Blueberry Muffins

These blueberry muffins are the best because the berries don’t sink! Plus, it’s got the perfect balance of sweet, tart, and buttery richness.

These blueberry muffins are the gold standard of muffins, packed with bright bursting blueberries and a hint of citrus lemon. A sprinkling of crunchy sugar on top takes them to the next level.

It is nearly impossible for me to turn down a blueberry muffin at a coffee shop or bakery if I see them in the glass display. Which means I’ve sampled basically every style of blueberry muffin out there, from the mega huge bakery ones to the small dainty homemade ones. And though I love them all, the dizzying array of recipes out there is pretty overwhelming. But after numerous attempts at nailing the ideal blueberry muffin recipe, this is now my go-to. It’s packed with blueberries, not too sweet, and buttery luscious with every bite.

What Makes These The Best Blueberry Muffins?

A lot of muffins use oil in their batter which gives you a moist muffin. But oil doesn’t give the richness that butter does and can lead to a thinner batter where the blueberries sink to the bottom.

This recipe uses melted butter, which gives a richness and body to the batter. The use of yogurt instead of milk or buttermilk means the batter is thick enough to hold the blueberries in place. They won’t sink to the bottom of the pan and you have blueberries packed and dispersed throughout the entire muffin!

I also bake this muffin at a higher temperature than a lot of other muffin recipes. This gives the muffins a burst of heat at the beginning to help with oven spring. A hotter oven yields a taller and fluffier muffin. It also sets the muffin batter faster, which again helps keep the berries from sinking.

Finally, the sprinkling of turbinado sugar, sometimes sold under their brand name “Sugar in the Raw” is a blonde-colored large crystal sugar that adds a touch of molasses and sugar crunch to the top of the muffin. You can skip the sugar or use plain white sugar in place if you don’t have turbinado sugar, but using the coarse sugar really brings the muffins to the next level and I highly recommend it.

Can You Use Frozen Blueberries In This Muffin?

I prefer to use fresh blueberries in my muffins, but you can use the same amount of frozen blueberries if that is all that is available or in season.

Don’t thaw the blueberries ahead of time though! Just leave them in the freezer until the very last minute. Then fold them in while they are still frozen, divide into the muffin tin cups and bake immediately.

The Best Blueberry Muffins

Contributor: Irvin Lin

These moist and buttery blueberry muffins are packed with tart sweet berries speckled throughout the muffin.
The turbinado sugar on top of the muffin brings it to the next level but you can easily swap out the same amount of sparkling or plain white sugar instead.

• Author: Irvin Lin
• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cooling Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 18 minutes
• Total Time: 38 minutes
• Yield: 12 muffins 1x
• Category: Side Dish
• Method: Baked
• Cuisine: American

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Ingredients

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• 2 cups all-purpose flour (280 g)
• 2 tsps. baking powder
• ½ tsp. baking soda
• ½ tsp. kosher salt
• 1 cup plain yogurt, full fat preferred (250 g)
• ¾ cup white sugar (150 g)
• ½ cup unsalted butter, melted
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• Zest from 1 medium lemon
• Juice from 1 medium lemon
• 2 cups blueberries
• ¼ cup turbinado sugar, or sparkling or white sugar

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Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F and spray a standard 12 cup muffin tin with cooking oil.
2. Place the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium sized bowl. Using a balloon whisk, stir the ingredients together until they are uniform in color and well blended.
3. Place the yogurt, sugar, butter, vanilla, eggs, lemon zest, and lemon juice in a large bowl. Stir with a whisk until combined and smooth.
4. Add the wet ingredients to the bowl with the dry ingredients. Slowly fold together the ingredients with a large spatula, stirring until most of the dry ingredients are absorbed. A few dry pockets are ok.
5. Add the blueberries to the batter, and gently fold in, until they are evenly distributed. Divide the batter into the muffin tin. The cups will be full.
6. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of turbinado sugar over each muffin cup. This might seem like a lot, but your muffins will be spectacular because of it! Bake in the oven for 17 to 19 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffin comes out clean. Check a few muffins and spots as you may hit a blueberry or two.
7. Let the muffins cool in the pan for 10 minutes then gently run a thin knife around the edges and remove the muffins to a wire cooling rack. Enjoy warm or at room temperature.