipe and will make these again. Thanks! I hate blueberry muffins that are cloyingly sweet, so these were a treat. I might actually reduce the sugar next time though.
I had a huggge amount of blueberries in my fridge and i guess i am lucky that i found this recipe. I just made these and they turned out great. I have already eaten half of them , i dont think i’ll leave any for my husband.:D. Thanks for such a great and easy recipe ..!!!
I just made these a few hours ago and they are delish! The only thing I changed was I added 1/2 tsp of lemon extract for extra lemon burstiness and a few more blueberries because they are my favorite berry. I also added a quick strudle topping for some extra sweetness. I didn’t have any Greek style yogert but I will pick some up next time. These smelled amazing the oven and tasted even better. I have finally found my bbm recipe!
These are simply the softest, best muffins ever! I have tried so many recipes, but this is the only one that gave me the fluffiest. THANK YOU for sharing the recipe :).
Thank you for sharing this recipe! I’ve been very disappointed with my attempts at blueberry muffins lately, and this recipe was the perfect remedy. The sour cream and lemon zest add just the right amount of richness and zing. And I love that it’s not a super-sweet recipe. A tiny pat of butter, like you said, and it is perfection. Thank you!!
psyched to try them… in the oven right now (little bit adapted) but you are a great jump starter!! :)
Made these yesterday afternoon using Fage 2% and a bit of creme fraiche I had in the fridge. The muffins are delicious.
although this comment is fairly irrelevant at this point, i just wanted to say I COMBINED this recipe and your recipe for raspberry-topped lemon muffins ( http://smittenkitchen.com/2007/05/a-new-muffin-in-town/ ) and they turned out fabulous!
the lemon sugar + the perfect blueberry dough + the mixture of berries made one delicious muffin! plus the raspberry on top was super adorable.
It might be a good idea to spray liners with nonstick spray too — I lost about a fifth of each muffin to the liner. Did this happen to anyone else or am I just doing something wrong? I followed the recipe strictly except I used nonfat Greek style yogurt.
Otherwise, these are fantastic!
These were bar none the BEST blueberry muffins I’ve ever tried!!!!!! Thank you! I used half white and half ww flours, and the kids and I went bonkers. They reheat beautifully too.
I know I might be a few years late on this post but I just saw it and will definitely be trying them this weekend :-)
Quick question… do you think I could make these as mini-muffins? I guess I could just adjust the cook time, right?
Thanks so much for the best recipes and tips!! I love your site and cannot wait for your book!!!
No reason you cannot make them into minis. Not sure of the baking time but I’d start checking at 10 minutes.
Thanks so much!!
I was bit with the bug to make some blueberry muffins last night and with a bit of poking around on Google, found this recipe.
This was the first baking recipe where I used weight instead of volume and I have a feeling that helped with the consistency. I have some feeling that’s why my waffles, despite using the same recipe for weeks, have been off and on. Anyway, these came out very well for me (sans the lemon zest since I didn’t have any) and I appreciate the portion size too.
Great recipe and simple instructions. Thanks a bunch!
I can always count on you to be the “Go To Girl” when I need to bake something. I just pulled them out of the oven and they are absolutely perfect! I used my scale and followed everything down to the last gram. I can’t wait until they are cool enough to sample.
I found this recipe poking around on Pintrest after my boyfriend came home with blueberries (was that a hint?!?) I am trying it with Mountain High Plain Sour cream because that is what we have in the fridge, but if all goes well maybe I will try the sour cream recipe tomorrow night with the rest of the blueberries as I am sure the guys will gobble these up. I have a feeling after tasting the batter that I will need to double this recipe for the fans.
I just wanted to take a moment to thank you for your blog. Your instructions are so clear, concise and easy to follow. I felt like I had someone here in the kitchen walking me through it! I look forward to reading your other posts.
Cheers!
Do you think this would work with the creaming butter and sugar method instead of using a food processor?
Thanks!
After an awful week of recipes gone ugly (have you ever had a soggy meatball? so demoralizing) I went to your blog like a trusted friend. Three successful meals later, I wonder why I ever visit other cooking sites. Yesterday I had a vision of blueberry muffins, crossed my fingers, and jumped for joy when I found these. Every step was just as you described, though I was able to squeeze out a lucky 11th muffin from my batter. The tops are perfectly golden, the muffins so fluffy, and just the right amount of sweetness. It’s refreshing to know that if I do just what you tell me to, I will have something delicious to eat, be proud of, and (maybe) share. Thanks Deb!
Thank you Deb for this wonderful recipe! These blueberry muffins are by far the best homemade ones yet! They are light and fluffy–perfect for breakfast. Thanks again :)
Thanks for this delicious recipe! I used 0% fat Greek yogurt. Loved the flavor. These were our dinner tonight along with a bowl of sliced peaches.
So, you basically just take Cook’s Illustrated recipes and take photos of them while you bake?
Totally! No, I used one as a jumping off point, from where I created what I felt was a better, more usable, blueberry muffin, with better instructions.
I made these last night…with earth balance and organic vanilla yogurt…i died…i died and went to muffin heaven! For years upon years i searched for the perfect recipe- not too dry, nice and moist, fluffy to perfection and this recipe truly is…perfect.
I made these last night for myself and my husband’s breakfast ! I love this recipe ;) it makes such a soft crumbed, sweet/slightly tangy muffins! I sprinkled mine with cinnamon sugar on top for a little crunch and added sweetness, since my blueberry bought from Costco this time was a bit sour :( Thanks for a wonderful recipe!
I made these for my wife the other day and she loved them. The rest of the day was spent doing laundry and taking my kids to day care.
toodles,
mister sir
These muffins were just great. I didn’t have lemon zest, so I used orange zest instead. I also added about 1/4 tsp of vanilla. Very nice flavor addition. Plus after reading how thick your batter was, i added about 2 tbsp. of milk to get to the 3/4 cup of sour cream/yogurt. The batter is still very thick, but it is easier to work with. I can’t wait to make these again. Also, thanks much for halving the original recipe! What a wonderful idea.
Well, well, well. I, like StephanieG, used orange zest as well. These were amazing! Unreal! Deelish! And did wonders to highlight the incredible Maine blueberries that were part of our CSA delivery this week. I’ll make these again and again. They truly are the perfect blueberry muffins.
Makin ones tomorrow ! with a blueberry frosting :D
hey :-) thx for this amazing recipie!
Just took these out of the oven and… delicious! I used frozen blackberries for the blueberries and had to sub a little soy yogurt to the sour cream to get 3/4 cup. The texture is perfect and the 6 year old can’t wait to take one for snack at school tomorrow. This made a dozen muffins for me – not sure how I got 3 extra, but they were most welcome. :)
I made these this afternoon and they’re amazing! Thank you all the way from Perth, Western Australia for this brilliant recipe.
