The only blueberry muffin recipe you’ll ever need! My version yields soft, fluffy blueberry muffins packed with sweet, plump blueberries and topped with sa light sprinkling of sugar. I’ve included lots of tips for extra tall muffins (or even to make them jumbo or mini blueberry muffins!).
The Only Blueberry Muffin Recipe You Need
These blueberry muffins are soft and tender with melt-in-your-mouth moist interiors. They’re enunciated with hints of vanilla, packed with plump juicy berries, and finished with sugar-kissed tops. My blueberry muffin recipe ticks all of the boxes when it comes to perfect, bakery style muffins.
Why You Should Try This Recipe:
- Moist, fluffy crumb. Thanks to a healthy scoop of sour cream (the depth of flavor is incredible!) and a combination of butter and oil in the batter.
- Quick & easy. No mixer needed, no fancy, fussy ingredients, and ready in well under an hour (including prep and bake time).
- Tested to perfection. I spent years dialing in all the details to get this blueberry muffin recipe just right. Every ingredient serves an important purpose and the end result is muffin perfection ✨.
Ingredients
The list is fairly basic, and likely things you already have on hand. Let’s talk a bit about the ingredients, some possible substitutions, and why we use the things in this list.
- Blueberries. Either fresh or frozen blueberries will work, though you’ll likely need to bake the muffins a bit longer if using the latter. When using frozen I do not thaw the berries before using them. Note that frozen berries often leave bright purple streaks throughout the batter. 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. A key ingredient in everything from cheesecake to lemon poppy seed muffins and double chocolate muffins). This ingredient adds depth to the flavor and fluffiness to the texture. Make sure you don’t grab the low-fat version! If you don’t keep sour cream on hand, full-fat plain Greek yogurt could be substituted but the flavor isn’t as deep.
- 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. Back when I was developing my vanilla cake recipe, I learned that the trick to getting the best texture was not using solely butter or oil, but using a blend of the two. When I was working on this blueberry muffin recipe, it only made sense to repeat that method, and it worked like a dream. Melted butter lends flavor (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, canola, or avocado) adds moisture. Muffin perfection 👌🏻
How to Make my Favorite Homemade Blueberry Muffin Recipe
Step 1: Make the muffin batter
First, whisk together your 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).
Next, separately whisk together the rest of your ingredients with the exception of the blueberries. Combine the two and gently fold everything together until the batter is mostly, but not completely combined (I aim for about 75%, it’s not an exact science, though). Lastly, add your blueberries and gently stir everything together until just combined and the blueberries are well distributed. The batter will be quite thick, this is normal!
SAM’S TIP: Don’t over-mix! Over-working the batter can leave you with dense, dry, and even crumbly blueberry muffins. Never use an electric mixer when making muffins. The reason I recommend adding the blueberries at the 75% mark is because it allows you to incorporate the berries without over-mixing the batter.
Step 2: Bake the Muffins
Divide the blueberry 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! Recently, I’ve been aiming for extra tall muffins with this blueberry muffin recipe, so I use all the batter and divide it into only 9 of the muffin cups.
Sprinkle the top of the blueberry muffins with coarse or granulated sugar, if desired (or go fancy and top with my streusel, they’ll just need to bake a bit longer!), and bake until the edges are beginning to turn golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
Frequently Asked Questions
This is actually one of my key tricks to tender, fluffy muffins (also used in my banana muffins).
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.
This recipe is written to yield 12 classically sized (not over-sized), fluffy muffins. However, for even taller muffin tops you can do two additional small things:
1) Let the batter rest. Let the muffin batter rest for 30-60 minutes before baking the muffins. You can do this before or after scooping it into the muffin cups. The batter thickens as it sits and will rise more this way.
2) Make fewer blueberry muffins. Divide the muffin batter into just 9 muffin cups instead of 12. They’ll be super full, and they’ll bake up nice and tall.
More Ways to Use Blueberries
Enjoy!
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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 (if you used frozen berries, your muffins may need a few minutes longer, start checking them at 13 minutes).
- 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
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.
Recipe updated in Jan 2026 to include more helpful photos and information, recipe unchanged from 2021.
Kristen
Can I use dried blueberries do you think? Any changes to the recipe you’d recommend?
Sam
Hi Kristen! I haven’t tried it but it could work. You won’t have that plump juicy berry to bite into though. Let me know how it goes if you try it. 🙂
Pam
How would I turn these into lemon blueberry muffins? Just add lemon zest? Thanks and btw all your recipes that I have made have turned out perfect! (Especially the chocolate bundt cake!)
Sam
Hi Pam! You could just add some lemon zest to them. 🙂
Yamit
Hey
Can these be made with fresh blueberries and how would you suggest to do that?
As always, 🙏
Sam
Absolutely, you would just make as instructed 🙂
Karen
Can I substitute or omit the corn starch in this recipe?
Sam
Hi Karen! You can replace it with a little extra flour. 🙂
Karen
Thank you. Will that make a big difference in the finished product, by replacing flour for corn starch?
