These soft, fluffy, and moist blueberry muffins are packed full of sweet, plump blueberries and topped with slightly sugared tops. My best blueberry muffin recipe is packed to the brim with tips for getting the fluffiest muffins with tall, bakery-style tops, and includes a step-by-step video tutorial as well!
The Only Blueberry Muffin Recipe You Need
I’m pretty proud of my muffin recipes around here, and today’s blueberry muffins are no exception.
With their soft, tender, and melt-in-your-mouth moist crumb with hints of vanilla, plump juicy berries, and slightly sugared tops, my recipe ticks all of the boxes when it comes to perfect, bakery style muffins.
They’re simple to make, no mixer required or fussy ingredients required, and they can be ready in under 35 minutes.
I think you’re going to love this one, so let’s get right to it.
Ingredients
Nothing shocking on the ingredient list, I’m sure, but let’s go over a few of the key ingredients and why I use them (and why I call for them in my blueberry muffin recipe).
- Blueberries. Either fresh or frozen blueberries work great here. If you’re using frozen do not thaw the berries first and be note that frozen berries often leave purple streaks throughout the batter (especially if you’re using frozen “wild” blueberries). There’s nothing wrong with this and it won’t affect the flavor, just be aware that your blueberry muffins might look a bit tie-dyed.
- Sour cream. This is my secret weapon and quickly became the obvious choice for adding moisture and a light texture to my blueberry muffin recipe (it’s also a key ingredient in my lemon poppy seed muffins)! This ingredient adds to the fluffiness and flavor to the muffins and helps give them their moist, tender crumb. I recommend only full-fat sour cream (though full-fat plain Greek yogurt could be substituted in a pinch!).
- Corn starch. Another favorite secret ingredient of mine (you may remember it from my chocolate chip cookie recipe!). This helps add structure and fluffiness to the muffins, without drying them out (which would happen if we simply added more flour). It’s another contributing factor to the tender crumb that makes these blueberry muffins the best.
- Butter & oil. I discovered years ago when developing my vanilla cake recipe that the trick to getting the best texture was not using solely butter or oil, but using a blend of the two. Melted butter lends flavor to the blueberry muffins (and since it’s melted, there’s no need to cream it so the batter comes together easily by hand) and a neutral cooking oil (vegetable or canola) adds moisture. Made this way, your muffins will have a flavorful and moist crumb.
How to Make Moist Blueberry Muffins
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients and sugar (which is not technically considered a dry ingredient even though it’s, well, dry. It has to do with the fact that sugar becomes liquid in the oven, but that’s a post for another day).
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients (minus the sugar) until thoroughly combined.
- Carefully and gently begin to fold the wet ingredients and dry ingredients together.
- When the batter is about 75% combined, fold in the blueberries just until the batter is completely combined. I like to add the blueberries here rather than after the batter is completely combined because it allows you to incorporate the berries without over-mixing the batter, which would leave you with dense, dry, or even crumbly blueberry muffins.
Baking the Muffins
- Divide the muffin batter evenly into a paper-lined muffin tin (or use my parchment paper liners). There will be a lot of batter, with each liner being filled to the brim, this is expected!
- Sprinkle the top of the blueberry muffins with coarse or granulated sugar, if desired (or go fancy and top with my streusel!), and bake until they’re beginning to turn golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Frequently Asked Questions
There are several reasons why muffins turn out dry. Most commonly this is caused by the batter either being over-mixed or over-baked in the oven. Make sure your oven is not running hotter than it leads on, or it will dry out the blueberry muffins in a hurry.. If the flour is accidentally over-measured, this could also do it. Make sure you are following my guidelines on how to measure flour properly.
This is actually one of my key tricks to tall, fluffy muffin tops!
Starting your muffin batter off on a higher temperature allows the blueberry muffins to rise nice and tall, then dropping the temperature allows the interiors of your muffins to finish cooking without drying out, keeping the centers nice, soft, and fluffy.