You have the most reliable muffin recipes. I made this one with sour cream instead of yogurt this time and love the tangy quality it adds. Crisp craggy tops too. Didn’t think there was enough but they rise!
I’ve made these again, but taking a leaf from your blueberry yogurt multigrain pancake recipe (which I adore), I used 3/4C white flour, 1/4C rye flour and 1/2C whole wheat flour and they are absolutely AMAZING. Beautiful, complex texture and flavour. My new favourite blueberry muffin!
Thanks again for the inspiration!
Doubled it to pop some in the freezer and used some whole wheat flour. Love these! I actually had lemons for zest this time and it adds so much. I dont think I’ll make it without the lemon zest again! Thanks!
These are terrific! I’m in France and used fromage blanc for the yogurt/sour cream. So good. And my daughter loves that they’re really purple! Thanks!
Can I add bananas in this recipe to make banana-blueberry muffins instead?
These were the best blueberry muffins I’ve ever made, probably the best I’ve ever had. Thank you so much for posting this. Love the yogurt, love the smaller recipe. These were absolutely perfect and I used frozen blueberries and a food processor to beat butter/sugar, etc. since I don’t have a mixer. So impressed.
Made for the first time.
DELICIOUS !!! Used vanilla yogurt without any topping even tho I was tempted to mix a Streusel topping The recipe made 11 muffins. Again, soooo good.
Just made these as I had some blueberries that needed to be used. I put in a full fat yogurt instead of Greek (as that was what I had on hand), and they came out beautifully. The right amount of moisture and sugar. I was a bit cautious as some recipes always tell you to put too much sugar in but this was the right balance. I also do love the fact that you put in weight amount as this is much more precise for me. Perfect muffin and honestly my go-to from now on!
I’ve made these about a half dozen times and they are the best! I have a question I don’t see addressed in the comments yet though. Could you make the dough, portion them out and freeze them to bake individually later? I know you do this with cookies a lot, but I’m not sure if it works the same with muffins. (Yes, I’m trying to find a way to have a fresh, warm muffin every day before work. Who wouldn’t?)
Thank you so much for the recipe. It looks delicious! I will try it this weekend :)
OMG, these really are the best! I used 2/3’s sour cream and 1/3 Greek yoghurt (cleaning out the fridge, lol), otherwise no changes. I love that these weren’t too sweet. I wish I’d doubled the recipe, because they’re already gone.
Whoa – these are so good! Thanks to all for posting tips on freezing the muffins – if I don’t inhale them in the next 24 hours I can have some over time. Liked the comments on using whole wheat flour. I’d like to explore nut flours -I imagine they have more nutritional value than white flour.
These go in my boys’ lunches for school almost every week! They love them. The only changes we make is adding freshly milled whole wheat flour rather than all purpose.
Used this recipe to make Banana Nut Muffins instead (there were no blueberries at the store) and it was awesome. Great idea to include sour cream. Will make again/10.
http://ahungryfox.com/2013/02/02/jesus-joseph-mary-banana-nut-muffins-w-streusel-nut-topping/
So I totally decided to make these at 3:30am in the middle of a Top Chef rerun induced second wind. Alas, in the midst of my excitement, I totally forgot to mix in the blueberries (I remembered while in the bathroom!) but the naked muffins? mini cakes? are freaking awesome.
Update– I made a lemon glaze with lemon zest to top off the Awesomest of Most Awesome nudie muffins. Thank you again for this recipe!
Sincerely,
K’s Stomach
I made these substituting 5 tbsp of unsweetened apple sauce for butter, and they were delicious! Only 3 WW points. One question, though: my muffins stuck to the paper liners in a big way, possibly because of the applesauce– do you have any hints on how to fix that?
Laura — You can spray the liners with a nonstick spray before putting the muffins in, although that might mess with the points value.
Deb, your recipes never fail! I’ve been a subscriber to SK since 2009 and we gave birth at pretty much the same time and in all these years I’ve never had a fail when following SK’s directions. Made these this morning to use up the blueberries in the fridge before they got mushy and they were a HUGE hit. Instead of 9 muffins, and since I only have one muffin pan in my kitchen, I (almost) overfilled the cups on my 6-well muffin tin and sprinkled with a bit of sugar and they all domed beautifully – they looked like the best bakery deluxe muffins. My 3-yr old declared them the most wonderful blueberry muffins she’d ever seen! These are much better than the cake-y muffins that you usually get.
Great recipe! Many of my friends and family love blueberries and blueberry muffins. I made this recipe for a family brunch last weekend, and they were a big hit. This was a new type of recipe for me. I’d made basic muffins before, but they were nothing special. These were so good. I used whole milk Greek yogurt, and the dough was very thick as you mentioned. I was a tiny bit skeptical about how they would turn out. However, I should have known that any recipe I find on your blog would turn out well. The taste was a great balance of sweet blueberries and tangy lemon zest. The texture was amazing. The brunch guests seemed to really enjoy them. About half of them took a second one. There were none left. I am excited to try the recipe again and to try different flavor combinations.
This recipe sounds amazing! Thank you so much for your modifications – I always bake using weight instead of volume, but it’s hard to find recipes with weights. You’ve saved me a huge step!! I cannot WAIT to try these. My toddler is obsessed with muffins, so adding flaxseed and whole wheat flour makes me feel less guilty about indulging her. :) Have a wonderful day!
Did anyone add nuts?
Terrific recipe. I made it with vanilla yogurt because that’s what I had, and it was great. Definitely the thickest muffin dough ever; I added a little water. Thanks so much!
These are in the oven now.
I can not wait for them to finish baking.
Thank you for the recipe and the beautiful blog.
Jodi
I made these with buttermilk because I only had nonfat yogurt. They’re delicious! Perhaps a bit more like cake-like than normal muffins, but who’s going to complain about that?
Do I need to make any changes to the recipe if I am using plain flour, and not all purpose? Perhaps add 1/4th self rising flour instead?
Hi Sarah — What’s the difference between plain flour and all-purpose? Here, they are more or less the same.
Did a smitten kitchen vs hummingbird bakery blueberry muffin taste test this afternoon. SK won on looks and taste. Pat yourself on the back, Deb!
Another winner! I only had 1/2 c. sour cream but also had 2 oz cream cheese left over so I softened it, then blended with the butter and sugar before adding the egg and sour cream. Also used 1/2 whole-wheat flour, 1/2 all-purpose and left out the lemon zest since I didn’t have a lemon on hand and they came out fantastic. The batter filled three mini-loaf pans perfectly. LOVE these.
I had some leftover blueberries that i needed to use yesterday and found this recipe. They lasted all of 15 minutes – my family DEVOURED them! thanks for yet another amazing recipe! I love, love, love your blog and book!
