These light and fluffy lemon blueberry muffins taste just as good—or better!—than any bakery version. Greek yogurt keeps them extra moist, creamed butter creates a wonderfully soft and fluffy texture, and blueberries and lemon add a burst of flavor. Sprinkle each muffin with a lemony-brown sugar crumb topping for a sweet finishing touch.
One reader, Cathy, commented: “I made these today. They were moist, had a nice crumb, and an excellent balance of flavor. I will definitely make these again. Thanks for an awesome recipe! ★★★★★“
It’s no secret that I have a soft spot in my heart (err… stomach?) for the delightful flavor duo of lemon + blueberry. Desserts like lemon blueberry cheesecake bars, lemony blueberry galette, and lemon blueberry tart are always a refreshing change from rich chocolate. But these light and fruity flavors also make for a wonderful breakfast treat or anytime snack, especially when topped with a zesty-sweet crumble that takes these humble muffins to new heights. They’re also a lovely choice for your Easter brunch recipes and add such a beautiful pop of color to your table!
Why You’ll Love These Lemon Blueberry Muffins
- Bursting with juicy blueberries and fresh lemon flavor
- Soft, tender, and cakey, like a muffin version of this popular lemon blueberry cake
- Easy to prepare
- Can use fresh or frozen blueberries—so convenient
- Topped with a delicious crumb, like your favorite bakery muffin
Ingredients You Need
Today’s lemon blueberry muffin recipe is a variation of my basic muffin recipe. I slightly reduced the butter because I found the muffins too fragile with the lemon juice and so many blueberries. (You’ll use the rest of the stick of butter in the topping!)
This batter can be used to create endless muffin varieties and you’ll see it again in my classic blueberry muffins, peach muffins, cranberry orange muffins, apple cinnamon muffins, lemon poppy seed muffins, and more.
Here are all of the ingredients you need for the muffin batter, and why each is important:
- Flour: All-purpose flour is the base of these muffins.
- Baking Soda & Baking Powder: Both leaveners help the muffins rise. See my trick below for super-tall bakery-style muffin tops.
- Salt & Vanilla Extract: Salt and pure vanilla extract add flavor. Try using homemade vanilla extract.
- Butter: We use creamed butter for a lighter, fluffier texture. My orange lemon poppy seed muffins are made with melted butter for a denser, heartier texture.
- Sugar: In my muffin recipe, I swap between brown sugar and granulated sugar. I like to use granulated sugar in today’s muffins so the lemon flavor really shines, but like to use brown sugar in my blueberry muffins for a little extra flavor.
- Eggs: 2 eggs bind everything together.
- Yogurt: Greek yogurt adds moisture. Use your favorite yogurt—I prefer nonfat or low-fat plain Greek yogurt but regular (not Greek) would be just fine, and any fat content. Sour cream is a great substitute if you don’t have yogurt.
- Milk: You can use dairy or nondairy milk.
- Lemon Juice & Lemon Zest: We’re using both, for lots of zingy lemon flavor. Make sure to zest the lemon before slicing and juicing it—much easier to do it in this order!
- Blueberries: You can use fresh or frozen berries. If using frozen, do not thaw before using.
You could also add poppy seeds, like I do in these blackberry lemon poppy seed muffins.
You’ll need a couple mixing bowls and an electric mixer (either a stand mixer or handheld), because we’re creaming the butter and sugar together. If you need a refresher on this step, here is my tutorial on how to cream butter and sugar. From there, it’s as easy as combining dry ingredients in one bowl, and wet in another, and then mixing them together and folding in the blueberries.
Expect a thick and fluffy batter:
Easy Crumb Topping
Today’s crumb topping doesn’t have cinnamon, unlike many streusel recipes. It’s just brown sugary, lemony, and sweet. I love cinnamon in the crumb topping on these blueberry muffins, but here the cinnamon would take away from the zesty lemon in these muffins. And we want that lemon flavor to really shine through!
The crumb topping comes together quickly and easily in the small bowl—just use a fork to combine the melted butter, brown sugar, flour, and lemon zest.
It doesn’t make a large amount, just enough for a little crumble on top of each muffin. You can double it if you want extra crumb.
