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 had—no bakery or store or restaurant that I’ve ever visited has ever produced a blueberry muffin that could compare to this. ★★★★★“
Another reader, Sara, commented: “Best blueberry muffins I have ever had in my 80 years! ★★★★★”
And another reader, Kathy, commented: “This truly is my favorite blueberry muffin recipe. You just can’t go wrong with it. Everyone loves the streusel topping. ★★★★★“
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 variations—swapping 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 300°F (149°C) for 6–10 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 flour (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) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup (120g) sour cream or plain/vanilla yogurt, at room temperature
- 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 425°F (218°C). Spray a 12-count muffin pan with nonstick spray or use muffin liners. Set aside.
- For the topping: 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 or whisk attachment, beat the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar together on high speed until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes. (Here’s a helpful tutorial if you need guidance on how to cream butter and sugar.) On medium speed, add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the sour cream and vanilla extract on medium speed until combined. With the mixer running on low speed, add the dry ingredients and milk into the wet ingredients and beat 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 425 then, keeping the muffins in the oven, reduce the oven temperature to 350°F (177°C). Bake for an additional 18–20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The total time these muffins take in the oven is about 23–25 minutes, give or take. Allow the muffins to cool for 5 minutes in the muffin pan, then transfer to a wire 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): 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 substitute—I 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 (180ml).
- 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: 425°F for 5 minutes, then reduce to 350°F for 22–25 minutes for a total of 27–30 minutes. Makes about 6. For mini muffins: 350°F (whole time) for 12–14 minutes. Makes about 36–40.
- 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
This is an amazing recipe, it was soooo good i ate all of the muffins myself especially loved the streusel topping
!
Thank u ! These are the best blueberry muffins ever!
These are great! I made them gluten free by using King Arthur’s measure for measure gluten free flour ( I did the same amount) and also used almond milk for the milk. They turned out soft and great and not dense like most muffins with gluten free flour! They also still have a great texture on day 2. Highly recommend!
Third time making these!! Mine sunk as was cooking something else at a slightly lower temperature but still taste great. My girls favourite breakfast
These are the best muffins I’ve ever eaten. It would be great if I had the Nutrition Information for them. As a matter of fact, can you post the calories, etc at the bottom of all of your recipes. That would be wonderful. Thanks for the recipes.
I’m so glad you enjoyed the muffins, Kay! I don’t usually post nutritional information on my recipes, but there are many great online calculators like this one: https://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-calculator.asp
I’ve made these as standard sized muffins and they are absolutely DELICIOUS. They also keep very well if you plan to make ahead of time and eat throughout the week.
Question: Would these be fairly easy to bake as jumbo muffins?
Glad you love these, Rachel, thanks! You can turn them into jumbo muffins– follow the same baking instructions as my jumbo blueberry muffins.
This was fantastic. Seriously the best blueberry muffin I’ve ever had! I did end up baking a few minutes longer… I used a toothpick to check like it suggested in the recipe. I also added a handful more blueberries. Thank you for this fantastic recipe!!!
The best Blueberry muffins ever! Perfect recipe! No alterations. In the streusel, LBS is preferred.
Hi, do you think that frozen blueberries would be better for this recipe or fresh blueberries?
Hi Sarah, I prefer using fresh blueberries but frozen work just as well. If using frozen berries, do not thaw prior to using. Hope you enjoy these muffins!
These muffins are divine. I’ve been baking for my local Bedford NY police department and post office and firefighters during the pandemic. I will bring these muffins and cookies I’ve made tomorrow. I hate to let them go but I know our first responders will love these! I’m happy I made double recipe as I’m keeping a few for my house! Thank you for this wonderful recipe!!
Tried this for the first time and fell in love with the unbelievably moist texture. And it is just the right level of sweetness too!
holy crap!!!! these are so (!!) damn good!
Quick and easy! The batter was extremely thick, which was worrisome, but I am so glad I didn’t change anything because these turned out fantastic. I used about half of the amount of streusel knowing that I would have leftovers if not. I also used Costco frozen blueberries which managed not sink to the bottom of the muffins. Amazinggggg!
Best muffins I’ve ever tasted! The Streusel topping is a must! I included some walnuts too and love it! I’ve already tried many muffin recipes from this blog (they’re all 4/5-Stars) but I would definitely give this one 6 Stars!!!
Amazing!!! 10/10
Doubled the recipe and so glad I did — these muffins are divine!
Might as well join the chorus – this is a great muffin recipe! I especially love the streusel topping – the best I’ve ever tasted. You should be able to store any leftover topping, too, because there is no dairy in it – just brown sugar, chopped nuts and cinnamon.
This is the best muffin I have ever had
Made a double batch and I know they won’t last long with my two boys
My husband says best muffins ever. Here in the UK our plain flour has slightly less gluten than your all-purpose so I mixed some of our plain or cake flour with some bread flour. I used Greek yoghurt rather than sour cream and that seemed to work. I used less than half the amount of topping as we didn’t like them too sweet.
All I can say is WOW!!! Made these for my neighbor…can’t wait to share them. Used parchment paper Lotus Cups…delightful!
Hi Sally,
I have some extra buttermilk in the fridge that I’d like to use. Do you think I could sub out the milk for buttermilk?
Thanks for the delicious recipes 🙂
Buttermilk would work great!
I just made jumbo muffins and they are delicious. Thank you for the recipe.
I made these using sour cream and the fresh blueberry’s I picked from our local blueberry farm…..these muffins are excellent (if I do say so myself). My 16 year old son said these are better than going anywhere and getting them (he had two while they were still pretty hot). Thank you!!
Loved this recipe! I forgot to add the milk on accident and it was still great nut will definitely follow the recipe next time 🙂
You can you make this into a strudel pan also?
Tasted fantastic! Will definitely use it again. Any ideas of why it was slightly green inside? I used sour cream, so wondering if that and the blueberries resulted in some green colouring inside…
Loses a star only because it benefits tremendously from having more blueberries. The first time I made these I rounded up on the frozen blueberries since I had a 284g bag from Whole Foods and thought I’d just use them all (about 2 cups) and risk too much watery-ness from the extra frozen berries, but instead I got the best muffins I ever made. When I followed the recipe exactly with 1.5 cups, they turned out less flavorful and drier.
Amazing muffins! I made them vegan by using 2 x flax eggs and subbed coconut oil + sugar, they were the best i’ve made yet and my kids devoured them Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Although not healthy, totally delicioius
I made these for my sweetheart today and they were excellent. Next time i will use smaller blueberrys and remember to coat in flour.
Hello!
I only have canned blueberries. Can I use these for the recipe?
Thank you
I substituted cream cheese for the sour cream, used pecans, and I dropped the milk by a fourth in favor of lemon juice – should have kept them separate, but it all turned out really good. Thanks for the recipe mam.