Yummy. I used fat free yogurt and salted butter, plus a pinch of kosher salt. Made 12 in a mini-bundt pan. (I don’t have a muffin pan) Only four left, despite temptation.
I tried this with Greek yogurt! Very good… want to try it one more time with regular…can’t wait! Yum!
Great recipe. Made them for a brunch this morning. Was nervous about the 9 to 10 amount, so I decided to make mini muffins. FYI – this recipe makes 24 perfectly sized mini muffins. Used tiny little boreal frozen blueberries and they turned out perfectly. My husband said, “Can we replace the blueberries with mini chocolate chips next time?” Danger ahead, Will Robinson. I could snack on these blueberry muffins all day, but chocolate instead… dangerous! Deb, thanks for the brilliant recipe once again. It truly is perfect the blueberry muffin.
These look delicious! I made these today with a few alterations, but hope they turn out craggy and lightly browned like depicted.
I used 3.9 oz individual serving of unsweetened applesauce, reduced the sugar to 1/4 cup of brown sugar, omitted the salt because I used salted butter, used organic nonfat Greek yogurt, omitted the lemon ( didn’t feel like zesting today) and used almost 3/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice (couldn’t find the cinnamon. One daughter wanted blueberry muffins, the other raspberry so I used 1/2 cup ( frozen) of each. The batter tasted perfect! It was just barely sweet, and I could tell they would bake up great. :)
On a last minute whim I decided to make an impromptu streusal topping the kids could help me sprinkle on the muffins. I used 1/4 cup of brown sugar, some w/w flour, 3 tsp butter, a little more pumpkin pie spice (about 1/2 tsp), and some leftover whole grain pancake mix (1/2-2/3 cup of the flours combined).
OMG these turned out scrumptious! I ate three hot from the pan! The batter I made filled twelve muffin cups 2/3 full. They had nice rounded tops when I first pulled them from the oven (16-17 mins) but I decided to cook them 1-2 minutes more. They deflated a lil bit but were still incredible, like the best homemade crumb cake ever, super moist, but came easily out of my nonstick muffin pan. I use a thin coating of crisco shortening for best results with turning out muffins and bread. The tartness of the raspberries and soft moist crumb of these muffins were perfectly balanced by the texture and sweetness of the streusal topping.
I am very very happy with these. Thanks SK for such an amazing recipe!
Deb,
Can you please answer 374-Julia comment. I had the same thing happen as Julia. The muffins were very dense. The only thing I can think of is that I over mixed but even if I did it was not very much. I have never made muffins before this recipe and they came out nothing like the texture I am used to seeing in a bakery. There were more like scones if anything. I was thinking of making them again this week but I am not sure what changes I should make?
Thanks,
Anna
I’d say that these are a teensy bit more scone-like (heavier and rich) than your average muffin, but they shouldn’t be excessively so (that doesn’t sound right). You might prefer more liquid (or yogurt) for a softer batter, but with a softer batter, there is more risk of blueberries sinking.
This recipe was awesome. Easy to make but it surprisingly produces a complex taste with heartier texture. I like the butter over oil in a muffin recipe. I tripled the batch for my large family, so I had to use a combination of vanilla and mango yogurts with a little buttermilk to finish off the correct amount. Fresh frozen blueberries were what I had on hand. Then I also threw in a 1/2 cup of fresh ground flax seed for the extra health benefits. My family loved them!
I made these yesterday with fresh blueberries and they came out splendid! I altered baking time and temperature slightly because I used a bigger six-muffin pan instead, and it still worked. Thank you so much for sharing this excellent recipe!
Jonesing for muffins, I busted these out yesterday with little fanfare and great success. I went halvies with ricotta and yogurt. The muffin pan went missing, so I just made 1 giant muffin in a pie pan, and it worked like a charm. mmm… muffin pie… Thanks for a simple, delicious recipe!
I found this recipe this morning-I always love the pictures you post as they are so inspiring. My house smells wonderful at the moment. Thanks for what you do–
V~
What a wonderful recipe! I used both blueberries and blackberries with great success. Thank you!
Doubled them with 2 granny smith apples instead of blueberries, cinn instead of lemon zest. YUM! 2 cups white flour, 1 cup whole wheat. Great!
The muffins weren’t very sweet – i prefer a sweeter blueberry muffin… they were light and fluffy… just kinda bland
Made these with red currants instead of blueberries (bumper crop this year!), delicious! Doubled the fruit and they’re so moist and sweet until you hit a lovely tart red currant. Fabulous.
Look delicious! Would I be able to make the batter overnight and bake in the morning?
Grace — I don’t usually recommend making cake and muffin batters in advance because the leaveners start working after they’re mixed and you’re not going to get as good of a dome if you wait too long.
These are indeed perfect. A few notes: I upped the berries to 1 cup (because really why not?) and in the future might even add a few handfuls more. My batter also made a full dozen, even though I was filling my standard-size tins up almost to the brim. Anyway, they came out great. I decided to try these after being very disappointed with Martha Stewart’s blueberry muffin recipe, which resulted in very dry, overly cakey muffins. I’ll be keeping this one. Thanks, Deb!
I made these exactly as written except for substituting nonfat Greek yogurt for full-fat. They were hands-down the most wonderful muffins I’ve ever made: not too sweet, with a tender, almost airy crumb and burnished domed tops. Thank you for the love and work you put into sharing your recipes with others. The world is a better place because of you!
I made these the other night with my daughter. I didn’t have enough sour cream so used some homemade Vietnamese yogurt in addition. They are by far the best blueberry muffins I have ever eaten! My daughter (who is 2) could not wait for them to bake! We will definitely be making these again. Soon.
Ok! So I made them “healthier” by using organic lemon, white whole wheat flour, organic cane sugar and organic butter. Still pretty good! And, ahem, healthier…
Made these tonight. Super easy and delicious, particularly with wild Quebec blueberries. They were a little overcooked at 20 minutes. start checking the oven at 15.
Worked a treat. Found you by Google, and that seems like good luck. Will try your other recipes now. Mine rose beautifully, used 2% Greek yoghurt.
We made these again with apples (3 this time in a double batch) and cinn, instead of the blueberries and lemon. Sooo good, sooo simple. Thanks!
Just made these yummy muffins and can’t stop eating them. I was a little short on the sour cream so I added ricotta to make up the difference. These are the BEST muffins I have ever made. My husband, who doesn’t usually have more than one is on his 4th! I was going to make these for our 2 granddaughters today for after their soccer games, but I will be bringing less than I had planned. Thanks for sharing all your WONDERFUL recipes; you never disappoint. I am going to make your applesauce cake tomorrow.
These blueberry muffins are easy to make and very delicious.
