This easy recipe yields a dozen of the softest, fluffiest, most deliciously buttery blueberry muffins. Topped with a crunchy cinnamon brown sugar streusel, these rival any bakery muffin, but come together quickly in your own kitchen. They’re prepared with simple ingredients, so you can be biting into a fresh, warm blueberry muffin in under an hour.
I originally published this recipe in 2014 and have since added new photos and helpful success tips.
Muffins are a perennial favorite because they’re quick and easy to make and the flavors are endless (just like scones). Everyone appreciates a fresh batch of muffins and, best of all, muffins double as breakfast and snack. (Or in the case of double chocolate muffins… dessert!)
But when it comes to muffin varieties, blueberry muffins hold the crown. Nothing compares to the classic blueberry muffin, and today I’m showing you exactly how to prepare my very best version.
This is my family’s favorite blueberry muffins recipe, and going by the hundreds of 5-star reviews it’s received, it’s a family favorite for many other home bakers, too!
One reader, Jes, commented: “Best blueberry muffins I have ever hadโno bakery or store or restaurant that Iโve ever visited has ever produced a blueberry muffin that could compare to this. โ โ โ โ โ “
Another reader, Sara, commented: “Best blueberry muffins I have ever had in my 80 years! โ โ โ โ โ ”
And another reader, Kathy, commented: “This truly is my favorite blueberry muffin recipe. You just canโt go wrong with it. Everyone loves the streusel topping. โ โ โ โ โ “
Why Are These Our Favorite Blueberry Muffins?
They’re a texture lover’s dream with a buttery soft crumb, juicy blueberries, and a sweet crunch on top. They’re not as large and dense as my jumbo blueberry muffins and have a little more flavor from the brown sugar and butter.
These muffins stand out from the rest because they’re:
- Buttery and moist
- Soft and cakey, not dense
- Easy to prepare
- Made with EXTRA blueberries (and you can use fresh or frozen)
- Topped with an easy 3-ingredient sweet streusel
Since I first developed this blueberry muffin recipe, I’ve baked dozens of variationsโswapping blueberries for apples, peaches, and other fruits. In fact, this blueberry muffin recipe quickly turned into my go-to base muffin recipe, a batter you can turn into infinite muffin flavors. I also have the recipe in my newest cookbook, Sally’s Baking 101.
How to Make the Best Blueberry Muffins
There are no secret ingredients or complicated steps in this blueberry muffin recipe. You only need a few bowls and a mixer… and a muffin pan, of course!
- Whisk the dry ingredients: Flour, leaveners, and salt.
- Mix the wet ingredients: Butter, sugars, eggs, sour cream, and vanilla.
- Combine wet & dry, then add milk: You can use any type of milk, dairy or nondairy, or even buttermilk (see Notes).
- Spoon into muffin pan: Fill those liners all the way to the top!
- Add streusel topping: Just brown sugar, cinnamon, and chopped walnuts. See below for suggested alternatives.
- Bake!
That’s it! The sour cream is the magical ingredient because it adds so much moisture and produces the softest blueberry muffins ever. If you don’t have sour cream, you can use yogurt like we do in lemon blueberry muffins. Or you can use buttermilk to replace both the milk and the sour cream.
How to Create the Perfect Tall Muffin Tops
For tall bakery-style domed muffin tops, there are 3 directions to follow closely:
- Make sure your muffin batter is THICK. (This one is!)
- Fill your muffin tins/liners all the way to the top.
- Bake the muffins for 5 minutes at a high temperature, and then lower the temperature while keeping the oven door closed. This initial high oven temperature quickly lifts up the muffin top. Once the temperature is reduced, the centers of the muffins bake. I recommend this in nearly all of my muffin recipes. (These crumb cake muffins are an exception to the rule!)
Have I mentioned what a treat these are with a swipe of homemade honey butter, too? Cinnamon butter is also an amazing pairing with these muffins!
It depends on the recipe. My team and I wouldn’t consider these healthy blueberry muffins because they’re made with butter, flour, and sugar. However, they’re homemade and you know exactly what’s in them, vs. something store-bought. If you are looking for a healthier alternative, you’ll appreciate these blueberry banana muffins, bran muffins, or applesauce muffins.
