Best Lemon Blueberry Muffins

These blueberry muffins are so moist you won’t want to butter them. The centers of the muffins are soft and tender and topped with a pretty sparkling dusting of granulated sugar. Every year when the blueberry season starts, I make these blueberry sour cream muffins, so good with a cup of coffee. The lemon flavor adds a fresh taste to these muffins, but the fresh blueberry flavor is the star of the show. If you like a classic blueberry muffin, I am sure you will love this blueberry muffin recipe.

Ingredients You’ll Need

Muffin Batter

Lemon Crunch Topping

How to Make Lemon Blueberry Muffins

This recipe makes jumbo blueberry muffins, if your muffin pan isn’t large, you may get 18 muffins from this recipe.

Step 1: Prepare the Muffin Pan

Preheat oven to 375°F

Line a large 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners

Melt the 1/2 cup butter and set aside.

Wash and zest one lemon, and set aside.

Step 2: Mix the Dry Ingredients and Lemon Zest

This recipe uses a full tablespoon of baking powder, so be sure to mix the dry ingredients very well to evenly distribute the baking powder throughout the flour.

Mix all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.

Add the lemon zest to the flour mixture. This recipe has a whole tbsp of baking powder, so mix the dry ingredients very well to distribute the baking powder throughout your dry ingredients.

Once the dry ingredients are mixed well, make a well in the center.

Step 3: Mix the Wet Ingredients

Mix the wet ingredients in a second bowl. In a medium bowl beat the egg, add the milk and the melted 1/2 cup of butter. Mix the wet ingredients well.

Step 4: Combine the Batter and Gently Fold in the Blueberries

Pour the wet ingredients into the well of the dry ingredients.

Mix with a wooden spoon until just blended.  The batter will be lumpy, but there should be no actual flour visible.

Fold in the blueberries.

Divide the batter evenly into your muffin tins. They will be about 2/3 full. I like to use an ice cream scoop for this.

Step 5: Bake the Muffins

Bake in the 375°F preheated oven until the muffins are lightly golden brown, about 20 minutes.

Step 6: Add the Lemon Sugar Topping

In my opinion, this light, crunchy topping is what makes these the best blueberry muffins. It’s so good. This topping is very light; it just adds a tiny bit of sparkle to the top of the muffins.

While the muffins are still hot, cut and squeeze the lemon juice into a small bowl.

Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a small bowl, add to the lemon juice, and blend.

Baste the top of each muffin with the butter-lemon mixture, then sprinkle with white sugar.

This recipe makes a dozen large muffins. Let the muffins cool slightly before eating, as hot blueberries can burn the mouth.

Baking Tips for Perfect Muffins

Can you use frozen blueberries for blueberry muffins?

Yes, you can use either fresh or frozen blueberries in this recipe. Frozen blueberries are often more affordable and work just as well. If using frozen berries, I recommend thawing them first, as very cold berries can affect how the baking powder reacts in the batter.

When using frozen blueberries, the batter may take on a few purple streaks, but this disappears as the muffins bake.

Do you need to coat blueberries in flour?

Many recipes suggest coating blueberries in flour to keep them from sinking. With this batter, it isn’t necessary. The batter is already quite thick, and adding flour to the berries can make it too heavy, which affects the texture of the muffins. Simply fold the blueberries in gently and they’ll stay nicely suspended.

Don’t add extra blueberries

It’s tempting to add more blueberries than the recipe calls for, but this batter already contains plenty. Adding extra berries can make the muffins too wet and affect how they bake. For best results, stick with the amount listed in the recipe.

For tender muffins, don’t overmix

Once the wet and dry ingredients are combined, mix just until blended. The batter will be slightly lumpy, but there should be no visible dry flour. Overmixing can lead to dense muffins instead of soft, tender centers.

How to Store and Freeze Lemon Blueberry Muffins

To serve, let the muffins cool completely on a wire rack before placing them in an airtight container. They will keep nicely at room temperature for a couple of days.

The blueberry muffins freeze very well once cooled. I like to freeze half of the homemade muffins. Pop one or two muffins in a small sandwich bag, then place them in a plastic container in the freezer. When I had kids still in school, I liked adding them to their lunch bags still frozen, and they would be thawed perfectly by lunchtime.

Other Muffin Recipes

More Muffin Recipes You’ll Love

I think you will enjoy these other muffin recipes. Although this lemon blueberry muffin is my favorite, the rhubarb muffin recipe is the most popular muffin recipe on the blog. The bran muffin recipe is my husband’s absolute favorite muffin. Whenever I make them, he digs right in.