Mine did not work out as well as I hoped. I think something went wrong with the texture. In the prep, it says that the texture should be quite thick, however mine was quite ‘liquidy’ and not as thick as I wanted. Do you think this might be because I used plain yogurt and not cream? But I must say they did taste good, my colleagues and boyfriend were still very happy with the end result!
Charlotte — If you used yogurt, not cream, it could end up even thicker. Is there no chance that an ingredient was left out?
I have made probably 50 different blueberry muffin recipes (no joke!) and this one is far and away my favorite. Th name doesn’t lie, these are simply perfect.
I just made them and this is one of the best blueberry muffins I’ve ever made. I need them for the weekend so I decided to freeze them. I don’t have the time to make them then. I decided I should taste them before putting them out (ha) and the are so good….
Well, apparently ’tis the season for blueberry muffins! I, too, just made these and was delighted. Perfect and thank you!
It’s late at night and i just made these to live out a pregnancy craving before bed- and boy did they hit the spot! So divine and amazing! I ate 3 in 3 seconds! Another great post, smitten! I can always trust your taste to be just like mine! Thanks!
Hello can I substitute the blueberries with cut up strawberries?
fabulous! made mini-muffins and baked for 10-11 minutes.
It’s AMAZING what a teaspoon of vanilla does to this recipe. I make it egg-free, using flaxseed, and the batter is incredible. I could just eat it all. not really but… yeah.
After yesterday’s dulce de lechwe fail, I made these and they turned out wonderfully. I used sour cream and an organic lemon for the zest, which I think had more flavor than a light yellow lemon. I have to say though, I filled my muffin tin to the top and got 11 muffins. Deb, I have never had this happen before, but mine are prettier than yours. I honestly think it is the Kansas weather right now. I should go bake bread, I bet it would be glorious.
Deb, these are delicious! I made them last weekend with a friend who requested blueberry muffins to go along with our brunch. I made the mistake of only taking one home (it fit so perfectly in my half pint mason jar…) and my boyfriend thought it was for him! I now have everything laid out so I can mix & bake in the morning before work. Here’s hoping there are still a few left when I get home tomorrow. Thanks for another winner!
I just wanted to let you know that this has become our Saturday morning ritual and if there are no blueberry muffins my husband will whine cutely for them. I use a tiny bit more sugar and a whole bunch of rind, and they are amazing.
Just made a double-batch of these and used a cup of whole wheat flour in place of one of the cups of white, and it didn’t make any real difference to the texture. These have been my go-to muffins since they were first posted here.
OMG – these were amazing! I love the texture! The only yogurt I had on hand was greek honey yogurt, so I reduced the sugar to 1/3 cup. Also added pecans and a little fresh rosemary. Mmm good breakfast, but trying not to eat the whole pan! Quick…leftovers into the freezer!
These are now a favorite at our house. I make them according to the recipe but add a bit more sugar and a couple squeezes of lemon juice into the yogurt. Thanks for a awesome recipe
This weekend I made some cross between these and the muffins in your cookbook, which is to say that I made the cookbook recipe and added blueberries but the two recipes look pretty similar. They were amazing. To quote the boyfriend, “blueberry muffins are my favorite thing.”
These are LITERALLY the BEST blueberry muffins I have ever had in my life!! I lost the recipe, and wanted to make them today, so for 45 minutes I searched in Google to find the recipe again! So glad I did! I am sharing your page with everyone!!
These are indeed perfect! Sour cream is my new favorite fluffifier. I was a bit surprised at the baking time, though–25 to 30 at 375 degrees seemed like a lot, and mine were pretty much ready around 16 or 17 minutes (I think my altitude is like 400 ft or something). Is there something important about baking them longer?
These were divine, and got rave reviews from my family, I, too, however, had them get done in about 17 minutes, was glad I checked early, I do have my moms old vintage aluminum muffinaire tins that I used, maybe they are a little smaller in size? then the ones you use…..thanks so much, blueberry muffins are our favorite muffin, and this will be my keeper from here on out, have a great day….
The PERFECT blueberry muffin!! The last muffin eaten three days later was just as good as the first. Thanks!!
I’m sorry to say I made these muffins and they were too chewy. I was excited to see a recipe without milk and one that used Greek yogurt (I used full fat Greek) but they were honestly not good. I don’t think I will make them again.
Deb, these have been a go-to for me for a while, but I recently tried them with browned butter and a pinch of turbinado sugar on top and they became pretty much mind-blowing. Hooray for end-of-summer baking!
These look amazing. I’m trying to make things that I can also feed to my one year old, so I was wondering if you have recommendations on a substitute for the sugar? Or if it will work if I reduce the amount? Thanks so much!
My 8 y.o. daughter made these with very little support from me! Easy and delicious – she was so proud to make something so yummy!
I loved these muffins! Mine didn’t come out golden but were delicious nonetheless. I suggest cooking for longer if you want it to be golden brown.
Recently our supermarkets in this area featured buy one box blueberries, get the second box free. So I am baking these muffins today in the middle of winter. I have made these many times before, and find these muffins freeze well. Looking forward to a ready to heat treat in my freezer over the next few weeks. Yum. Thanks for the recipe. (A tasty way to use the berries and yogurt hanging in my fridge.) (And I double the batch which yields 24 muffins for me.)
Yummy base recipe! I got a haul of grapefruit a couple of weeks ago (8 bags of giants), and so I made the grapefruit yogurt loaf, but then also made grapefruit cookies from your slice-and-bake recipe and now have made grapefruit poppyseed muffins off of this recipe. So delicious — thanks!
Just made these this morning for breakfast and was happy to find a noble purpose for a 1/2 cup of sour cream left over in fridge mixed with some greek yogurt. Used mineola orange zest since that was what I had on hand and frozen blueberries. Rave reviews from husband and toddler. A nice warm treat for a chilly march morning.
Doubled it… subbed in a kid container of applesauce for 2T of butter and a cup of wheat flour for white. LOVE this recipe! Dont skip the zest, it adds so much.
My son has been asking for green muffins recently. We’ve made these many times, but today I tried blending some frozen spinach in with the yogurt. They are green and they are fabulous!
This recipe has made several repeat performances in my household. I love that the ingredients are listed by weight. I reduced the amount of sugar from 100 to 85 g. No one missed it. Have also used orange zest instead of lemon when that is what I had on hand. Looking forward to trying with fresh blueberries instead of frozen once summer gets here.
Mmmh. Made these today and ate four of them right away.
Ha! Once again, you and i have zeroed in on the same recipe for the best possible version of whatever! Been making these for years! I actually make the full recipe and use the sour cream, which makes them completely dreamy. And i do freeze the leftovers and reheat in the oven (or toaster over) and they are perfect. I also like to sprinkle a little sugar on top to give them a bit of a crust. And yes, the CI “classic” recipes do cost more, which vexes me, but sometimes if you Google the recipe you can get it that way.
