Bakery Style Blueberry Muffins

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These incredibly moist blueberry muffins are just like the ones at any bakery or Starbucks. Big, soft, fluffy muffins with a delicious streusel-crumb and lemon sugar topping! 

I love a good, bakery-fresh blueberry muffin. Those muffins with the artificial blueberry bits...okay, I admit, those are really good, too. But a fresh, bakery-style blueberry muffin is the best. So let's make them at home: a moist, fluffy blueberry muffin recipe that puts Starbucks and bakeries to shame.

I love muffins. They're simple to make, they're portable (which was so important this last school year as I was biking Greyson to school to avoid the drop off line!), and they only get more delicious the next day. I love having them with breakfast throughout the week pretty often.

These Bakery Style Blueberry Muffins are...

• ...super moist, uber fluffy, nice and rich, and have an incredibly delicious flavor with the lemon and blueberries and a hint of spice from cinnamon.
• ...made with an obscene amount of blueberries. I mean, really!
• ...so easy to make that the kids can get involved. Older kids can even do this themselves (with parental oven help, of course!)
• ...mega-lifted like those mudding trucks you see sometimes on the road. These babies grow sky high!
• ...scented with lemon zest in the batter and in the crumb-streusel topping.
• ...only going to get better each day!

How to Make Blueberry Muffins from Scratch

I've had this recipe on the blog since 2017, but I wanted to add more flavor and also ensure that it could be made any time of the year since Greyson loves them so much. So I redeveloped it and it's better than ever!

Here's what changed:

• Lemon sugar. Y'all. Adding grated lemon zest to the sugar and then gently kind of rubbing it between your fingers, makes such a difference to the flavor inside your batter. Did you know that the actual lemon flavor comes from the oils in the lemon's skin, not the juice?
• I added a frozen blueberry muffin option. We need delicious muffins year-round, and I had many people ask 'can I make muffins with frozen blueberries?' the answer is YES! They make the muffins even more moist and delicious, in my opinion. The updated photos were shot with a batch made with frozen blueberries. I have added a 'frozen blueberries' guideline in my recipe notes.

Important ingredient breakdown

Now, we all know that baked goods need flour and stuff but here's a breakdown on the important ingredients. The ingredients that really have a purpose. The more you know, the better at cooking and baking you'll grow!

Baking powder. Baking powder is what gives baked goods their lift when we are not using yeast. Baking powder already has an acid added into it, which bubbles up and acts as a complete leavener (the thing that lifts the muffin). If you don't have baking powder or your baking powder is dead (yes, that happens) you can substitute baking soda so long as you use an acidic ingredient like buttermilk or a buttermilk substitute.

Buttermilk. Love buttermilk. Buttermilk is an acidic ingredient that gives a great tangy flavor and interacts with the leavening agent in your baked good to make it super fluffy and light and lifted.

Don't have buttermilk? You can sour some milk, I personally like whole milk the best for this, with a small capful of distilled white vinegar or the juice of half a medium lemon per cup of milk. Give it a stir and let sit for five minutes, boom buttermilk substitute! Another way to substitute buttermilk in a pinch is to use sour cream or even whole fat yogurt (preferably vanilla or even Greek yogurt).

Tips for the best blueberry muffins

Melt your butter first. This lets it cool down while you prep and preheat the oven.

Don't have butter? Vegetable oil is 100% okay to use! Don't have either? I got a secret weapon for you down below in my hacks tips.

Use shortening or spray oil to coat the muffin pan in fat. That includes the top/rim area since the muffins do get super tall and will reach over the rim.

I don't suggest using an electric or stand mixer for this recipe. Good ole gentle elbow grease and a whisk and rubber spatula is all you need to mix the ingredients. The more gentle you are with the berries the better.

Want big blueberry muffins? Use a jumbo muffin pan! I have baking time for massive muffins in my recipe notes.

Instead of a streusel topping you can use nice, coarse crunchy sugar on top. It removes a step and still brings that wonderful crunch.

How do you stop blueberries from sinking in your muffins?

Toss them in a little bit of flour, just to coat all the blueberries in a thin layer of flour. This helps keep them up and dispersed throughout the batter.

Do blueberry muffins need to be refrigerated? How do I store them?

Only if you're keeping them for more than about 24 hours. They can be left on the counter covered in a cute little cake stand overnight up to 24 hours, but refrigerate them for up to 3 days after that in an air tight container, though the texture will change due to the temperature. Remember that moist baked goods, especially ones with fruits in them, can mold!