Baker’s Tip: Gently press the crumbles down into the muffins’ surface before baking, or they will topple off as the muffins rise in the oven.
How to Create the Perfect Tall Muffin Tops
For big bakery-style muffin tops, there are 3 directions to follow closely:
- Make sure your muffin batter is THICK. (This one is!)
- Fill your muffin cups all the way to the top.
- Bake the muffins for 5 minutes at an initial high temperature, then reduce the temperature for the remaining bake time. This initial high oven temperature quickly lifts up the muffin tops. Once the temperature is reduced, the centers of the muffins bake. I do this in all my muffin recipes, including zucchini muffins and banana muffins too!
Not only does this trick create beautifully sky-high muffin tops, it also makes the muffins extra fluffy inside because the tops don’t stay flat.
More Lemon Blueberry Recipes
Lemon Blueberry Muffins
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 23 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 12 muffins
- Category: Muffins
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These light and fluffy lemon blueberry muffins taste just as good—or better!—than any bakery version. Greek yogurt keeps them extra moist, creamed butter creates a wonderfully soft and fluffy texture, and blueberries and lemon add a burst of flavor. The lemony-brown sugar crumb topping adds a sweet finishing touch, but feel free to skip it if desired.
Ingredients
- 1 and 3/4 cups (219g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 6 Tablespoons (85g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
- 1 Tablespoon lemon zest
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup (120g) plain Greek yogurt or sour cream, at room temperature*
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 3 Tablespoons (45ml) milk*
- 3 Tablespoons (45ml) fresh lemon juice
- 1 and 1/2 cups (210g) fresh or frozen blueberries, tossed in 1 Tbsp flour*
Crumb Topping
- 1/3 cup (41g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 2 Tablespoons (25g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 2 Tablespoons (28g) unsalted butter, melted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F (218°C). Spray a 12-count muffin pan with nonstick spray or line with cupcake liners. Set aside.
- Make the muffins: Whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- In a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on high speed until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. (Here’s a helpful tutorial if you need guidance on how to cream butter and sugar.) Add the lemon zest and beat on medium speed for 1 minute. Add the eggs, yogurt, and vanilla, and beat for 1 minute, then turn up to high speed until the mixture is combined and mostly creamy. (It’s ok if it appears somewhat curdled.) Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
- With the mixer running on low speed, add the dry ingredients, milk, and lemon juice into the wet ingredients and beat until no flour pockets remain. Gently fold in the blueberries. Avoid over-mixing. Batter is thick and fluffy.
- Spoon the batter into prepared muffin cups, filling them all the way to the top.
- Make the crumb topping: In a small bowl, use a fork to mix all of the crumb topping ingredients together.
- Spoon topping evenly on top of each filled muffin cup, gently pressing it down onto the surface so it sticks. Bake for 5 minutes at 425°F, then, keeping the muffins in the oven, reduce the oven temperature to 350°F (177°C). Bake for an additional 18–19 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The total time these muffins take in the oven is about 23–24 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. Enjoy warm, or at room temperature.
- 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. Warm up in the microwave if desired.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 12-count Muffin Pan | Cupcake Liners | Citrus Zester | Citrus Juicer | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand Mixer)
- Yogurt: You can use nonfat or low-fat plain yogurt, Greek or regular. You can also use sour cream.
- Milk: You can use any milk, dairy or nondairy.
- Blueberries: If using frozen blueberries, do not thaw.
- 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.
Reader Comments and Reviews
These muffins are incredible!!
Texture – 8/10
Taste – 3/10
Time – 7/10
Overall – 5/10
Definitely enjoyed the moist texture (*I subbed 1/2 cup AP for cake flour), but the flavor profile was imbalanced. Tasted sugar and blueberries with only a hint of lemon. I will be remaking this; but, next time I will use salted butter and a full teaspoon of salt. I will also reduce the blueberries to 1 cup and sub 1/4 white sugar for brown sugar. I’ll return and review with the results.
I made these into mini muffins, and added 1 teaspoon of dried lavender to the lemon zest and sugar, and it was spectacular! Thanks, Sally!