HELLO ! I WAS JUST WONDERING IF I CAN USE BLUEBERRY FILLING OR CANNED BLUEBERRIES INSTEAD OF FRESH BLUEBERRIES. IT IS REALLY HARD TO FIND THEM WHERE IM FROM. THANKS!
Truly one of the best muffin recipes EVER. I make a big batch once a month for the freezer – perfect grab and go (30 sec. in the microwave) snack for the hubby and kid. Fresh out of the oven? fabulous.
Daphne — I’ve never tried it with canned or already-sweetened blueberries so I can’t say for sure. It would add wetness and sweetness, it may not ruin the muffins but it would throw off the original structure.
hm, i finally got around to making these and they didn’t turn out “perfect” for some reason. i mixed the batter as little as i could, but the batter still got very sticky/glutenous, and the muffins are kind of doughy as a result. they seem sort of biscuit-like, not muffin-like.
also, i used my frozen from fresh farmers market blueberries and it made the batter even more difficult to handle. it was cold and somewhat solid, as well as glutenous and doughy. maybe it would work better with frozen wild blueberries from the store, since they are much smaller and less like adding ice cubes to the batter?
i don’t want to give up on this since almost everything i’ve ever made here has been awesome. plus, you do call them perfect…
I love Smitten Kitchen ~ thank you for all of the wonderful recipes. I was underwhelmed with this one though – it was just average to me. I think it needs to be sweeter, have more blueberries and lemon flavor and perhaps some kind of strusel topping? I sprinkled mine with turbinado sugar, which added a lovely crunch and sweetness. Will probably not make again.
Yes, perfect–especially when you decide to put more than 3/4 cup of big, fresh blueberries in. I used sour cream instead of yogurt. Pleasantly surprised that I ended up with a dozen. In the process of mixing the dough, I got a little scared with how dry and thick it was but turned out super light and fluffy.
I might try subbing half of the all purpose flour for whole wheat to give it a little heft and act like I’m making an effort to be more health conscious. And a streusel/crumble topping on these would be fantastic.
I made these muffins yesterday and was happy with them. I’d definitely make the recipe again but the one thing I would change next time is up the sugar a bit – they weren’t quite sweet enough for our taste. I also might sprinkle some “sugar in the raw” on top of the batter to add that sweetness and crunch. I used a regular Dannon plain yogurt cup and fresh blueberries – I think the yogurt provides a perfect moistness.
This last round (using sour cream) turned out somewhat biscuity for me too. That was still good for the one I ate fresh from the oven, but after sitting overnight they got quite heavy and the one I ate this morning is kinda sitting like a stone in my stomach. Things I may have done wrong: didn’t sift the dry ingredients, just mixed them in a separate bowl and then poured that in thirds into the stand mixer; general over-mixing; did not let the muffins fully cool before packing them away. I still have a lot of blueberries so I may attempt this again over the weekend.
I made these today. They disappeared minutes after taking them out of the oven I substituted corn meal for 1/2 cup flour and they were crunchy and fabulous. Will definitely make again. Thanks!
These are incredible! I used a slightly sweetened lemon yogurt instead of the plain so reduced the sugar but kept the zest. I also used wild blueberries, smaller than most commercially available berries so they fold in without completely squishing or settling. The thickness of the dough was interesting to work with for sure.
They came out really moist and so flavorful.
Fantastic! Really the perfect blueberry muffin. I used yogurt and chopped candied lemon peel instead of zest, which adds an interesting texture.
I just made these, but it made about 12 instead of 9-10 and my cups are quite full! Still baking…but I’m excited to have these for breakfast this week.
Hi :)) made these 5 times this weekend. Huge hit. Doubled the salt, added a splash of buttermilk as the sour cream was super dense. Doubled lemon zest. Bought new cookbook over the weekend. Huckleberry. In there she says she always doubles the vanilla and the salt. So I’ve been doing that and I have to say it works! Thank you again for another great recipe. I have your cookbook and use it all the time. Making your artichoke dip today as well xox
Made these today using nonfat plain Greek yogurt instead of sour cream, 3/4 tsp. salt, and 1/2 tsp. vanilla (still kept the lemon zest though). I got 10 tasty and tender muffins. The only thing I’ll do differently next time I make them (because this recipe is a keeper) will be to sprinkle a little sugar on the tops. The muffins themselves aren’t super sweet, but upping the sugar content in them would be too much.
I subbed whole milk, plus a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, for the yogurt/sour cream. Used frozen wild blueberries instead of fresh. Perfection – ideal crumb and sweetness! I ate two of them straight from the oven and my family promptly devoured the rest. Your recipes are always delicious. Thank you!
Deb,
I have a muffin question. The first time I made these they were as a hard as a rock. It took me a while to figure out that I over mixed the batter. Now I am not sure how to go about the batter. I cannot over mix it but if I lightly mix until I can no longer see the flour, there are flour balls in the batter and when this bakes people get a mouthful of flour when then bite into the muffin. Any thoughts?
Thanks,
Anna
Anna — I vote for mixing until the flour just disappears, i.e. there’s no loose/dry flour left. This muffin has a firm, craggy lid, very liftable. I love it, but it might not be for everyone.
You could try sifting the flour over the batter. Then, fold into the batter using either a spatula or gently and slowly use a whisk to FOLD the flour into the batter until just combined. If the batter gets too heavy, switch to a spatula and continue gently folding the flour into the batter until just combined. This didn’t take me more than 2 minutes. I find as long as I’m gentle with the folding, a few extra folds to get out any big lumps of flour won’t kill the batter.
So good! I wanted to use up some sour cream & blueberries that had been in the fridge awhile and this was the perfect recipe. I had to give some to my neighbors & freeze a few, to avoid overindulging! Can’t wait to make them again & experiment with whole wheat pastry flour. Thanks Deb!
These were insanely easy to make. Used Nancy’s low-fat yogurt and loved that consistency. I realized I don’t own a grater for the lemon zest as the recipe was already underway so after a mini panic attack I decided to just squeeze some lemon juice in there and see what happens. I think it turned out alright! Can taste a bit of it. Not sure if my muffin tin is smaller, but I was able to fit the batter in all 12 holes WITH some to spare. But then when they came out they didn’t have “muffin tops” so I don’t think I filled them quite high enough to the ideal sweet spot anyway. Thanks Deb!
Lemon zest will yield a more intense lemon flavor without affecting the batter.
The lemon juice may have affected the pH of the batter. I found this discussion by Molly Yey, as she tried to create a hibiscus cake, interesting:
http://mynameisyeh.com/mynameisyeh/2017/6/coconut-rose-cake?rq=hibiscus%20cake
She recommends Harold McGee’s “On Food and Cooking The Science and Lore of the Kitchen”
I recently acquired a lemon zester aka micro planer. This is the second time I’ve bought one and Oh My Goodness! I had forgotten how much easier it makes the zesting process. I would encourage you to buy one before you try to grate the zest again, it will change your life.
