Buttermilk Blueberry Muffins – Deliciously Fluffy Muffins Made with Buttermilk, Blueberries and a Crunchy Sugar Topping.
I can’t remember exactly when my family’s obsession with blueberry muffins started, but it’s deeply ingrained in our collective family subconscious. Case in point, my stepdaughter named our two cats Blueberry and Muffin. Here they are. That’s Blueberry in the foreground, and pretty princess Muffin in the background.
Blueberry’s not supposed to be on top of the kitchen table, but I had to take a picture before shooing him off. Isn’t he gorgeous?
Considering the names of our pets, I guess it’s only natural that we love blueberry muffins! The buttermilk really enhances the flavor of these wonderful muffins, giving them a richness and a slight tang that perfectly suits the sweet blueberries. I like to sprinkle the muffins with turbinado sugar on top, so they have a light candy-like shell with a soft and fluffy inside, bursting with berry goodness.
A few quick tips–
1) If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, you can make your own by mixing 1/2 cup of milk and 1 1/2 tsp of lemon juice or cider vinegar. Mix well, and let the milk stand at room temperature for 5-10 minutes until it begins to curdle slightly.
2) Don’t overmix the muffin batter! These muffins have a wonderful light texture that can become dense if you mix the batter too much.
3) If you want to make these muffins pareve (dairy free), you can substitute almond, rice, or soy milk for the buttermilk… they’ll still be yummy, but I recommend using buttermilk if you can. It adds a delicious flavor.
4) If you only have access to frozen blueberries, go ahead and use them. Keep them frozen and toss them lightly in a little flour before mixing gently into the batter. Frozen berries can be a bit delicate and may break apart a bit in the batter, turning it a bluish color, but the flavor will still be great. Baking time may be slightly longer due to the frozen berries, so check accordingly.
These muffins are so tasty. They’re just teeming with luscious, juicy berries. We like them for breakfast or brunch with a side of scrambled eggs. Enjoy!
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Buttermilk Blueberry Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 cups fresh ripe blueberries (or sub frozen - see note) (12 oz)
- 2 cups flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
- Turbinado or coarse sugar for dusting
NOTES
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Pick through the blueberries and discard any over-ripe, very soft or mushy berries. Rinse the blueberries in a colander and drain well. Pat dry with a paper towel. Reserve.
- In a mixing bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
- In another mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, buttermilk, vegetable oil and vanilla.
- Mix wet ingredients into dry using as few stirs as possible; you want slightly lumpy batter, a few streaks of flour are fine. Do not over-mix.
- Fold blueberries gently into the batter using as few strokes as possible.
- Line a standard size muffin tin (12 muffins) with muffin/cupcake liners, or lightly with nonstick cooking spray. Fill each cup all the way to the top with batter. I find the easiest way to do this is by using an ice cream scoop. One generous scoop of batter will fill each muffin cup.
- When the pan is filled with batter, sprinkle the top of each muffin lightly with turbinado or coarse sugar. This will add some sweet sparkle and texture to the top of each muffin.
- Bake muffins for 10 minutes. Turn the muffin tin around (180 degrees) and continue to bake for 5-10 minutes more, or until the muffin tops are golden and springy to the touch. Start testing after 5 minutes, and take them out as soon as they turn springy... don't overcook them, or they'll become dry.
- Let muffins cool for 15 minutes, then gently remove from the tin. Serve. Note: If you only have access to frozen blueberries, go ahead and use them. Just keep them frozen and toss them lightly in a little flour before mixing gently into the batter. Baking time may be longer, so test for springiness to ensure doneness.
Nutrition
Very easy to follow — used lite milk (98% fat) and lemon juice, a high fibre flour, with frozen berries dusted in flour as recommended. Batter was on the thick side compared to picture but end result was fantastic. Thanks for sharing.