We were so excited to try these muffins, they smelled so good in the oven! Unfortunately, they burned really badly after dropping the temperature to 350 F after only 13 minutes. We’re not sure if the 425 F at the start was too hot or if we baked too long at 350, but I’d suggest adding a warning to readers to check on the muffins after 12-13 minutes.
I concur! Had the same issue, but it could have been my oven. Will be monitoring the time more closely next time.
You’re only suppose to bake them for 5 minutes at 425 then drop the temp to 350. I’ve made bunches of muffins with this temp/time and they turn out great! hope this helps.
Another hit by Sally. These muffins turned out beautifully. The only ingredient tweak I made was to use lemon flavoured Greek yogurt. I also folded in the flour ingredient step rather than use a mixer to keep the batter “fluffier”. I didn’t have any issues with my blueberries sinking to the bottom like other reviewers mentioned. By the way… I appreciate that you list the weights with the ingredients. It’s really helpful. Thanks for another great recipe.
What do you recommend instead of yogurt or sour cream? I cannot have any dairy and I usually make your cookies with vegan butter
Hi Diana, a plain vegan yogurt should work well here.
Made a double batch of these muffins for the first time. They are delicious, amazing. Love the orange and cranberry flavour. A big hit with my family. Most of my Xmas baking is made from your recipes.
Could I substitute the sugar out with apple sauce instead?
Hi Megan, we don’t recommend it. The sugar plays an important role in the taste and texture of the muffins, and swapping for applesauce would change the intended outcome. We do have quite a few muffin recipes that call for applesauce, if you’re interested in browsing!
The flavour and texture are amazing! Exactly what I was looking for in a lemon blueberry muffin.
I did get a good initial rise with the muffins, but for some the batter spilled out one side, resulting in a very lopsided and uneven muffin top. I followed the recipe using a kitchen scale for exact measure but left off the streusel. Any suggestions for more even muffins next time?
I will still make them again!
These muffins taste delicious! The texture is lovely and both the blueberry and lemon flavors come through nicely. Like other reviewers I struggled to get a good rise and my blueberries sunk to the bottom. Next time I’ll try fresh baking soda/powder and I’ll coat my blueberries in a little flour to help them stay suspended.
I did both of those things, ( fresh leavener, even a little extra, coated the blueberries in flour). Still weirdly flat and blueberries sunk to the bottom. I’m cooling them upside down trying to save them. So disappointed, I usually love these recipes.
These muffins were fully cooked in the time you recommended but the bottoms completely fell apart when taken out of the muffin pan. Any idea why this happened?
Hi Dina, were the muffins still pretty hot when you removed them? I wonder if all of the blueberries sank and, when really warm, the muffins just crumbled at the bottom.
No, I waited 10 minutes and they still crumbled. The blueberries definitely sank to the bottom. Is there a way to prevent this from happening? Thank you.
Try adding another 3 Tablespoons of flour to the batter, that will help thicken it up and prevent the blueberries from sinking.
Tossing the blueberries in flour before helps them not sink without adding flour to the recipe.
I made these muffins for Sunday church social hour. They were heavenly. I laughed when asked about the color. I only had frozen blueberries. When the blueberries mixed with the batter, there was a greenish hue on the top. Didn’t stop anyone from enjoying these, though. I highly recommend this recipe, frozen or fresh BBs.
These muffins are delicious! However, the centers fell! I tried it first to create the large muffin tops, and then I did it the “regular” way and both times all of the muffins fell dramatically in the center. I live in Colorado and often have to make adjustments to recipes due to the high altitude so, I have a feeling that is the case with this one. Do you already have a high altitude adjustment completed? If not I will experiment with an adjustment myself. Thanks!
Hi Belinda, I wish we could help, but have no experience baking at high altitude. Some readers have found this chart helpful: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/high-altitude
Can I make these without blueberries as just lemon muffins? Or will I need to change the proportions? Haven’t been able to find any great lemon muffin recipes yet but I love theses blueberry muffins do wanted to give it a try
Hi Nim, absolutely, you can simple omit the blueberries. Or you can follow the lemon poppyseed muffins detailed in our master muffin post and omit the poppyseeds if desired. Let us know what you try!