I won’t single anyone out, but can people (on this recipe but also on food blogs in general) please stop leaving long boring comments about how they made this recipe “except” for about a dozen substitutions? If you really feel that your small tweak to this recipe improved it, please share. But nobody cares that you saw a recipe and used it as a loose guide for your totally different version.
Deb, these look perfectly delicious! My Gma and I recently picked TONS of blueberries at a U-pick farm, and I already made your yummy blueberry galette with them. I think this is next on the list! :) I was thinking about using ricotta instead of sour cream or yogurt, and I’m glad to see others here have had success with it. Yummmm.
Made these this morning with coconut oil instead of butter and they were fantastic! The lid is craggy, but the muffin itself is soft inside. The base recipe would work with many different flavor combinations, I think.
I just made these and oh my gosh they are delicious! I used full fat Greek yogurt instead of sour cream and I love the tangy meets sweet profile of these muffins. Thanks for the recipe!
Love that you include the grams measurements for baking! I picked 10 pounds of fresh berries today and made a little dent in them with these muffins. I expect I will need to make another batch in an hour or two.
Just made them this weekend and they came out gorgeous. Eliminated the lemon zest (didn’t have any), used plain low fat yogurt and my muffins were done at about 20 mins. Love the fact that this recipe uses only 1/2 cup of sugar. Best when eaten the same day, and that’s definitely not hard to do with these yummy muffins!
Just took these out of the oven. They smell DIVINE!
I just recognize in your first words my exacts thoughts and feelings ! It’s August and I can smell the Fall behind this rainy week end… I woke up this morning and I said to my husband that baking blueberry muffins would be perfect for today.
(Sorry for my english, french is my first language…)
G.
I can’t wait to try these. I actually made your previous recipe last week, but since they were for my daughter’s last day in her preschool classroom, I didn’t taste any (your previous recipe made 12 in my muffin tin…). My daughter said that the “cupcakes” were delicious!
I actually LIKE the measurement for lemon zest. I buy lemons from Trader Joe’s because they are a great buy, but they are on the small side, so I always appreciate actual measurements for zest and juice instead of one lemon, juiced.
How would you adjust for mini muffins?
Less baking time and slightly lower oven temp :) keep ur eyes on the oven
I’d check in halfway through the baking time.
‘kay . . . hub and I have been without A/C since May (and rather enjoying not freezing to death) . . . but the heat and humidity have been to the nth degree of ickiness here in SW Ontario all summer. Today it’s resting at 30C and the 80% humidity is giving us a “feels like” 40C day. Enough already, I haven’t had my oven on in two months . . . and hub picked 20 pounds of blueberries a month ago . . . and I saw this recipe . . . kindly ordered hub to go to the Bulk Barn to get the turbinado sugar . . . AND HOLY FRIJOLE THESE ROCK!~~~~~
Just made these and they are delicious! I doubled the recipe and was able to scoop 19 muffins. Also used 1/2 Greek yogurt and 1/2 sour cream.
My husband said they are better than his mother’s and similar to the famous Jordan Marsh blueberry muffins in Boston.
Will definitely make these again.
Totally agreed with you that blueberry muffins are the most delicious canvas to experiment, forever, with potential improvements! Especially about the amount of berries. This recipe has achieved a very high peak of perfection. Reminds me of what has been my favorite until you posted this, the recipe from the English baker Elizabeth Alston. In her book “Muffins”, published by Harper Collins in the 1990s. I’m so grateful for your always-exploring spirit, sharing with us the yummy results in food-making. And, I wish you fun travels, assuming you take that same spirit along. Portugal was one of my mother’s favorite places!
Sometimes I cut back slightly on the berries and add a peeled chopped peach or nectarine as a little surprise.
These look just lovely, and two thumbs up for the teaspoon of sugar atop each muffin. Are these quite soft and cakey, or more rustic and substantial and texture? Thank you!
These are soft and fluffy!
okay, i have made the CI blueberry muffins from the 2009 annual cookbook, (the one where you use blueberries, but you also make a little blueberry jam to swirl into the muffins just before topping with lemon zest sugar). by the way, it is my favorite cookbook because there is also a great chocolate chip cookie recipe and a great ciabatta recipe in there! i couldn’t imagine ever wanting to re-work that. is this really better? because i’m all for easier, and leaving out the jam step is certainly easier. guess i will have to try this…
Those are my fave too. To make them easier I use blueberry jam instead of the compote to save a step the day of- so delicious.
I made these perfect blueberry muffins a month ago based on the 2010 recipe. Loved the flavor and ease* of the recipe. Looking forward to the updated recipe!
*I made a batch using fresh blueberries. No problems from start to finish. A second batch using frozen blueberries had problems when folded. Maybe it was the metal spoon and the summer heat, but the blueberries got cut up during the folding process. Bizarre occurrence? I’ll stick with fresh blueberries (or thawed).
It’s just the frozen blueberries. They’re much more collapsed once defrosted.
This is my go-to recipe for muffins. I love it with yogurt or sour cream. Full fat Greek yogurt works as well. I am sure adding coarse sugar in top would be a nice addition.
Do you have a calorie count for 1 muffin?
I get 10 muffins from a batches which works out to 212 calories per muffin. If you get 9 then it’s 236 per muffin
I have made these several times with blueberries and they are delicious – but we have a lot of strawberries. Could I use those instead or would that throw off the texture ?
Can this be made into a tea bread?
I haven’t tried it. It might be best to double it first because the yield isn’t particularly large here. But I’m just guessing…
Oops just saw this response about tea bread which I think answers my question! Darn thought I had scoured the comments to see if this had been asked already :)
Oops – me too! Sorry for re-asking
Can these be made wheat-free by substituting almond flour+coconut flour?
I haven’t tested these with gluten-free flours. If that mix has worked well for you in other recipes, definitely try it here. I generally use a gluten-free baking flour mix (either King Arthur or Cup4Cup) as my first stop when trying to make a baked good gluten-free thought.
What if you don’t have sour cream or yogurt but do have buttermilk?
I just subbed half the sour cream for soured half n half and they came out DIVINE so buttermilk would prob work really well!
I’ve made those muffins TWICE this week for my family and friends we’re IN LOVE WITH THE RECIPE!!!!! I just have a tiny suggestion – how about posting a strusel topping for those muffins? I think it’ll make them even more delicious :)
There is nothing more ‘delicious’ than that cute ‘muffin’ in her high chair. Aka ‘the boss’. Really! On the other hand, I’ve got some plans for the 9 gallons of blueberries we freeze every year.
Can I substitute creme fraiche for the yogurt/sour cream? Don’t know what I would do without your website!