Absolutely. You can simply omit the nuts, or swap the streusel here for the crumb topping from this recipe for peach streusel muffins. Or skip the streusel topping entirely, and just top the muffins with some coarse sparkling sugar for a sweet crunch that’s also pretty!
Yes! If using frozen blueberries, do not thaw them before adding to the batter.
You can toss the blueberries with a Tablespoon of flour before you add them to the batter, but it’s not really necessary here because the muffin batter is so thick.
How to Freeze Blueberry Muffins
You can freeze the muffins for up to 3 months. Cool completely and then place the muffins in a freezer-friendly container or bag. When ready to eat, thaw in the refrigerator (overnight) or at room temperature on the counter. To warm up, microwave the thawed muffins for about 20 seconds or bake at 300ยฐF (149ยฐC) for 6โ10 minutes.
Blueberry Muffin Variations
- Blueberry Muffin Cookies
- Blueberry Muffin Bread
- Lemon Blueberry Muffins
- Sparkling Jumbo Blueberry Muffins
- Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins
- Blueberry Almond Power Muffins
- Healthy Blueberry Banana Muffins
Favorite Breakfast Recipes
- Breakfast Casserole (so easy!)
- Homemade Bagels & Homemade English Muffins
- Perfect Homemade Quiche
- Cinnamon Rolls
- Scones Recipe
My Best Blueberry Muffins
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 12 muffins
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These blueberry muffins are buttery, soft, and moist. For that bakery-style goodness, add an easy cinnamon brown sugar topping. This thick muffin batter combined with my initial high oven temperature trick guarantees tall muffin tops. Prepared with basic ingredients and a couple mixing bowls, you’ll appreciate this easy breakfast recipe.
Ingredients
Topping
- 1/2 cup (100g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (67g) chopped walnuts (or pecans)
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Muffins
- 1 and 3/4 cups (219g) all-purpose flourย (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup (50g) packedย light or dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (120g) sour cream or plain/vanilla yogurt, at room temperature
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup (60ml) milk, at room temperature
- 1 and 1/2 cups (210g) fresh or frozen blueberries
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425ยฐF (218ยฐC). Line a 12-count muffin pan with muffin liners. Set aside.
- For the topping: In a small bowl, mix all of the topping ingredients together. Set aside.
- For the muffins: Whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl. Set aside.
- Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar together on medium-high speed until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes. (Hereโs a helpful tutorial if you need guidance onย how to cream butter and sugar.) Add the sour cream, eggs, and vanilla extract, and beat on medium speed until combined. Add in the dry ingredients and beat on low speed until almost combined. Add the milk and beat on low speed until combined. Batter is thick and creamy. Fold in the blueberries.
- Spoon the batter into liners, filling them all the way to the top. Spoon brown sugar topping on each, gently pressing it down into the surface so it sticks. Bake for 5 minutes at 425ยฐF and then, keeping the muffins in the oven, reduce the oven temperature to 350ยฐF (177ยฐC). Bake for an additional 16โ19 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow the muffins to cool for 5โ10 minutes in the pan set on a cooling rack, then transfer the muffins directly to the rack to continue cooling.
- Muffins stay fresh covered at room temperature for a few days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Freezing Instructions: Freeze baked & cooled muffins for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator or at room temperature before enjoying.
- Special Tools (affiliate links):ย 12-count Muffin Pan | Muffin Liners | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Cooling Rack
- Sour Cream: Sour cream adds so much moisture. Plain yogurt is a great substituteโI recommend plain Greek yogurt, any fat content. Unsweetened applesauce or mashed banana may also be used.
- Milk: You can use any milk, dairy or nondairy. I recommend avoiding nonfat milk, however.
- Can I Use Buttermilk? Yes, you can use buttermilk in this recipe. Use it to replace BOTH the sour cream and milk. Use 3/4 cup (180g/ml).
- Blueberries: If using frozen blueberries, do not thaw.
- Can I Make the Streusel Without Nuts? Yes! You can simply omit the nuts, or swap the streusel here for the crumb topping from this recipe for peach streusel muffins. Or skip the streusel topping entirely, and just top the muffins with some coarse sparkling sugar for a sweet crunch that’s also pretty!