Taste amazing, love your muffin recipes. Could you help with why I didn’t get much rise on my muffins please. I always make your blueberry muffins but thought I’d switch to this one for a change. Is it the lemon juice or too much baking soda. Normally the soda is a lot less than the baking powder, this is a teaspoon of each. I will say they taste amazing but they didn’t have the normal high top. X
Hi Jan, we’re so glad you love the taste! If the muffins didn’t rise, it’s possible that your baking powder or soda could be old. We recommend replacing them every 3 months.
I keep my baking powder in the freezer and only get it out when using. It stays fresh that way, IMO.
Can I make this into one single cake?
Hi Zina, this recipe would work well in a single 9×5-inch loaf pan. You can use the baking time and directions from blueberry muffin bread as a guide. Or, if you’re looking for a cake recipe, here is our lemon blueberry cake instead, and you can use our cake pan sizes and conversions guide to scale it down for your needs. Hope this helps!
I Idont know where I went wrong! I followed the recipe using frozen blueberries and sour cream but they came out way to light and moist everyone said they need to be less moist and possibly sweeter. I also had to bake them for 5 minutes @ 425 and then 30 minutes @350. I go by my oven thermometer since my ovens knob numbers are faded.
Hi Kaycee, these muffins are intended to be fluffy and moist, so it doesn’t sound like you did anything wrong. Frozen blueberries can add a bit more moisture to the batter, though, and can cause the baking time to be just a few minutes longer. If you’d like a sweeter muffin, you can double the crumble topping for more on each muffin, or even top with a vanilla icing. Or you might enjoy these lemon blueberry cupcakes instead. Thank you for giving them a try!
These are truly the best muffins I have ever made, and the flavour is incredible.
Ohmg! I’ve now made these x2 in one week. Yesterday made with lots of raspberry-like fruit. I did gentle glaze with icing sugar and lemon juice and garnished with a raspberry on top. They were the BELLE OF THE BALL and swooned over. I just used 2 TBS lemon zest in recipe for extra lemon flavor.
I’ve now also realized that I do indeed visit your site so much and love all of it, especially your descriptions and cute and funny texts.
Can I double this recipe?
Hi Tara, yes you can. Enjoy!
Oh my goodness. The best muffins I ever had. Everyone loved then
My family loves these muffins and they taste like they are from the bakery! We use the yogurt and actually use all white whole wheat flour to make them a little more nutritious, and they still taste amazing.
These are incredible, bakery style muffins! Impress all your friends and make these WITH the topping!
The best best muffins I’ve ever made. The initial heat blast makes them rise beautifully! They looked and tasted like fancy café muffins. Highly recommended! :))
Do you think this would work if I used cherries instead of blueberries?
Hi Sherri, we can’t see why not. You may want to chop the cherries since they’re usually quite a bit bigger than blueberries. Let us know if you try it!
OMG!!!! Absolutely amazing!!! I’m making these in advance for my daughter and her hubby for when the baby comes. I hope I can contain myself to get them in the freezer.
Thinking of trying these this weeken before baking for family. I love a “dome” muffin(bakery style)…will this recipe give that result? I know some recipes(like a pumpkin one I have) you can let the batter sit for 20-30mins and then bake a higher heat for I think five minutes then drop the temp I think 25 degrees… how do you get this one to get that downy/bakery style top? 🙂
Hi Rachel, these muffins do get that lovely bakery-style high muffin top, thanks to a thick batter, filling the muffin tins/liners to the top, and an initial high burst of heat like you mention. See the recipe directions for specific details, or the section in the post titled “How to Create the Perfect Tall Muffin Tops.” Hope these are a hit with your family!
The muffins have a nice buttery flavor but not nearly enough lemon for my taste.
Our family loves lemon blueberry baked good! I made these and received rave reviews! They are soft, delicious and tastes great reheated the next day! I love your recipes – thanks for sharing.
Hi Elizabeth! If the muffins didn’t rise, your baking powder or soda could be old. Thank you for giving these a try!
what makes the muffins better sour cream or greek yogurt really want to make them the best! thanks
Hi Chey! Both are great here, but using full fat sour cream does make them extra tender.
thanks! so why was greek yogurt your first choice in your lemon blueberry muffins and not sour cream?
Both work perfectly here!