The Best Blueberry Muffins with a crunchy top and a sweet, moist, tender crumb. Blueberry muffins should be quick and simple to make and this recipe is both. No creaming of ingredients and no mixer involved. If you’re looking for high domed, delicious, moist blueberry muffins, look no further.
Photo by Ryan Gregory
There seems to be a misconception when it comes to making muffins. When baking them, you use the muffin method which is adequately named since that’s what we’re making. Simply whisk the dry ingredients together in one bowl, mix the wet in another, gently combine, and bake. If you see a recipe which requires a mixer, then you’re using the creaming method and making cupcakes, not muffins.
Making muffins should take 5 minutes to prepare. All you need is a bowl, whisk or fork, spatula, measuring cup, and a muffin pan. Now that that’s clear, let’s make some amazing blueberry muffins.
This recipe is simple, so I don’t have to show you pictures of ingredients and what it looks like in a bowl right? Instead, I’ll show you some beautiful pictures my son Ryan took for me.
Photo by Ryan Gregory
A few tips for big beautiful muffins:
Be gentle when mixing. Although I am a tough cookie, I know when to have a gentle hand and that’s exactly what you need when mixing this batter. Save the rough stuff for making bread. You should mix the batter until just combined then fold in the blueberries. I’ve also mixed the berries in with the flour before adding the liquid and that works too. The berries may tint the batter blue and that’s fine.
Which is best, fresh or frozen blueberries? I use either. If you’re using frozen blueberries, make sure they stay frozen until ready to use. Don’t have them sitting on the counter defrosting. That creates more liquid which will not only tint your batter, but throws it off.
Use oil instead of butter. Sure, butter tastes great, but oil keeps them moist longer. If these muffins last for more than a day, they will be just as moist on day two as they were on day one. Save the butter for slathering on the baked muffin, because that’s when you’ll actually taste the butter.
Measure the wet in a large measuring cup or bowl and break up the eggs with a fork to combine with the milk, oil, and vanilla. If you start the mixing process here, there will be less mixing when combining with the dry ingredients. Less mixing makes a tender muffin. Over mixing leads to a tough muffin with holes tunneling throughout.
The batter is thick and can be easily scooped into your prepared muffin pan. Using an ice cream scoop works wonderfully and fills the tins right to the top in one shot. Even a little overfull is fine.
I place a baking sheet under the muffin pan for two reasons:
- Just in case it overflows (which it won’t, or never has for me).
- It’s easier to remove the baking sheet out of the oven instead of squishing a muffin with my potholder when grabbing the pan. No one likes their muffins squished…
I’m torn with using paper liners versus greasing the pan. If you grease the muffin pan with a little oil or baking spray, the bottom of the muffins will turn out golden and you won’t remove a good layer of the bottoms when a paper liner is peeled off. However, using liners and not worrying about the muffins sticking to the pan is convenient.
A sprinkle of sugar before baking creates a sweet crunchy top – my favorite part. Grab a hefty pinch of sugar and sprinkle over each muffin before baking. Use raw, granulated, or course.
Photo by Ryan Gregory
After the muffins are baked, cool for about 5 – 10 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack. If you leave them in the pan, the bottoms will end up soggy from the steam trapped in the pan. No one likes soggy bottoms.
There you have it – the best blueberry muffins. Make them and people will say…
“Wow! Your muffins are so big and beautiful!” Why thank you. Thank you very much.
Try some of my other breakfast treats:
Life is too short for mediocre food.
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Best Blueberry Muffins
Print Recipe Pin RecipeIngredients
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1 1/4 cups sugar
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon fine salt
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup neutral oil
- 1/4 cup milk
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups blueberries - fresh or frozen*
- 2 tablespoons sugar for sprinkling
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Use oil or baking spray to grease a 12 cup muffin pan. Alternatively, use paper liners. If you want them to peel off easily, you can spray the liners.
- In a large bowl, whisk the 2 cups of flour, cornstarch, sugar, baking powder, and salt combining well.
- In a 2 cup measure, add cream, oil, milk, eggs, and extract. Whisk with a fork and combine well.
- Pour the wet ingredients over the dry and use a spatula or fork to combine. The batter will be thick. Mix just until combined. Over mixing will result in tough muffins with tunneling throughout.
- Fold in blueberries with spatula. Don't worry if a few burst and the batter is tinted blue.
- Scoop batter into muffin pan filling to top.
- Sprinkle tops with sugar to create a crunchy topping.
- Place in oven and bake 25 - 30 minutes. Check after 22 as oven temperatures run differently.
- Let cool for 5 - 10 minutes, then remove from pan and continue to cool on wire rack.
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