Blueberry Lemon Muffins

Tender, fluffy Blueberry Lemon Muffins are filled with juicy sweet berries and have the aroma of lemon. This is a great staple muffin recipe to have that you can use as a base for many other muffin creations.

Blueberry Muffins are a perfect treat all year long. They are easy to make, delicious as a dessert with coffee or tea, or a quick breakfast option. I love that they are made with simple pantry staple ingredients, so as long as you have frozen blueberries in your freezer, you can whip some up anytime. This is really convenient if you have unexpected company or want to make a quick treat for your family.

The consistency of these muffins is so tender and fluffy, with lots of juicy berries throughout. They actually remind me of cupcakes:). I also love adding some lemon zest to the batter, which really ups the flavor. Lemon and blueberries pair so well together, so this is a natural combination.

Blueberries for Muffins - Fresh or Frozen?

The wonderful thing about muffins is that you can use both fresh and frozen berries. If you are using frozen berries, add them to the batter right out of the freezer, no need to thaw.

However, frozen berries have a tendency to turn your batter purple, so in order to prevent that, toss the blueberries in ½ - 1 Tablespoon of flour before adding them to the batter.

What Can You Substitute For the Blueberries in Muffins?

This muffin batter is perfect to use for any kind of muffins.

Instead of blueberries, you can use other berries, such as strawberries (chop those up first), raspberries, blackberries, currants and cranberries (cut fresh cranberries in half and toss with a bit of sugar first.) You can also cut up other fruit, such as peaches, apricots, plums, mangos, or even add chocolate chips or all kinds of nuts too.

I also have a Banana Walnut muffin recipe on my website and a Cranberry Orange muffin recipe that you may enjoy.

What Makes These Muffins So Tender?

The method of making the batter creates the most tender and fluffy muffins. By creaming the butter and sugar, then adding the eggs one at a time, you are ensuring that you whip up a lot of air into the batter and that it will have a consistent texture.

By adding the flour in stages, with the liquid ingredients in between, this creates a light, even crumb in the muffins. It is also important not to over mix the batter.

How To Prepare the Blueberry Lemon Muffins

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Make sure that the butter, eggs, milk and sour cream are at room temperature - this is important to get the right texture for the batter and for the muffins to turn out really tender.
3. Combine the dry ingredients separately in a bowl and mix evenly. This helps to spread the baking powder and baking soda evenly throughout the flour, which makes sure that there won't be a clump of baking power or baking soda somewhere in a muffin, which is not nice to bite into.
4. Combine the milk, sour cream, lemon zest and lemon juice in another bowl.
5. Cream the butter and sugar until they are fluffy, about 5 minutes, then add the vanilla extract and the eggs, one at a time.
6. Add half of the dry ingredients to the batter, mix just until incorporated, then add the liquid ingredients, once again mixing just until incorporated, followed by the remaining dry ingredients. Mix again, being careful not to over mix. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed, to make sure the batter is mixed evenly.

7. Add 1 ½ cups of blueberries to the batter, mixing in with the rubber spatula. Portion out the batter between 24 muffins.

8. Top the muffins with the remaining ½ cup of blueberries. This will make sure that you have blueberries throughout the muffins and will have some on top too. You can use more than 2 cups of blueberries, if you want your muffins to be really bursting with juicy berries.

9. Place the muffins into the preheated oven and bake for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and bake for an additional 15 minutes, until the muffins are golden and baked through.

10. Cool the muffins for 5 minutes, then remove from the muffin pan and to a cooling rack.

Why Should You Change the Oven Temperature While Baking the Muffins?

Starting out with an initial temperature of 425 degrees Fahrenheit gives the muffins a burst of high heat, which helps them rise quickly and a head start is turning brown. After 10 minutes at this high heat, I reduce the temperature, which prevents the muffins from drying our and keeps them really tender.

If you bake the muffins at 350 degrees, they don't rise as much, so they will be shorter and they will still be quite pale by the time they bake through. Baking them the whole time at 425 degrees Fahrenheit, causes the muffins to be dry.

Storing the Muffins and Freezing Them

Store the muffins at room temperature. After the first day, cover them with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel to keep them from drying out.

You can freeze muffins for 3-6 months. Place them in an airtight container or a freezer ziplock bag. You can take out all of them, or just one at a time. Thaw the muffins wrapped in a towel or a paper towel, to absorb excess moisture as they thaw. You can even put them in the microwave or the oven to warm up just a bit and they will taste like they are fresh out of the oven.

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