Tessa’s Recipe Rundown
Taste: Fresh, fruity, nutty, and warm with cinnamon. Such a wonderful combination of flavors!
Texture: The muffins are tender and moist while the crumb topping is crumbly and buttery.
Ease: A couple extra steps to brown the butter and make the crumb topping but it creates a WORLD of difference.
Pros: Amazing muffins that everyone will be begging you to make again and again.
Cons: You will dirty a few dishes compared to some other recipes.
Would I make this again? Absolutely.
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I remember once as a kid eating a blueberry muffin in school that was from a grocery store. It was so bad I immediately regretted taking a bite and threw away the rest.
It was dry, crumbly and cloyingly sweet. I thought for years afterwards that I just didn’t like blueberry muffins. Turns out I just had a very bad one!
So recently I made it my mission to develop a new recipe for the BEST homemade blueberry muffins.
What I came up with is something that is super flavorful and moist with a delightful cinnamon crumb topping. The brown butter in this recipe adds a nutty complexity of flavor that counter balances the sweetness and freshness of the blueberries so nicely.
These blueberry muffins are bound to be a crowd pleaser! Bring them to school, your next early morning meeting, as a thank you to a teacher or neighbor, and you’ll be sure to win the title of everyone’s favorite person 😉
How to Make the BEST Blueberry Muffins
How to Brown Butter
When browning butter, you want to swirl the pan occasionally once the butter is melted and it starts to cook. It should become foamy with audible cracking and popping noises. If this isn’t happening you may need to turn up the heat slightly.
Once the crackling stops continue to swirl the pan until the butter develops a nutty aroma and brown bits start to form at the bottom. Once the bits are amber in color, about 2 to 3 minutes after the popping stops, remove from heat and pour everything (bits and all) into a medium mixing bowl to cool.
For best results when browning butter, avoid using a nonstick pan. I like to use a 10-inch stainless steel skillet. Learn all my tips and tricks for browning butter in my How to Brown Butter article here.
Can I substitute the buttermilk in muffins?
I’ve done extensive side-by-side testing of buttermilk in baking and find that it makes a pretty big difference in muffins. Buttermilk creates a finer crumb and more moisture AND flavor. So I’d highly recommend using real buttermilk if you can. DIY substitutions don’t always compare. To learn more, check out my Buttermilk 101 post here.
If you don’t have buttermilk on hand then you can use whole milk instead with a spoonful of lemon juice or vinegar.
What do I do with leftover buttermilk?
Did you know you can actually freeze buttermilk and then defrost it at some later date for a future recipe? Get the details for freezing buttermilk here.
How to bake moist & tender muffins:
Be very careful not to overmix, this will create rubbery muffins. Once the dry ingredients are combined with the wet, gently stir until *just* combined. Since we’re adding in blueberries, I actually like to leave a few streaks of flour. They’ll get stirred into the batter with the berries.
Also, using buttermilk or full fat whole milk can also help create moist and tender muffins. Don’t skimp!
Another trick to ensure these muffins bake up nice and moist is to use brown sugar! That’s because brown sugar is more hygroscopic, a fancy way of saying it attracts and holds in more moisture. I actually use brown and white in this recipe for the best of both worlds.
How to Bake TALL Muffins:
I recently experimented with the science of muffins and how to achieve beautiful, TALL muffins that look like they belong on the shelf of a fancy bakery. Check out my 3 tips for baking tall muffins here!
Hint: Chilling your muffin batter overnight makes for the BEST ever muffins!!
How long do blueberry muffins last?
They’ll stay good for up to 3 days if stored in an airtight container at room temperature.
Can I use frozen blueberries in muffins?
Yes! You can use fresh or frozen in this recipe. Just make sure they’re ripe for optimum flavor. If using frozen, don’t bother to defrost. I typically like to use organic blueberries.
If chilling the muffin batter overnight, add the frozen blueberries to the mix in the morning-otherwise their color might bleed into your batter.
How do I stop my muffins from sticking to the liner?
This can sometimes be caused by the brand of liners. This is my favorite brand that I order in bulk from Amazon. If you find your liners still get stuck and end up ruining your muffins, don’t worry. I’ve actually written an entire article about how to prevent muffin or cupcake liners from sticking here.
Can blueberry muffins be frozen?
Yes! Muffins can also be frozen in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Defrost on the counter or in the microwave.
More Muffin Recipes
- Lemon Poppyseed Muffins
- Pumpkin Muffins
- Banana Espresso Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Chocolate Coffee Toffee Crunch Muffins
Brown Butter Blueberry Muffins
Ingredients
For the muffins:
- 1 stick (113 grams) unsalted butter
- 2 cups (254 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup (100 grams) light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon fine salt
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 3/4 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups (210 grams) blueberries, fresh or frozen (don't thaw first)
For the crumb topping:
- 1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons (24 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons (29 grams) unsalted butter, melted
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°Line a standard muffin tin with paper liners.
Brown the butter:
- In a small stainless skillet set over medium heat, melt the butter. Swirling the pan occasionally, continue to cook the butter. It should become foamy with audible cracking and popping noises.
