Buttermilk Blueberry Muffins
Juicy blueberries, lemon zest and tangy buttermilk make this easy-to-prepare fluffy buttermilk blueberry muffins recipe an early morning pleaser.
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I never knew my kids were such blueberry fans until we went blueberry picking last summer. It was a hot, muggy evening and the mosquitoes were rampant. But it was still a lot fun and we came home with several pounds of fresh berries. I love having a ready supply of blueberries the freezer for baked goods like this great recipe for Blueberry Buttermilk Muffins. They are the best muffins for a quick breakfast or afternoon snack.
Start your morning off on the right foot by pairing these delicious muffins with a yummy Mocha Iced Coffee.
Ingredients and tools you will need
I always have to make sure I keep the key ingredients for my blueberry muffin recipe on hand because I never know when my kids will request a batch. To make the best ever buttermilk blueberry muffins, you will need:
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature – softened, room temperature butter will mix with the sugar easier than cold butter.
- 2 teaspoons fresh lemon zest (from 1 large lemon) – Citrus peels consist of two distinct layers: the outer layer where the oils are found and the white spongy layer beneath it known as the pith. When utilizing lemon zest, it’s essential to grate only the outer layer, as the pith has a bitter flavor. You can use a microplane to do this or the small perforations on a box grater. Once you start to see white, stop grating in that spot and move to a different area.
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 large egg, room temperature – room temperature eggs trap air more easily than a cold egg, resulting in fluffy muffins.
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, divided
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups fresh blueberries or frozen berries
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 2 tablespoons plus 1 1/2 teaspoons of turbinado sugar (aka Sugar in the Raw)
- Mixing bowls – you will need a large bowl and two smaller ones.
- Rubber spatula
- Stand or electric mixer
- Muffin pan
- Cupcake liners
How to make buttermilk blueberry muffins
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a large bowl, cream together the butter, lemon zest, and sugar until fluffy.
- Add the egg and vanilla and whisk until combined.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together two cups of flour, the baking powder and salt.
- If using a stand mixer, switch to the paddle attachment. With the mixer running on low, add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the butter mixture, alternating with half of the buttermilk. Repeat, ending with the flour mixture. Continue to mix just until the wet ingredients and dry ingredients are well incorporated. Overmixing can result in tough, chewy muffins.
- Toss the blueberries with the remaining tablespoon of flour. Coating the blueberries in flour prevents the berries from sinking to the bottom of the batter during baking.
- Gently fold the blueberries into the batter by hand using a large rubber spatula. Folding, as it relates to baking, is a method of gently combining two ingredients without deflating the air out of the mixture, andr in this case, crushing our blueberries. With one swift motion, glide the spatula around the edges and along the bottom of the bowl. Proceed to gently life the batter and fold it onto itself. Rotate the bowl by 90 degrees. Repeat this process until the ingredients are just combined. Don’t use a mixer to do this as it can crush the berries and you will end up with purple muffins.
- Line the muffin tin with the cupcake liners.
- Fill the muffin liners almost to the top. I like to use an ice cream scoop for this. I tend to leave a 1/4-inch border around the top of the liner. The lemon blueberry muffins will rise during baking, but not so much that you risk them oozing out of the pan.
- Sprinkle the top of each muffin with 1/2 a teaspoon of turbinado sugar. I love this addition because it gives the muffins a nice, sweet, crunchy topping.
- Bake the muffins for 30 minutes or until the tops are golden and a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.
- Remove the muffins from oven.
- Allow the muffins to cool in the muffin tins for five minutes before removing them to finish cooling on a baking rack.
Muffin making tips
Start with room-temperature ingredients.
Ingredients that have been allowed to come to room temperature blend together more easily than cold ingredients, resulting in a smoother batter.
Don’t overmix the batter.
As flour is mixed and kneaded into batter or dough, it forms more strands of gluten. More gluten gives you a denser texture.
Spray the cupcake liners with cooking spray.
Cupcake liners ensure the muffins come out of the pan easily and require less cleanup, But, sometimes those little liners don’t want to peel off. I like to give them a quick spritz with cooking spray before filling them.
Double-check the expiration date on your baking powder.
Baking powder that’s out of date may not give your muffins the lift you want.
Storage, freezing and reheating instructions
Storage. Once the muffins have cooled, transfer the leftover muffins to a freezer bag or airtight container. The muffins can be stored at room temperature for a day or two. Any longer than that and they should be refrigerated to prevent mold from forming. Consume the muffins within a week.