Moist Blueberry Muffin Hacks

My favorite thing to do whenever I want to ensure a moist baked good is to add a super ripe banana if I don't have butter. One banana per half cup of butter is my rule of thumb, and it makes for a super moist blueberry muffin.

Use brown sugar in lieu of white sugar. The molasses in brown sugar infuses moistness, so if you live in an arid climate try that trick.

Frozen blueberries are so juicy and give so much to blueberry muffins! They add a ton of moisture, so you actually need to cook the muffins a bit longer and let them cool more in the pan before removing so they set into the batter better.

How to Freeze Blueberry Muffins

You can freeze your blueberry muffins for up to three months. Cool the muffins completely, then freeze them in a freezer-safe zip-top bag.

To eat, thaw them on the counter for a couple of hours and then nuke them in the microwave for 20-30 seconds on high or warm up in the oven at 300 degrees F (150 degrees C) for about 5 minutes.

Check out some of my favorite baking recipes:

• Easy Strawberry Shortcakes from Scratch
• Strawberry Coffee Cake Muffins
• Apple Fritter Donuts with Maple Glaze
• Peach Shortcakes

Recommended Tools

• I use this muffin tin for normal-sized muffins, but if you want to make jumbo muffins this set of two jumbo muffin pans is highly recommended.
• Large mixing bowls.

Bakery-Style Blueberry Muffins

Yield: 12 muffins

Prep Time: 7 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Cooling Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 42 minutes

These incredibly moist blueberry muffins are just like the ones at any bakery or Starbucks. Big, soft, fluffy muffins with a delicious streusel-crumb and lemon sugar topping!

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Ingredients

streusel topping

• ¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar
• Zest of half one large lemon (or zest of one whole small lemon)
• 1 tbsp (8g) all-purpose flour
• ⅛ tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tsp (10ml) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

Blueberry muffins

• 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
• Zest of 1 whole lemon
• ½ cup (114g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 cup (250ml) buttermilk
• 1 tbsp (15ml) vanilla extract
• 2 ½ cups (310g) all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp (13g) baking powder
• 1 tsp (5g) baking soda
• ½ tsp (2g) kosher salt
• 1 ½ cups (230g) fresh or frozen blueberries

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Grease an entire standard-size muffin pan with shortening or spray with non-stick cooking spray.

Streusel

1. In a small bowl, rub the sugar and lemon zest between clean fingers until the lemon zest is very fragrant.
2. In a medium-sized bowl, mix together the lemon sugar, all-purpose flour, and cinnamon. Stir in the melted butter until well combined. Set aside.
   

Muffins

1. In a small bowl, take about 2 tbsp of flour and toss the blueberries in the flour to coat them. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, create lemon sugar the same way as the streusel using the lemon zest and sugar amounts for the muffins. Whisk the melted butter into the lemon sugar, then add the eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla extract. Mix again until well combined.
3. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and kosher salt together.
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients bowl and gently stir using a rubber spatula until almost combined. Fold in the flour-coated blueberries until just combined, being careful not to pop them.
5. Divide the batter into the 12 muffin cups using an ice cream scoop, filling all the way to the top. Sprinkle the batter generously with the streusel mixture.
6. Bake for 5 minutes at 425 degrees F (220 degrees C), then reduce the heat to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and bake for another 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
7. Let cool in pan on the countertop for 15 minutes. Carefully remove and transfer to a wire rack to cool.
8. Keep at room temperature at up to 24 hours for the best taste and texture. After that, freeze!

Notes

1. Buttermilk: Need a substitute? One cup of whole milk with a splash of vinegar or squeeze half a lemon and stir, then wait five minutes for the milk to sour. This can work for other kinds of milk including non-dairy.
2. Blueberries: If you're using frozen blueberries, do not thaw them and bake the muffins for about 2-3 minutes more.
3. For a jumbo muffin pan: 425°F for 5 minutes, then reduce to 350°F for 22-25 minutes for a total of 27-30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Makes about 6 jumbo blueberry muffins.
4. For mini muffins: Bake at 350°F for 12-14 minutes, then check with a toothpick. Makes about 36-40 mini blueberry muffins.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 190Total Fat: 4gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 37mgSodium: 57mgCarbohydrates: 34gFiber: 2gSugar: 5gProtein: 5g

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Eden Westbrook

Eden Westbrook is the recipe developer, writer, and photographer behind Sweet Tea and Thyme. A classically trained chef, Eden has inspired home cooks into the kitchen with cultural comfort foods, easy family-friendly eats and sweets, and glorious spreads for date night and entertaining since 2015.

www.sweetteaandthyme.com