Yes, and it would be luxurious.
I’ve used creme fraiche instead of yogurt because I didn’t have enough yogurt. It is decadently luxurious and delicious but it yields a much much richer muffin. I was surprised, I found I preferred full fat greek yogurt or half fat greek yogurt to creme fraiche.
“then the rest of the raw on a rack.”
Do you mean “rest of the day on a rack”?
D’oh! I meant “the rest of the WAY on a rack.” Now fixed. Thanks for the heads up.
Can I use veg oil instead of butter?? Thanks! Looks so yummie!!!
Yes, absolutely.
Hi, I love all of your recipes and your funny comments, but, could you please make it a little bit easier to print your new recipes? (On one page please.) I have your book, but it doesn’t have all of your recipes and certainly not the new ones. Please!
I haven’t made this one, but I certainly will.
There is a print icon that leads to a print template at the bottom of each recipe, where it says “DO MORE:” You can also click CTRL + P from any recipe post and it will take you to a streamlined print template.
These were AMAZING. My kids devoured them and my husband said that it was close to a Jordan Marsh muffin (a big compliment). I baked for 22 minutes, used 1/2 a teaspoon of turbinado sugar, and FYI, 3/4 cup of sour cream weighed 170 g.
The butter is melted?
Yes.
Can I freeze them?
Absolutely! I made this, baked half. The other half of the batter I spooned into a silicon muffin tin, topped with sugar, and placed in the freezer. After at least six hours, I popped the frozen muffins out, placed them into a ziplock bag and left them in the freezer. If you don’t have a silicon muffin tin, I suggest you buy one as it made this task much easier for me. If using an aluminum muffin tin, I suggest you use muffin liners otherwise they stick to the pan, I couldn’t get them out. I haven’t had to worry about freezer burn because they aren’t in their long enough.
To bake, you can either place them in muffin liners or my favorite way is to coat lightly with room temperature butter and place them in the muffin tin. I bake them for 25 minutes at 400. Let cool 10 minutes in pan. Serve.
Can you bake them and then freeze them wrapping them in tinfoil ?
Can you bake them and then freeze them wrapping them in tinfoil ?
Also I just made them exactly as instructed except I subbed 1/2 cup whole wheat barley flour. They don’t look as nice as Deb’s but they smell good. Mine didn’t seem to blend as good even though it was like cookie dough batter ?
Yes! I do this with these muffins but I wrap them in cling wrap, I think it keeps the air in better.
Have you tried the Jordan Marsh blueberry muffin recipe where you mash some berries and fold that into the batter? It’s supposed to keep them from drying out. That is a favorite.
Yes, those were the first I made because they’d been so often recommended and maybe one of the duds? Well, obviously they were good but I found the berries a little sink-y and the whole thing too cake-ish and soft. Perhaps my own error.
If we do try the coriander and nutmeg version, can you let us know how much of each? thanks!
I used half the amounts in this recipe (1/4 teaspoon ground coriander, 1/8 teaspoon ground or freshly grated nutmeg), because I was nervous. It was very subtle and you could probably use the whole amounts if you’re not too nervous. Don’t use the lemon if using this; I think it would be clashy.
Yum. I made these as directed – they are delicious! The recipe is not fussy, doesn’t take too many bowls, and seems as if it would be pretty forgiving as well. I was tempted to make 10, because I had enough – but went for a high 9 instead. They were quite brown at 25 minutes – but they’re so tasty! Thanks for a great recipe!
Love these updates, mainly the addition of more berries! This has been my go-to recipe since I read the older version, and my own updates have been:
scant 1/2 cup sugar (with entire 1/2 I find it too sweet)
Addition of rosemary (approx. 1/2 tsp.) at beginning of recipe
sub for part or all of butter with banana and vegetable oil (I just find it easier to work with when making muffins last minute)
sprinkle tops with a brown sugar/oat or brown sugar/dried unsweetened coconut mixture (I never have turbinado sugar anyway)
Hi Deb, any suggestions for using this batter to make a loaf instead of muffins?
I’ve doubled the recipe and baked it in a 9×13″ pan. It was perfect. I just cooked it a little longer – probably 45 minutes or so. Just keep an eye on it.
I’ve been making these for several months (my 17-month old loves them!) and putting in about twice the amount of fruit and sprinkling turbinado on top (because what’s better than “more” and “crunchy”?) all along – apparently great minds think alike! I’ve also made a couple substitutions from time to time – my favorite non-blueberry version subs in chopped sweet cherries and 1 tsp almond flavoring (no lemon zest). Raspberry and vanilla are good, as well, but don’t pop like the cherry/almond does. I’ve also been using white whole wheat flour either in whole or in part, so that I can pretend these are healthy. The richness of almond flavoring balances the wheat-y-ness, to some extent.
I seem to remember a recipe saying to roll the blueberries in flour before adding to batter, is there a reason to do this?
So they don’t sink, but they don’t sink in this recipe.
Thank you and yes to both: so they don’t sink and that’s not an issue here. Furthermore, some bakers have found that it makes no difference, anyway. Read more here.
Can you make the batter the night before, keep in fridge and bake in morning? Will the batter being cold negatively affect the muffins? Will cooking time be different?
I love baking with my 6 and 2 year old boys and since we finished dinner early, we decided to bake our dessert. Unfortunately, I substituted the 1.5 cups of all purpose flour with 2 cups of whole wheat pastry flour (only thing I had on hand) and used 4 TBS of melted butter instead of 5TBS. It turned out like a cookie- brittle and very crunchy. We still ate a few muffins a la mode, but I really want to get it right the second time (sans kids). What went wrong? I thought when using pastry flour, one is supposed to add more?
Hi, the substitution for wheat flours is always one to one. I find that I sometimes use even a bit less wheat than the recipe calls for in all-purpose because the wheat will add density to both the batter and the finished product. I use wheat nearly exclusively because I mill my flour at home… Don’t typically keep AP flour around. It’s also better to use a scale instead of measuring cups when using wheat flours- you can get solid conversions from King Arthur’s website- because a cup of wheat flour weighs a touch more than AP. That’s why I often use just a bit less.
I’ve made three batches of these in three days – they keep disappearing! Ran out of blueberries so went with frozen raspberries and they were great. Thanks for this no-fail recipe x
Is there a way to print recipes off the new website? I can’t figure it out! Please and thanks.
There is a print icon that leads to a print template at the bottom of each recipe, where it says “DO MORE:” You can also click CTRL + P from any recipe post and it will take you to a streamlined print template.
Thank you for the printing shortcut! I’ve been printing your recipes for years and didn’t know this trick. For Mac users it’s Apple Key (Command) + P. Thank you for the amazing recipes – SK is always my first stop when looking for a recipe!
I made as written, with whole milk yogurt. Very good and beautiful. Doubled without a problem.
