Perfect Blueberry Muffins: Bakery-style muffins loaded with fresh blueberries and sugar-crusted tops. This really is the perfect blueberry muffin recipe! Freezer instructions are included below!

I’ve always considered myself an equal-opportunity muffin lover. Banana espresso. Orange cranberry. Coffeecake. Lemon poppy. Chocolate chocolate chunk. All the yeses!

My breakfast of choice freshman year in the dining hall was a giant muffin top methodically torn away from the whole muffin. Because this was the 90s and there was no such thing as a muffin top baked alone without the rest of the muffin.

I usually ate that with some yogurt or an apple if I was feeling “healthy” and if I wasn’t eating breakfast on the way to class with frozen fingertips in the middle of a northern New York winter.

Little did I know that when I started this little site over 10 years ago, I would become such a blueberry muffin addict.

I DO know that people aren’t talking about blueberry muffins right now. It’s all about the pumpkin. But you know what? There’s no “right” season for blueberry muffins.

After the 4 blueberry muffin recipes I’ve shared with you over the years, I’m coming back today with what are easily the best. The very best, perfect blueberry muffins.

I’ve made probably 4 or 5 other blueberry muffin recipes that we either didn’t love or weren’t different enough to add anything of substance to the site’s recipe index so they never made it to the share stage here.

However, I’ve made these muffins at least a dozen times over the past couple of years since I was introduced to them and each and every time, they turn out wonderfully. Nice, crunchy, coarse sugar-coated, bakery-like domed lids with a slightly sweet and tender cake underneath that is just LOADED with blueberries.

The original recipe didn’t call for a sprinkle of sugar across the tops of the batter but I knew they’d be better with than without.

Halfway through my tear of making this recipe over and over, the original recipe was updated to include a great big sugar sprinkle and I felt like a muffin trailblazer. Hah! The updated recipe also included more blueberries which probably weren’t needed to improve the muffin but I added extra anyway.

Muffins with Frozen or Fresh Blueberries

And to be honest, I do like my muffins better with a few less fresh berries.

I don’t know. It’s just my thing. You should feel free to add more if you want to. I like a little more cake in my muffins but by no means do the extra berries ruin the muffins?

Not by a long shot!

But, fresh blueberries can be expensive when they are not in season in the summer, right? So you can definitely use frozen blueberries in place of fresh blueberries in this recipe too!

To make blueberry muffins with frozen blueberries, add the frozen blueberries directly to the batter without thawing them. If you thaw frozen blueberries before baking them in these muffins, they will become mushy. And the mushy blueberries will bleed into your muffin batter, turning your muffins a blueish color.

How to Freeze Blueberry Muffins

A couple of weeks after Riley came home, I stocked the freezer. I made a big batch of the best chicken enchiladas ever, some fresh corn chowder, and a double batch of these blueberry muffins.

Did you know that blueberry muffins freeze REALLY well? Yes! And freezing them is so easy to do!

All you need to do is line the baked muffins up on a baking sheet or plate and put the sheet or plate in the freezer. If you baked the muffins without wrappers, place a piece of parchment paper on the baking sheet or plate before you add the muffins. The parchment paper will prevent the muffins from sticking when frozen.

Freeze the muffins for about 6 hours and once they are fully frozen, transfer them directly to a zip-top bag. Press as much air out of the bag as you can and place the bag in the freezer. You can store the muffins in the freezer for up to 2 months.

When you’re ready to eat them, you have a couple of options for thawing blueberry muffins:

thaw and warm them in the microwave
thaw them overnight in the fridge and warm them in microwave or oven

These really are the perfect blueberry muffins and however you make them, I know you will love them! Now, just go ahead and pair them with an iced or hot latte to make you feel like you’re at your favorite coffee shop!

Perfect Blueberry Muffins

Name: Perfect Blueberry Muffins
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 9
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 5 tbsp (70 grams) unsalted butter, cold is fine; ½ cup (3 ½ oz or 100 g) sugar; Finely grated zest from ½ a lemon; ¾ cup plain yogurt or sour cream; 1 large egg; 1 ½ tsp (7 g) baking powder; ¼ tsp baking soda; ¼ tsp fine sea or table salt; 1 ½ cups (195 g) all-purpose flour; ¾ cup to 1 ½ cups blueberries, fresh or frozen (no need to defrost); 3 tbsp coarse or turbinado (sugar in the raw) sugar

Yield: 9 to 12 muffins

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Perfect blueberry muffins is lofty claim but these muffins live up to the hype! With crunchy, coarse sugar-coated, bakery-like domed lids with a slightly sweet and tender cake underneath these muffins are just LOADED with fresh blueberries.

Ingredients

5 tbsp (70 grams) unsalted butter, cold is fine
½ cup (3 ½ oz or 100 g) sugar
Finely grated zest from ½ a lemon
¾ cup plain yogurt or sour cream
1 large egg
1 ½ tsp (7 g) baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp fine sea or table salt
1 ½ cups (195 g) all-purpose flour
¾ cup to 1 ½ cups blueberries, fresh or frozen (no need to defrost)
3 tbsp coarse or turbinado (sugar in the raw) sugar

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375° F. Grease the wells of a 12-well muffin tin with butter or cooking spray (see note below).
Melt butter in a large heatproof bowl in the microwave (it should not be hot) then whisk in the sugar, lemon zest, yogurt, and egg until smooth. Add the baking powder, baking soda, and salt and whisk until well-combined. Gently fold in the flour and berries. Doing so at the same time will prevent the berries from sinking to the bottom of the muffins. The batter should be very thick.
Divide the batter between 9 (for larger muffins) or 12 (for smaller muffins) wells. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of sugar over the top of each. You'll think it's too much but trust me here.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes (on the lower end for 12 smaller muffins). Transfer the tin to a wire rack and allow the muffins to cool for 10 minutes before removing them and setting them to cool on the rack. Eat while still warm or at room temperature. They will be best on the first day but they freeze beautifully as well.

Notes

While muffin/cupcake liners are always adorable, I find them a giant nuisance when making muffins. The liners will stick to warm muffins and since I like my muffins warmed - either fresh from the pan or tucked under the broiler for a couple minutes when split in half to toast the inside for buttering - I just realized after making this most recent batch that I need to remember to skip the liners next time.

adapted from Smitten Kitchen

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