Freezing. For best results, wrap each individual muffin in plastic wrap. Store the wrapped muffins in a plastic freezer bag. Be sure not to store heavy items on top of the tender muffins as they could be crushed. Consume within three months. Allow the muffins to thaw completely before serving.
Reheating. While the muffins are delicious cold or at room temperature, nothing beats warm bakery style muffins with a pat of melted butter. You can quickly reheat the muffin for up to 30 seconds in the microwave. My preferred method is reheating a muffin in the air fryer for one minute or in a preheated 350-degree oven for 5-10 minutes.
Frequently asked questions
Regular milk is much thinner than buttermilk and may negatively impact the texture of the muffins. If you don’t have any buttermilk, you can make your own buttermilk by adding 1 1/2 teaspoons of distilled white vinegar to the 1/2 cup of buttermilk and letting it stand for 5-10 minutes.
Yes! For mini muffins, use the same oven temperature but decrease the baking time to 15 minutes. For jumbo muffins, increase the baking time to 50 minutes. You can also transfer the batter to an 8 x 8 x 2-inch baking dish and bake for 55-65 minutes. Keep in mind that you will need to adjust the amount of turbinado sugar you sprinkle over the top of each muffin. For mini muffins, I recommend topping each with 1/4-teaspoon of sugar. For jumbo muffins, use one teaspoon per muffin.
Yes. Since lemon extract is more concentrated, use one teaspoon of extract for the two teaspoons of lemon zest. Alternately, use four tablespoons of fresh lemon juice instead of the lemon zest called for in the recipe.
Sucralose, aka Splenda, is heat stable and can be used to replace half, but not all, of the sugar called for in the recipe. Do not use aspartame or saccharine products (Equal, Nutrasweet or Sweet-N-Low). These products break down when subjected to high heat and can leave an unpleasant aftertaste.
Yes! Any type of fresh or frozen berry can be used in place of the blueberries. Some yummy options would include raspberry muffins, blackberries or cranberries.
You can, but you may want to reduce the amount of salt used in the recipe by 1/4 teaspoon.
I prefer to use turbinado sugar because it has larger crystals that don’t easily absorb into the muffin batter during baking. If you use granulated sugar instead, you may not get the same crunchy consistency on top.
No. You can mix the wet and dry ingredients separately beforehand. However, once the wet and dry ingredients are mixed together it activates the baking powder and your muffins may not rise later.
Buttermilk Blueberry Muffins
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest (from 1 large lemon)
- 3/4 cup white granulated sugar
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour divided
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 2 tablespoons plus 1 1/2 teaspoons turbinado sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large bowl, cream the butter, lemon zest and sugar until fluffy.
- Add the egg and vanilla to the creamed butter and whisk until combined.
- In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together two cups of the flour, the baking powder and salt.
- If using a stand mixer, switch to the paddle attachment. With the mixer running on low, add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the butter mixture, alternating with half of the buttermilk. Repeat, ending with the flour mixture. Continue to mix just until the ingredients are well incorporated.
- Toss the blueberries with the remaining tablespoon of flour.
- Turn off mixer. Gently fold in the blueberries by hand with a spatula.
- Line a muffin tin with muffin liners. Spray the liners with cooking spray.
- Fill the muffin liners almost to the top. I like to use an ice cream scoop for this. I tend to leave a 1/4-inch border around the top of the liner. The lemon blueberry muffins will rise during baking, but not so much that you risk them oozing out of the pan.
- Sprinkle the top of each muffin with 1/2 a teaspoon of turbinado sugar. I love this addition because it gives the muffins a nice, sweet, crunchy topping.
- Bake the muffins for 30 minutes or until the tops are golden and a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.
- Remove the muffins from oven.
- Allow the muffins to cool in the muffin tins for five minutes before removing them to finish cooling on a baking rack.
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This blueberry coffee cake is delicious! Made it yesterday for this morning’s breakfast. Will definitely be making this one again. (Do watch your cooking time, as mine only took 45 minutes to bake.)
I made muffins instead of the breakfast bake. This is one fine recipe. Sooo good.
I, too, have oodles of blueberries in my freezer. Have been making lots of Blueberry Zucchini Bread, but this will definitely be a Sunday morning breakfast treat tomorrow! Looks so good!
yummyyyyyyyyyy
Oh, goodness. I need to go and buy some blueberries. Like now.
Oooh, that looks seriously yummy! Can’t wait to try it!