Yes. I originally mirrored my blueberry muffin recipe almost exactly after my chocolate chip muffins. Over the years, I decided the blueberries deserved a more distinct muffin base and so it has been changed. If you are looking for the original recipe, it’s not lost! Simply head over to my basic muffin recipe and add 1 ½ cups blueberries. It’s the same thing, and still a delicious recipe, though I prefer the new one here.
Enjoy!
Let’s bake together! Make sure to check out the how-to VIDEO in the recipe card!
The Best Blueberry Muffin Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cup (220 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- 2 Tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup (60 ml) unsalted butter melted
- ¼ cup (60 ml) avocado oil or vegetable oil or canola oil (may substitute vegetable oil)
- 1 large egg room temperature preferred
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup (240 g) sour cream
- 1 ¾ cup (245 g) blueberries (fresh or frozen will work, if using frozen you do not need to thaw first, and note that they may leave purple streaks through your muffins).
- Coarse sugar for sprinkling optional (may just use regular granulated sugar or omit entirely).
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 (215C) and line a 12 count muffin tin with paper liners.
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cornstarch, salt.1 ¾ cup (220 g) all-purpose flour, 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar, 2 Tablespoons cornstarch, 2 teaspoons baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon salt
- In a separate bowl whisk together butter and canola oil. Add egg and vanilla. Stir in sour cream until thoroughly combined.¼ cup (60 ml) unsalted butter, ¼ cup (60 ml) avocado oil or vegetable oil or canola oil, 1 large egg, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 cup (240 g) sour cream
- Add wet ingredients to dry and gently fold together with a spatula until mostly combined. Once the batter is about 75% combined, add the blueberries and fold them in as well until batter is completely combined (don’t over-mix!).1 ¾ cup (245 g) blueberries
- Evenly divide muffin batter into prepared tin (liners will be most of the way full) and sprinkle tops with sugar, if using.Coarse sugar for sprinkling
- Transfer to 425F (215C) preheated oven and bake for 8 minutes. After 8 minutes reduce the oven temperature to 350F (175C) without opening the oven door and then continue to bake another 10-12 minutes or until the tops are beginning to turn golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
- Allow to cool 10 minutes in muffin tin then gently remove from pan (I like to use a butter knife to gently pry the muffin out of the tin, remember the pan may still be hot and muffins are fragile when they are warm!) and allow to cool completely on a cooling rack (otherwise muffin bottoms may become soggy).
- Enjoy!
Notes
Storing
Store blueberry muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days. Muffins may also be frozen for several months. Refrigerating will dry out the muffins and I do not recommend it.Making as jumbo muffins:
Divide batter evenly into a 6-count jumbo muffin tin. Bake on 425F (220C) for 8 minutes then reduce the oven temperature to 350F (175C) (do not open oven door) and bake another 13-15 minutes or until tops are beginning to turn golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.Making as mini muffins:
Divide into mini muffin tin. Bake on 375F (190C) (you will not change the temperature) until light golden brown on top and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs, approximately 11-13 minutes. You will get at least 24 muffins.Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Christi
These are delicious. I watched your video and learned something new – never to make muffins with a mixer and to hand mix only. This explains some past failures. I didn’t even have to lightly coat the frozen blueberries in flour to keep them from sinking! They stayed perfectly mixed throughout the batter. I even forgot to reduce the temp after 8 mins and thought they’d be ruined, but they’re still moist and light today. I added cinnamon to the sprinkled sugar on top because I just love cinnamon. Thank you for another delicious recipe!
Charles
Sam, you always have the best recipes. These blue berry muffins were perfect.
Micki
These turned out beautifully and were easily peeled to be eaten a little warm when patience to try them wore out! 😉
Stephanie
These are so amazing! All around perfection. I can never go wrong when I use your recipes. Thank you, thank you! ❤️
Sam Merritt
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much, Stephanie! 🙂
Henny
Best blueberry muffins I’ve ever made/had. Such a buttery and moist cake, and easy method. I’ll be making these over and over.