Sam
The corn starch helps make them tender and fluffy so you may lose a little bit of that, but they’ll still be delicious. 🙂
Faith
These muffins were great! I did use wild frozen blueberries, and I was expecting lots of purple streaks but was definitely not expecting the entire muffin to turn lilac! I’m not sure what I did, but they are gorgeous. I also forgot to let them rest, but I think they still turned out alright. I love the crust the sanding sugar forms on top. I do have a couple questions, though: do they freeze well? And how would you thaw them? My mom has been on a diet and it lasts another week, she asked me to save her a few for when it ends. Will I have to make another batch later, or can I save these?
And another question: I am pretty sure my oven is running low, everything I’ve made recently has needed several extra minutes. These muffins took closer to 40 minutes than 20 to bake. Do you have a recommendation for an oven thermometer?
Sam
Hi Faith! I’m so glad you enjoyed the muffins! I’ve never had the whole muffin turn purple but I’m glad they were beautiful! Yes these freeze well, I have thawed overnight on the counter in an airtight container and I have just heated them in the microwave from frozen, both work well. I recommend enjoying the muffins within 3 days of preparing, if not frozen. I definitely would recommend this oven thermometer that I use!
Bruce
If you use 1 1/2 cups well drained crushed pineapple in place of the blueberries, you can get decent pineapple muffins. The batter is very liquid, so they don’t turn out nearly as good as the blueberry muffins, but they aren’t bad. Maybe Sam will take the hint and develop a pineapple muffin that is up to her standards, using this as a starting point.
Sam
I will definitely put it on my list. 🙂
Jennifer Chesser
Can this recipe be used for blueberry bread?
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Jennifer! The baking time will be different of course, but it should work well. Enjoy! 🙂
Bruce
I just made my second batch of these totally addictive muffins. This time I tried them without the resting time, and I have to say that I don’t see any appreciable difference in their height. So, I’ll be skipping that step the MANY times I’ll make these in the future. It’s wonderful that we live in a time when fresh blueberries are available all year!
Sam, have you been introduced to Buttery Sweet Dough Bakery Emulsion, from the Lorann Oils company in Michigan? It is a wonderful flavoring that has a mild citrus taste. I used it in these muffins last week. Since lemon and blueberry are a great flavor combination, it adds another dimension to these great muffins. You might want to try it sometime. I want to stress, though, that this additional flavor is in no way needed. These muffins are amazing with vanilla extract.
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed the muffins so much! I actually do have that emulsion. I like using it but I try not to use it because not many people have it. 🙂
Bruce
I might keep leaving comments on these! I wish there were a way to keep the berries away from the tops, because wherever the top doesn’t have a berry showing, it develops a very slight crust, which makes the tops a little like cookies, making two treats in one! I could sit and eat the whole batch while they’re still warm.
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much! 🙂
Bruce
These are in the oven now. Unfortunately, it only made 11 1/2 muffins, so I’ll have to eat that 1/2 muffin as soon as it has cooled enough! I used to go to America’s Test Kitchen for muffin recipes, but yours are so easy and tasty that I have switched. I make muffins every Sunday night, and freeze them for my breakfasts for the week. They are just as good on Friday as they are on Monday. I think I’ll make your strawberry muffins next week, because they sound so good. I am staying with ATK’s “better bran muffins”, just because they are so good, but all the other kinds come from your recipes.
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed the muffins so much, Bruce! 🙂
Bhumika
Hi can I make a cake 8 or 9 inch with this recipe
Sam
Hmmm I haven’t tried it. It may work. If you do try it I would love to know how it turns out. 🙂
Mary
Just made Blueberry Muffins and they are a hit!!!!!
Thank you Sam for amazing recipes with videos and easy to follow instructions 😋
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much, Mary! 🙂
Mimi
Can I use low-fat buttermilk for the blueberry muffins?
Sam
That should work fine. You may lose a little bit of moisture.
Mimi
Thanks for your reply Sam! Made both the Blueberry muffins & Banana muffins & they were both Amazing! I absolutely love all your recipes!!
Thanks again! 😊
Sam
You’re so welcome! Thank you so much for trying my recipes! <3
Courtney
These were awesome! Nice and fluffy, moist, but not goopy on the inside like some blueberry muffins. I used frozen wild blueberries. 🙂 I also didn’t read the recipe correctly (I was making the chocolate chip ones at the same time) and only made 10 in jumbo liners instead of 12 normal sized muffins. They still worked really well though! Definitely my new go-to blueberry muffins ^.^
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much, Courtney! 🙂
Kailey
BEST blueberry muffins we’ve ever had! Frozen wild blueberries were perfect in this recipe because they are small (we don’t like large blueberries in muffins). Don’t be surprised if the batter is very stiff after mixing in frozen blueberries and letting it sit for 15 minutes! I thought I had made a mistake, but then realized the blueberries had chilled the batter tremendously.
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much, Kailey! 🙂
Kris Marie
You absolutely nailed it! Love small, little frozen blueberries instead of the large fresh ones and yes the batter did stiffen but they are baking now, cannot wait to try them! Great reviews and comments!
Sam
Thank you so much, Kris! I am so glad everyone enjoyed them so much! 🙂
Ellie Fork
Hi Sam,
I was wondering if I could make the batter the night before and bake the muffins the next morning?
Sam
Hi Ellie! I haven’t tried it but I think if you cover the batter it will work just fine. 🙂
Bruce
I’m guessing they won’t rise nearly as high, since so much of the baking powder will be activated, but they’ll probably be OK otherwise.