A baker in Tasmania…
Hi… IM up high ,altitude wise 3500 feet, and recipe worked fine…but was dry when mixing ,like others comments,added more oil. all came out perfect. used frozen blueberries ,did have to cook an extra few minute till tops browned. delicious.
I am going to try this recipe, now i’m in Ontario so of course our buttermilk is somewhat thick but I know will be fine. I do a lot of baking and I was reading the comment from Cat, I can’t see how it was too much flour at all, than to add more buttermilk would make it real runny I would think. Anyways, will try it and let you know how it went. Thank you.
Absolutely fantastic muffins! I followed the recipe exactly and I used European buttermilk (thick, but runny enough to pour) I bake a lot and have several trusted muffin recipes. This one is by far the best to use with berries! I made a batch with fresh red currants and a batch with frozen blueberries. To prevent the frozen blueberries from bleeding into the batter, I rinsed the frozen berries with cold water, dried them on a paper towel, and then sprinkled them with flour to coat. I folded them in very gently. The result is perfect! Thank you for this recipe!
Hi Tori,
They’re in the oven as I write and the suspense is killing me!! Quick question; do you know if they will freeze well?
Thx, Rosemary
Hi Rosemary, I’ve never frozen these, but personally I’m not sure I would– I feel that softer baked items tend to lose some flavor in the freezing process. That said, it might work and if you’re accustomed to freezing muffins or cake-like treats then it’s worth a try.
Hi again,
So I went ahead and froze them and defrosted a few days later and they tasted delicious. They were still soft and fluffy and received rave reviews from my work colleagues!
I’ll definitely be repeating this recipe. Thank you!
Rosemary
Thank you so much for reporting back Rosemary! Great to know. 🙂
Okay, I made a batch and a half of these in mini muffin tins and baked them at 400 degrees for 11 minutes. I realized that muffins whose batter had sat on the counter in the bowl the longest had risen and had a nice little rounded top on them rather than the flat top. I’m so happy to know this trick for next time.
I made these and they are amazeballs! I added a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and a little bit of zest because I love lemon and blueberry together. They were so good! My batter seemed a little thicker than what is shown in the photos but they turned out fine. I want to make a mini muffin version now and was wondering if I should alter the baking temp or just the baking time. And idea?
I was just thinking about adding lemon the next time- wish I had read your post before baking!
Like the previous reviewer I found there wasn’t anywhere like enough liquid in the recipe. They are in the oven (at sea level in the UK) as we speak, but I had to add an extra egg, more buttermilk and some normal milk to get them to even a cake like dropping consistency. Perhaps UK buttermilk isn’t as runny as US buttermilk? I used less sugar but the raw mix seemed sweet enough. I would make again but double the liquid and thin it down. My buttermilk was like yoghurt consistency. .
Minky, thank you so much! You have solved an ongoing issue with this recipe that I could not for the life of me figure out. I’ve had so many positive comments on this recipe, but occasionally I get somebody saying the batter is far too thick (not enough liquid). The problem is indeed the buttermilk- in the U.S. buttermilk is only slightly thicker than regular milk, so the difference in consistency is absolutely the issue. I have put a note at the beginning of the recipe. In future, if you decide to try again, please use the whole milk/lemon juice substitution. Thanks again!
This is, by far, the best blueberry muffin I have ever made, or tasted. Incredibly delicious! Thank you!!
I tried these, waaay too much flour. Had to add in another cup of buttermilk at the end as I was left with a dry biscuit texture. And btw I did follow the instructions and ingredients exactly Still came out tasty though!
Cat, are you at altitude? I’m wondering because higher elevations can sometimes effect baking recipes. Other readers have had great success with this recipe, and I’ve made it several times throughout the years with no issues, so I’m not sure what went wrong for you.
EDIT – The issue has to do with varying buttermilk consistency outside the U.S. Please read my new note at the beginning of the recipe for folks who live outside of the U.S.
Best muffins EVER! Thanks for the recipe. I am certain it will be used again and again.