As soon as I saw this recipe, I knew I had to bake these. Coming originally from Boston, I was raised on Jordan Marsh Blueberry Muffins. These muffins are a perfect combination of “old school ” and the modern day version, not overly sweet, but needs the Turbinado Sugar. Thanks for a simple and delicious recipe!
Yup, perfect – best I’ve ever had. This recipe is a keeper.
For us Europeans I’d like to suggest to add the grams of yoghurt: 3/4c yoghurt is 187,5g which makes for roughly 190g yoghurt.
Thanks, Deb!
Thanks, Fiona, I was also hoping for a weight on the sour cream. I weigh everything anyway, but I hate hate hate measuring gloopy ingredients in cups.
I love this recipe. It’s my go to recipe for blueberry muffins, and they turn out perfect every time.
Came out great. Added 1/2 tsp of vanilla. Great texture and taste. Speinkled brown sugar on top.
Fantastic recipe!
I ran out of baking powder, so I used all baking soda, and it still worked. Topped with brown sugar as I didn’t have turbinado.
Simple, not fussy, and delicious!
Deb, these are indeed the best blueberry muffins I have ever had! Thanks for the great recipe.
I just made these – thank you for the recipe! I really like the crunch of the turbinado sugar on top but found the overall result too sweet for my taste. I think I will skip it next time. Part of the problem might have been my berries – while organic they are not that flavorful and would have benefitted from a good squirt of lemon juice to brighten their flavor. I suppose one would need to up the baking soda to compensate? If anyone has tried this, I am curious. I had to sub 1/4c of whole milk for part of the yoghurt based on what I had to hand, which also reduced the brightness of flavor a bit. I used roughly half white whole wheat flour and that still made for a soft, not overtly “healthy” tasting muffin.
Wow these are good. I added a pinch of nutmeg and a pinch of cinnamon. These muffins are delicious. My new go-to recipe for blueberry muffins!
These were delicious. My daughters, who both claimed they “didn’t like blueberry muffins” ate them up. I couldn’t quite commit to the one teaspoon per muffin and only used half, if that. They were still delicious but I can see how a whole teaspoon would take them over the top. I only had low fat yogurt, which is unusual for me, so used it and they were god at least while warm, we haven’t let them cool yet :) Next time will try full fat.
Made them this morning, they were outrageous. Next time I will double the batter, they disappeared too soon.
Excellent. I had to use frozen blueberries (did not thaw) about 1 1/4 cups. The batter had blue streaks due to using frozen berries. I didn’t top with the raw sugar because I prefer less sweet bakery and I don’t like the crunchy sugar. I used cupcake papers and cooked for 30 min. Next time- I’ll add a little more lemon zest but they were really perfect as is. The frozen blueberries were large and wonderfully sweet and flavorful which I’m sure contributed to the success.
These are amazing! Really truly amazing. Perfect texture, flavor, and that sugar topping. You were right. Thanks for making me fatter. We are down to one. Time to make some more.
Yes indeed. These are pretty good. I cut sugar to 2 tbsp., used oil in place of butter and vanilla yogurt which is partly why I cut the sugar. My be my new muffin recipe for all flavours.
These sound so delicious Deb! I can’t stop buying flats of blueberries at the farmer’s market and freezing them every weekend. I keep thinking… OK these are the last ones… But with recipes like this out there who can resist?
Question for you: Is it possible to bake this in a loaf pan like banana bread? Just alter the baking time maybe? My plan is to slice it up and then freeze it for a friend who just had a baby as an easy one-handed breakfast (or 2am) treat. Peeling off muffin wrappers felt like a step I could eliminate for her. Just curious if this batter would translate or what your guestimate is! Thanks!
I believe you can but haven’t tested it out. Since this only makes 9 muffins, you might be better off doubling it… but again, just guessing here. Btw, I almost never use muffin wrappers — not necessary.
A picky 9 year-old houseguest inspired me to split this batter in half, use vanilla extract instead of lemon, and make half with blueberries, half with chocolate chips. One hour later, there are no muffins left in my house so I think it was a crowd-pleaser all around! (though I still vote “blueberry”)
I keep making these and they disappear too fast. So I decided to up it to 12 muffins and multiply everything by 4/3. Everything came out to easy numbers, except the eggs, 1 1/3 egg. So in that case do I use 1 or 2 or try for 1 1/3?
Also, I went to the Serious Eats link you posted…what do you think about their idea of a dollop of plain dough on the bottom?
I’ve added a dallop of plain dough on the bottom and I enjoyed it. It helped to cushion the blueberries and they burst deliciously on that “pedestal”. Give it a try!
Made this for breakfast this morning. Out of the 11 muffins I made, only 4 are left. I say they were a hit for this family of 4!
This recipe is great! very popular in my meeting. One thing I’d like to note is that my blueberry muffins have blue streaks from the blueberry juice that smeared, funky looking. The geeky-me immediately looked up the reason why (since other times I made blueberry baked goods, the blueberries leave purple-red residues instead of blue). Turns out that the pigment in blueberries turns different colors depending on the pH! Due to the baking soda/powder base combination in the dough, the environment is basic enough to turn the originally reddish/purple juice to blue. I realize that the last times I made blueberry baked goods, the blueberries were initially mixed in lemon juice/sugar, creating directly acidic environment that leave the color pigments purple-red. :) this time, the lemon zest just wasn’t enough acid to battle the baking soda.. just something i found amusing… otherwise great and easy to follow recipe! I think my manager ate 4 muffins in 1 hour. Thanks Deb!
This is a great recipe for people like me, who always make such a mess pouring the more batter-y muffins into the cups. I subbed in 80g whole wheat flour, and made them smaller, 11/batch. Delicious!
I made them with plain, fat free Greek yogurt and came out beautifully.
Followed the recipe exactly as written and they were delicious! Thank you!
Just made these – delicious but way too much sugar on the top! Maybe my sugar was too course, but it did not melt even halfway completely and there are still grains of it falling off the muffin tops after 25 minutes. I sadly don’t want to bring these to work because the sugar looks way too over the top. I’m for indulgence but this seems too much. Will cut down next time.
I made these without the topping (didn’t have course sugar on hand), but with RH gluten free flour.
It gave a very dense, coffee cake like texture and a crunchy top, perhaps partially due to the flour – but is the perfect cross between a muffin and coffee cake.
Loved it and will definitely make it again :)
Finally tried these. Fabulous with Yoplait vanilla Greek yogurt. It made 9 perfectly. I would probably double next time for our family of 8.
You are my absolute favorite. Everything I make from your website turns out completely perfectly, deliciously, and beautifully! Also I love that you explain why things are the way they are. <3
These are indeed the most perfect blueberry muffins – a courageously thick dough turns into a moist muffin that is just delicious. Will make again!