- Once the crackling stops continue to swirl the pan until the butter develops a nutty aroma and brown bits start to form at the bottom. Once the bits are amber in color, about 2 to 3 minutes after the popping stops, remove from heat and pour into a medium mixing bowl. Let cool.
Make the batter:
- In a large bowl whisk together the flour, sugars, salt, and baking powder.
- In a small bowl whisk together the buttermilk, cooled browned butter, egg, and vanilla. Pour into the dry ingredients and stir with a rubber spatula until just combined. Gently stir in the blueberries. Do not overmix. Batter will be thick. Divide evenly among the muffin tin cups.
Make the crumb topping:
- In a small bowl, combine all of the topping ingredients with a fork until the texture resembles wet sand.
- Use your fingertips to sprinkle over muffin batter in pans. Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 20 to 22 minutes. Let cool until barely warm.
- Serve or store in an airtight at room temperature for 3 days. Reheat in the microwave for about 15 seconds if desired. Muffins can also be frozen in an airtight container for up to 3 months.
Photos by Ashley McLaughlin.
WOW!! These tasted like they came straight from a bakery. Everyone who had one couldn’t stop raving over them! The brown butter and the cinnamon crumble really take the muffin to another level! Will be making again!!
I was a bit confused when i made this because the batter turned out to be much thicker than i expected that i wondered if i did something wrong. But it turned out to be super delicious! I brought them to my meeting and everyone loved them 😍
I have a question though, how do we tell if we cooked the butter for too long? I cooked my butter for 3 minutes after the crackling stopped and i wonder if i burned it because the bits in the bottom were so dark in color and i was afraid it would make my muffins bitter so i strained it before mixing it with other ingredients
So happy to hear they were such a hit, Kyla! 🙂 I added a note to the recipe that the batter will be thick, thanks for noting that! Those brown bits in the bottom of the pan are what hold all of the flavor in browned butter, so we typically want you to scrape them into the mixing bowl. However, if they were darker than amber color, it’s possible your butter was browned a bit too long. Try paying attention to the sensory indicators instead of timing for your next batch (i.e. color and smell vs browning for 2-3 minutes. It’s possible yours will take less time!). We have an article coming out in the next couple of months about how to brown butter that I think you’ll find very helpful, so keep an eye out! 🙂
These are amazing.. Curious if I can substitute bananas instead of blueberries or will that not hold up..? Thanks for the recipe..
Hi Kristina! Feel free to experiment with using bananas here, but that will change the chemistry of the recipe, so it will likely take some tinkering to perfect. Alternatively, give Tessa’s Bakery Style Banana Muffins or Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins or Banana Nut Muffins a try 🙂
Hi, can i use dry buttermilk/buttermilk powder? If yes, do i have to mix it with water first?
Hi Al! We haven’t used buttermilk powder here, but check out Tessa’s Buttermilk 101 article here for more information and guidance here 🙂
lovely muffins! the brown butter, the streusel, ugh, just perfect! I wonder if I can use the same recipe for choc chip muffins instead?
These muffins are – no joke – the BEST muffins I’ve ever had. I threw in a few raspberries and blackberries in addition to the blueberries and wow, wow, WOW. Thank you so much!!
Yay!! So excited to hear that, Steph!! Thanks so much for the comment 🙂
These are hands down the best blueberry muffin!
These blueberry muffins are scrumptious! I really like all the tips and the science behind them!!
So happy to hear that, Valentina!
Excellent recipe. Instructions were clear and easy to follow. Results were perfect!!
Hiiii! Regards from Gdl, Mx!
I want to leave some comments as I want feedback, thanks:
– I substitute buttermilk for almond milk (big mistake)
– I didn’t use granulated sugar at all, as I wanted to use only light brown sugar for healthy purposes (second mistake)
By reading the recipe, I found out, that the muffins came out rubbery, exactly that way. Even though they don’t taste bad, they don’t have the texture nor the flavor they should.
Look forward to read you guys, thanks.
Hi Ximena! I’m sorry to hear your substitutions didn’t work out as you’d hoped! As I mentioned to you previously when you emailed us with this question, we really recommend sticking with the original quantity of sugar in any recipe, for many reasons. Sugar doesn’t just sweeten baked goods; it adds moisture, provides tender structure, assists with gluten formation, extends the shelf-life (meaning it will stay fresh and moist longer), and assists in creating a taller and lighter finished product – just to name a few things! Reducing the sugar content in a recipe doesn’t just lower sweetness; it messes with the recipe’s chemistry and creates a totally different baked good. Unfortunately, eliminating the buttermilk will also have big repercussions, which you can read more about in Tessa’s Buttermilk 101 Article here! I hope you will try this recipe again, as written, to taste the light and delicious muffins they should be! Once you have made the recipe as written, you can try experimenting from there and slowly lower the sugar content in each subsequent batch, to experiment, and see if you can achieve results you’re happy to eat, while lowering the sugar content as you wish! Good luck and happy baking 🙂
So delicious! Thank you for sharing all your tips!
So happy you enjoyed these muffins and all of Tessa’s amazing tips, Valentina!
I only have dark brown sugar…can I substitute this for light!?
Hi Haley! Yes, that will work just fine; it might just have a slightly deeper, more butterscotch-y flavour! Let us know how it turns out 🙂