Excellent! Easy quick and delicious. Made exactly as instructed. Moist without being crumbly. My husband and son absolutely love them.
These are amazing, and the pictures are wonderful! I make them for my friends all of the time (and keep a few for me).
So glad you’re enjoying the recipe Sarah!
I make muffins regularly for my visiting in-laws, and I am always trying new highly-rated recipes. I don’t over=mix, and I measure very precisely (even using a butter knife to level off my flour and sugar ingredients). So, I have no idea what happened here, but this batter was so thick as to literally be difficult to stir at all. I had to add a little buttermilk at the last minute to make it even vaguely stir-able. I was so taken aback by the texture that I quickly consulted other “blueberry buttermilk muffin” recipes online and noticed that the ratio of liquid to flour in this one is significantly off. All other recipes calling for 2 cups of flour also called for at least 1 cup buttermilk. I think this may need to be edited, as many of the 6-star reviews seem to be more for your admittedly adorable cats than the recipe.
Hi Carr– I’ve held this comment in moderation until I had a chance to re-test the recipe. I was worried based on your comment that something might be off, however I made it again yesterday and it was just as I remembered it– a terrific, tasty muffin with great texture. Sorry you didn’t have a great experience. Hopefully the end result was satisfactory.
EDIT – The issue has to do with varying buttermilk consistency outside the U.S. Please read my new note at the beginning of the recipe for folks who live outside of the U.S.
This is the greatest recipe. I found it when looking for a recipe w/veg oil one day when I was out of butter for my usual recipe. It was a perfect fit since I also love to cook with buttermilk! I am a serious cook with a large family, and we all love the muffins. I might try it with a little lemon and lemon zest and see what happens(love lemons too!) Thank you for your recipe : )
So glad you like it! 🙂
I just made these, I followed the recipe exactly! They are so easy, so fast, & so delicious. Before finishing this post my boyfriend has devoured 2 of them. I used fresh blueberries. Oh, and I used grapeseed oil. Anyway, amazing recipe! Thank you!
Glad you enjoyed them Michelle!
I haven’t rued it recipe yet, but just wanted to comment that we had a dog named Muffin and I swore if we ever got a second pet while she was with us, it would be named blueberry, just so that I could call to them, “Blueberry, Muffin….where are you?” Sadly she passed away due to old age last year, but I love the names!!
Yes, my stepdaughter Jordan came up with the whole Blueberry Muffin thing… she was naming everything after food at that age! I thought Blueberry was pretty appropriate with those big baby blue eyes. BTW I’m so sorry to hear about your pup. Our little Maltese Momo gave us a health scare recently, he’s 10. We are enjoying every moment we have now that we know he’s not as healthy as he once was.
Do you think these would turn out as good with butter instead of oil?? I’m about to whip a batch up and was just wondering if it woul work as well?? Thnks so much
Hi Miranda– generally speaking I don’t ever sub all butter in baked goods, as it produces a dryer result. I like my baked goods to be moist. You could replace 2 tbsp of the oil with 2 tbsp butter if you like, but keep the other 3 tbsp oil to ensure that the result is nice and moist. 🙂
Hi there, I made these last week and we loved them. Do you think chopped strawberries would work as well? Maybe a mix of the two? Thanks!
Yes Magilla. The blueberries are naturally sweeter, so I would use a combination of the two. Enjoy!
Tori, these are amazing! Made them for the first time this morning. Did not have vegetable oil, used coconut oil, just carefully melted it in a microwave. Followed everything else. Perfect! The are more like soft scones, than regular muffins, which is a huge plus. Thank you so much for your blog. I very much enjoy your History Kitchen, being a food in history and literature nut myself, I found a lot of inspiration and comfort on your site. 🙂 <3 Looking forward to the Kahluah bread pudding next weekend. 🙂
Thanks for writing Natalya! Glad you enjoying the sites and the recipes.