These are literally the BEST blueberry muffins Ever. I rarely call things “THE BEST”. Those words are saved for sacred occasions, like my Best Buttercream Icing Ever recipe. That is, according to me and the hundreds of comments on that post, the verified-by-real-people, truly best icing ever. I don’t like how the word “best” gets tossed around casually and after 6 years of developing recipes, I can count on one or two hands the number of times I have used that phase. The best is reserved for the cream of the crop.
But my friends, so are these blueberry muffins. And so I use the phrase here, albeit carefully….to announce that these too, have reached the hallowed level of “THE BEST.”
How to Make The Best Blueberry Muffins
There are two secrets to making these blueberry muffins. It’s almond extract and a little bit of cornstarch in the flour mixture. Of course you must add the finishing sugar on top, but we all knew that.
- Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Fill a 12 well muffin tray with muffin liners, or spray the muffin wells with non-stick cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt.
- In a larger bowl attached to stand mixer or with a hand held beater, beat the butter, oil and sugar for two minutes, until creamy.
- Add the eggs one at a time, making sure that you are scraping down the sides of the bowl and beating well after each addition.
- Beat in the vanilla and almond extract.
- Gradually add the flour mixture and milk, alternating between the two, mixing on low speed the entire time to combine.
- Fold in the blueberries until mixed throughout the batter evenly.
- Divide the batter evenly between the muffin wells. Sprinkle some finishing sugar on top of the muffins.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the tops are beautifully browned and the top springs back when touched.
Can you use fresh blueberries in muffins?
Absolutely! Fresh blueberries are the best in muffins especially in the summer months when blueberries are cheap.
How do you stop blueberries from sinking in muffins?
Don’t bother tossing the berries in flour, it hasn’t ever helped me! I usually put a spoonful of plain batter into the bottom of the muffin tin and then fill it up as usual with the remaining blueberry batter.
Can I substitute frozen blueberries for fresh?
You can use frozen blueberries in this recipe as well. Just make sure to add them at the very end so that you aren’t making the batter too purple! As soon as you add the frozen blueberries they start to release juice into the batter.
Using Sanding Sugar on Top of Muffins
While you should use a sanding/finishing sugar on top, I didn’t have any. Yup. That’s Magpie for you. I just used whatever was in my cupboard, which was normal white sugar. While it doesn’t have the visual appeal or the large crunch factor, it added just that little bit of needed sweetness to the muffin top.
Tips and Tricks for Making the Best Blueberry Muffins
- Cornstarch. Gives it that cakey texture that we love.
- Almond extract. Gives it that unique flavour that should be cherry, but our mind tricks us into thinking blueberry.
- Butter AND Oil. Butter based muffins are just not the same texture, you need oil to attain that. This way you get the best of both worlds!
- Finishing Sugar. It goes without saying that bakery style blueberry muffins almost always have raw sugar on top.
- These can be made in pretty muffin liners, but I always prefer a muffin that has a slightly crunchy bottom, as well as the muffin top, and you attain that golden brown crisp all around by spraying the muffin tins with cooking spray and forgoing the muffin liners.
More Muffin Recipes For You to Try
- Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins
- Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins
- 6 week refrigerator bran muffins
Happy baking everyone! This is a keeper!
Love,
Karlynn
The Best Blueberry Muffins Ever
Ingredients
- 2 cups flour
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup butter softened
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup of white sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 2 cups of fresh blueberries
- Optional: finishing sugar to top raw sugar
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Fill a 12 well muffin tray with muffin liners, or spray the muffin wells with non-stick cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt.
- In a larger bowl attached to stand mixer or with a hand held beater, beat the butter, oil and sugar for two minutes, until creamy.
- Add the eggs one at a time, making sure that you are scraping down the sides of the bowl and beating well after each addition.
- Beat in the vanilla and almond extract.
- Gradually add the flour mixture and milk, alternating between the two, mixing on low speed the entire time to combine.
- Fold in the blueberries until mixed throughout the batter evenly.
- Divide the batter evenly between the muffin wells – they will be full! I like to use a cookie dough scoop or an ice cream scoop with a wire scraper inside to get nice, rounded muffin tops.
- Sprinkle some finishing sugar on top of the muffins.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the tops are beautifully browned and the top springs back when touched. If you have one, insert a cake tester to make sure that they are done.
- Remove from the oven and cool.
Nutrition
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Beatrice says
Really good muffins .
El says
These remind me so much of the boxed blueberry muffins I grew up on (with the tin of blueberries inside, anyone remember these haha?). It is the only blueberry muffin recipe for me! This Xmas I had leftover fresh cranberries, and did 1/2 blueberries 1/2 cranberries. They are now added to my seasonal rotation!! Amazing either way.
sesch@fairview.k12.mi.us says
What a treat. They turned out perfect. Thanks
Sharon says
Hi there, I followed this recipe exactly with the exception of using frozen blueberries but my muffins didn’t rise much. They are golden brown and smell wonderful but are quite flat on top and fragile feeling on the sides of paper cups. My blueberries were quite big. Wondering if this could be the reason?
Jade says
Can I make mini muffins with this recipe?
Chickpea Express says
I made a healthy plant based version of these blueberry muffins and I find using turbinado sugar rather than raw sugar on top makes them look like Tim Horton’s style muffins! If you’re interested in making a healthier version of these muffins, check out my plant based recipe!! chickpeaexpress.com/recipes/blueberry-muffins/
G.Krompocker says
Here is a tip for having that really high muffin top, always put in 1/4 tsp. baking soda, and preheat your oven to 425, place the muffin tin, in the hot oven, let bake for 5-6 min., then turn down oven to 375, this has made my muffins nice and big [ assuming you filled your muffin cups to almost full, not just 2/3 full} I use a homemade muffin paper out of parchment as well, to prevent muffins from spilling over the side.
Jane says
Can you sub the sugar for something else?
Linda says
FANTASTIC! The sanding sugar makes them exactly like the bakery and I didn’t use the muffin liners either. THat’s a real key, thanks for that tip! The crunch outside and the soft inside….dang man, perfect!!!!
Sherry Wentland says
Just made these, fantastic!
The Kitchen Magpie says
Awesome! So glad you loved them!
Kelsie Kelly says
Making these for breakfast:)
Baker says
Hi there! Absolutely loved these and used frozen berries. Thank you!
thekitchenmagpie says
@BakerB Yes, just defrost them on a paper towel first!
jorge says
Two thumbs up – the famiyl ate them in an hour. I will make a double batch next time.
The Kitchen Magpie says
Awesome!
HeatherBB says
Loved the flavor that the almond extract added, your brilliant! Thanks.
LindaBa says
These were better than some I have had in bakeries around here, so thank you. I used the almond extract and yoiu are definitely on to the secret.
thekitchenmagpie says
Great to hear!
LindaBa says
and my muffins were delish
thekitchenmagpie says
Awesome!
Kelly says
Made them in mini muffins! They are wonderful!
Pamela Innes says
I have a dumb question…can you use Saskatoons in a muffin recipe??…I’ve never heard of saskatoon muffins
Pamela Innes says
Thank you 😀
The Kitchen Magpie says
Absolutely! I have a white chocolate Saskatoon recipe on my website, just use the search bar!
Archie says
If i can make these then anyone can. Thank you for the good instructions the wife loved them and I was a hero today.
Linda says
These really are the BEST muffins..
I tried your recipe a couple months ago and have been baking them ever since.. I want to try them with other berries but these are so good I haven’t tried any other..