- Why the initial high oven temperature? As instructed, bake the muffins for 5 minutes at an initial high temperature, then lower it. This initial high oven temperature quickly lifts up and sets the tall muffin top. Once the temperature is lowered, the centers of the muffins bake. I do this in all my muffin recipes including zucchini muffins, lemon poppy seed muffins, and banana muffins, too.
- Jumbo & Mini Muffins: For a jumbo muffin pan: 425ยฐF for 5 minutes, then reduce to 350ยฐF for 22โ25 minutes for a total of 27โ30 minutes. Makes about 6. For mini muffins: 350ยฐF (whole time) for 12โ14 minutes. Makes about 36โ40.
- Quick Bread: Here is my blueberry muffin bread, which is essentially the same recipe in a loaf pan.
- Why is everything at room temperature? All refrigerated ingredients should be at room temperature so the batter mixes together easily and evenly.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Sally, I am a great fan of Blueberry Muffins, and have purchased them from Costco for several years. They stopped selling them and went to your recipe for Blueberry Muffins. I made them with gluten free flour not really knowing how they would come out. I feel silly telling you that the aroma from the oven was overwhelmingly heavenly. They came out looking absolutely perfect, and I found myself grinning from ear to ear. I was so excited I couldn’t wait to taste it and it was THE BEST I have ever tasted. My daughter is gluten free and asked her what she thought and she said best ever. Thank you for your recipe, and FYI, the recipe works beautifully with GF flour.
Really delicious and moist muffins. I find that the frozen blueberries sink a bit toward the bottom, but not too bad.
The topping baffles me. There was way too much!! I mixed it up and I only used a tiny bit of it. 100 grams of brown sugar is a lot!
Nooo! I loved the original recipe better, is it possible for you to upload that one again please?! I have been making the original one for years and it was my favorite
Hi Karla, the recipe is the same! We just added new photos and success tips.
I have tried this today and it came out beautiful. I made a crumble topping instead of the nuts and it looks great
Could a neutral oil like avocado oil be used instead of the butter to make them healthier?
Hi Caroline, we do not recommend oil here. You need a fat that is solid at room temperature so that it can be properly creamed with the sugars. You could try solid coconut oil in place of the butter, but the results will be different. Or, you might enjoy these blueberry banana muffins or blueberry oatmeal muffins instead.
Great flavor, soft. I followed the recipe exactly using the buttermilk. I am not a big fan of the topping but that is my preference. I took photos bit mo way to post.
Can you just use 1/4 cup buttermilk and still use 1/2 cup sour creme?
Yes I did that and it came out great
I have a soggy bottom , what has gone wrong and can I fix it
Hi Clare, could your muffins be under-baked?
Mine were a little soggy on the bottoms as well. I think it may be because I used frozen blueberries that were fairly large. I chopped them up a bit and put them in frozen but they still sunk to the bottom and released too much moisture.
Canโt wait to bake these tomorrow to thank Nurses during National Nurses week! Do I bake in convection or regular oven?
Hi Rose, we always use and recommend conventional (not convection) oven settings if you have the choice!
The muffins came out really delicious and soft (the butter and sugar mixing video tutorial was very helpful). But when I took them out of my silicon muffin pan they all broke
Hi Noor, we’e glad you enjoyed the muffins! They are naturally pretty soft and delicate. Did they have a hard time coming out of the muffin pan? You might try using liners next time, which should allow them to release a bit easier from the pan.
Hi Sally, Can I use this recipe to make a cake instead of the muffins?
Hi Yvonne! We would add blueberries to a vanilla cake recipe (like our two layer white cake or three layer vanilla cake) for a blueberry cake. We would add about 1 to 1 and 1/2 cups blueberries to either of those recipes.
Thank you for this delicious recipe. I was looking for a blueberry bran muffins recipe because I think they’re so healthyโฆbut sometimes you just have to go with what tastes delicious! I will be looking for your blueberry brand muffin recipe, as I expect it will be just as delicious as these!
PS I wanted to include a picture because they turned out looking as good as they taste! However I couldn’t figure out how to do that.
I would like to eat more blueberries, but until now I had never found a way to do it. I actually love this recipe, especially with the walnuts in the streusel topping.
I’ve made a few things on this website at this point and omg nothing ever disappoints! These muffins came out beautiful and they taste amazing. Instructions were, as usual, easy to follow. Highly recommend making these.
Thank you so much, Sammie!