This post was originally published August 2012. I updated the photos and recipes as of June 2016.
I am constantly on the hunt for a collection of classic recipes I’ll have for ages. You know- the ones that someday will turn into “Mom’s famous recipe for….” A my kids are getting older and Hugo is becoming more involved with helping me bake, cook, and taste test, I love when he says things to his friends like, ” My Mama makes the best cookies ever!” Hopefully that sticks and someday he’ll be requesting these muffins in his college care packages. (wait…time slow down!) When it comes to a perfect blueberry muffin- I found it! These are the only blueberry muffin recipe I’ll ever need and I hope you agree.
In the past, I have struggled with finding a fruit-based muffin that has a thick enough batter for the fruit to not sink to the bottom. I wanted my blueberries to be evenly distributed throughout so you got one with every bite. I also wanted nice round domes with a crumbly topping. These were perfect on all accounts. The berries were so plump and juicy and right there in every single bite. The crumb topping was the perfect touch, adding a bit of crisp texture and a touch of spice from the cinnamon.
With this new update of the recipe, I tried cutting the sugar down and I think these are really wonderful with up to half the original amount. I’ve listed the options in the recipe so you can decide how sweet you want them. 1 cup of sugar yields a very sweet cake-like muffin. 1/2 cup of sugar is just lightly sweet and the perfect balance for me was 3/4 cup. But feel free to experiment with it based on your sweetness preference!
- 4 tablespoons brown sugar
- 4 tablespoon flour
- 2 tablespoons melted butter
- large pinch of cinnamon
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- ¾ cup sugar*
- 2 large eggs, room temp
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ cup buttermilk, room temp
- 2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen
- Preheat oven to 350º. Lightly grease a muffin tin with cooking spray or vegetable oil, or line with paper muffin liners.
- In a small bowl, stir together the melted butter, brown sugar, flour and cinnamon. Stir until well-combined and crumbly.
- In another small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.
- In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add eggs, vanilla and buttermilk.
- Add flour mixture and stir until just combined.
- Gently fold in blueberries.
- Divide batter evenly into 12 muffin cups. (Batter will be thick!)
- Sprinkle muffins with streusel topping.
- Bake at 350º for 20 to 25 min, until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean.
Katrina @ Warm Vanilla Sugar says
I love the look of those blueberries bursting out. These DO look perfect!
Yasmeen says
Husband and I make our favorite classic recipes (crepes, tea cakes, etc) for weekend brunches. Since getting married I swear my passion for these tried-and-trues has grown tenfold (must be all the nesting, ha).
I totally agree that it’s hard to find a batter which distributes the berries perfectly. You seem to have found it, and they look perfect.
I'm At Home Baking says
These look yummy! I’ve been searching for “the” blueberry muffin, will have to try these!
Averie @ Averie Cooks says
glad you found THE recipe for blueberry muffins – love it when I can check off recipes like that from my bucket list!
Cassie @ Bake Your Day says
I love classic recipes too. I go on kicks where all I want are the “back to basics” classic recipes that I have always loved. Looks like you nailed this one. And I love that shot of the blueberries!
Sallysbakingaddiction says
It’s been my mission to begin the search for classic recipes. I tackled chocolate chip cookies yesterday and now I’m onto blondies. I love these Audra, they actually look like my mom’s :)
Maggie G. says
These look delicious! Nothing beats a fresh out of the oven blueberry muffin!
Jenn says
These look delish! My go-to blueberry muffin recipe is from the pioneer woman… it’s fluffy but has a nice little crunch, bc it’s topped with raw sugar.
claire says
These are STUNNING.
Amy | Amy's Cooking Adventures says
These look lovely! And I just bought a pint of blueberries!!
Audra says
Ooh- raw sugar would be great as a topper as well!
Audra says
Thanks Sal! Let me know when you find your perfect blondie!
Audra says
Thanks Cassie! I have one really well lit spot on my windowsil and the pictures always turn out better than the others. I need to find a way to reproduce that!
Audra says
I agree Yas- it’s a getting married thing for me too! I feel like nesting makes me want to gather all the best recipes!
Audra says
Thanks Katrina!
Audra says
Yes I hope you do- they are really great!
Audra says
Thanks! I’m glad too :)
Audra says
That’s perfect!
Audra says
Thanks Claire!
Audra says
Thanks Maggie! I agree!
Barbara @ Barbara Bakes says
We love this recipe too. So nice to have a perfect recipe. Thanks for linking to my post. I’ll have to try it with brown sugar in the topping.
Laurelcluthe says
These look so tasty! Good work! A tip that has helped me keep the blueberries from sinking to the bottom of the muffin: Fold in frozen blueberries to the batter. Just a thought! Good luck with wedding, marriage, and all of that!
cristina says
Ive been searching for the perfect bb muffin recipe too! these look amazing! quick question tho… i just got married two weeks ago (i know you are about to be married too, congrats- enjoy it, its been the best day of my life) and i got a muffin pan from my registry. the muffin cups are huge (not like a regular cupcake tin). can i make this recipe in the big muffin cups? or will the size affect the consistency?
cristina says
so, i made these, both in small sized muffins and in the large ones i got from the registry! they were both great! even tho, i was a bit surprised that the muffin texture is almost like angel food cake-y gone dense. i know that sounds like a mouthfull. it is very moist and yummy tasting. but maybe the whiteness of the cake freaked me out. i am used to brownish more muffin texture like muffins.
hubby on the other hand LOVED them. had three for breakfast :)
Abby says
I just made these. I was a little surprised at the whiteness of the batter as well, as I thought they were under cooked but weren’t. They are yummy! My kiddos helped me make them and I thought maybe we made a mistake, but they are great. They are so soft and fluffy, they’re almost like blueberry cupcakes. Needless to say, my children love them.
Yana says
Can I substitute whole milk instead of buttermilk?
Comfort Foodie Mom says
Thank you so much for this one. I have tried a plethora of blueberry muffin recipes and had yet to find, “The One”. This is it. Delicious, fluffy, blueberries float perfectly. My kids thought that they didn’t like blueberry muffins, they devoured these. Seriously. Thank you.
Colleen says
Yum! Thoughts on using Greek yogurt in place of the buttermilk?
Audra says
That should work fine!
ROSEMARY Lumpkins says
I did add vanilla Greek yogurt to the milk (I expanded the recipe by half, so I added 1/4 c. Yogurt to 1 c. milk), and it was great, so I cut both the sugar and the vanilla! Also used almond flour and added a few finely chopped walnuts to the topping. They turned out wonderful!
Tricia Paoluccio says
have you tried browning the butter audra? thats what I do and I love the nuttier taste it adds…..love the crumble top on these! xo love and miss you audra!
Cara says
These are now my staple blueberry muffin recipe. Thank you so much for this recipe!
Francesca says
I made them today and they were delicious! Thank you for sharing the recipe. I substituted the buttermilk with organic yogurt and it worked well. They are the best blueberry muffins I have ever had!
Erica Coggins says
Hello! I made these and my muffins were VERY purple. Did I do something wrong? I used two cups of frozen blueberries.
Audra says
Sometimes frozen blueberries tend to bleed a bit- mine do too- you can make with fresh berries next time if you want them to look differently :)