The Best Lemon-Blueberry Muffins
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This is the best lemon-blueberry muffin recipe: sugar-crusted, lemony crumb, loaded with blueberries: what’s not to love? This is a long-time family favorite recipe and always a crowd-pleaser.
Last Sunday morning while purchasing eggs at the San Clemente farmers’ market, I spotted a flat of blueberries and blackberries I couldn’t resist purchasing. This lemon-blueberry muffin recipe, the best I’ve ever tasted, was on the brain.
The recipe comes from my mother via my aunt via The New York Times. A few notes:
- Make the muffins in a 6-well jumbo muffin pan. (Though, update 2020: a 12-well muffin pan works great, too.)
- Ensure your butter is at room temperature. It will make the creaming process go swiftly and smoothly.
- Don’t skimp on the sugar dusting before baking. It creates an irresistible crusty topping. Turbinado and demerera sugar are great here, too.
- Fresh blueberries are best, but you truly can make this year-round with frozen blueberries — no need to thaw first.
I have safely filed this lemon-blueberry muffin recipe in my search-no-further-for-that-ultimate-recipe folder. I hope you approve. And if you love the lemon-blueberry combo, you must try this lemon-blueberry Dutch baby and these lemon-blueberry scones.
PS: Buttermilk Blueberry Breakfast Cake
More Delicious Muffin Recipes
- Apple Orchard Muffins
- The Best Bran Muffins Ever
- Oatmeal Breakfast Muffins
- Coffeecake Muffins with Streusel
- Millet Muffins
All the muffin recipes right here → Muffins
Here’s the play-by-play: Gather your ingredients.
Zest a lemon over 1 stick (8 tablespoons butter).
Cream it with a cup of sugar until light and fluffy. Add an egg and some vanilla, and beat again.
Add dry ingredients alternately with milk, and beat until creamy.
Fold in the blueberries with a spatula.
Transfer batter to a jumbo 6-cup or standard 12-cup muffin pan.
Bake until the tops are golden.
Let cool for about 10 minutes before serving …
… with butter.
Is there anything better??
The original recipe calls for baking the muffins in a jumbo muffin tin, which I have to say is really fun. But, a 12-cup muffin tin may be more practical if you are entertaining for a larger crowd. Here are a few images of the jumbo muffins:
The Best Lemon-Blueberry Muffins
- Total Time: 52 minutes
- Yield: 6 or 12 muffins
Description
Adapted from The New York Times
This is a long-time favorite recipe. The original recipe calls for making the muffins in a 6-cup jumbo muffin tin, which is especially fun, but which maybe isn’t the most practical if you are feeding a small crowd. A 12-cup muffin tin works beautifully.
Salt: If using table salt as opposed to coarse kosher salt, use 1 teaspoon. If you are sensitive to salt altogether, use 1/2 teaspoon salt.
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- zest of 1 lemon
- 1 cup + 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 egg, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 cups (256 g) all-purpose or cake flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1½ teaspoon kosher salt, see notes above
- 2 cups fresh blueberries
- ½ cup milk or buttermilk
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 375ºF. Cream butter with lemon zest and 1 cup of the sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined. Meanwhile, toss the blueberries with ¼ cup of flour; then whisk together the remaining flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Add the flour mixture to the batter a little at a time, alternating with the milk. Fold in the blueberries. Note: Batter will be thick. This is OK.
- Grease a jumbo muffin tin (or a 12-cup muffin tin… though the jumbo is really fun) with butter or coat with non-stick spray. Distribute batter among muffin cups. Sprinkle batter with remaining tablespoon of sugar. Bake for 30 minutes (or less if using a 12-cup muffin tin). Check with a toothpick for doneness. If necessary, return pan to oven for a couple of more minutes. Let muffins cool in pan for about 7 minutes before serving.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: blueberry, muffin, breakfast, brunch, lemon
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
541 Comments on “The Best Lemon-Blueberry Muffins”
I’ve made these 4 times now. One of my favorite muffin recipes. Wanted to comment on cook time for 12 standard size muffins. Mine take around 21 minutes following the recipe exactly. Start checking at 18-20 with a toothpick. Also, I always make my own buttermilk with lemon juice and whole milk. Two thumbs up!!
★★★★★
Great to hear, Patrick! Thanks so much for writing and sharing your timing notes. So helpful for others.
I have baked these muffins a couple of times. The best blueberry muffins I have ever made. I use maple sugar and they truly are delicious.
★★★★★
Woohoo! Great to hear, Kathy! Thanks so much for writing 🙂
Id like to make these muffins with frozen blueberries, what is the best way to supplement for the fresh?
No need to thaw! Just toss with the flour and proceed.
Would blackberries work in place of blueberries? Thanks!
Yes!
Can these be made the day before a party? Or perhaps a few hours before a party? I’m hosting a brunch and I’d love to make these. Thanks.
Yes, absolutely: the day of, hours before is perfect.
So yummy! My first time making muffins. This was very straight forward and they taste so good! Mine got a bit darker because they had to keep cooking, but I’ll definitely try again. They are so good! Thank you!
★★★★★
Great to hear, Rachel 🙂 🙂 🙂
What are the Nutrition fact for this the muffins?
★★★★★
They are divine!! Saving recipe, so easy and quick to do!!
Great to hear, Marjanne 🙂 🙂 🙂 Thanks so much for writing.
OMG these are the best muffins i had in my life. Came out superb than best muffins from bakery. So soft and literally melts in mouth. It will be staple in my house now on. Thank you Alexandra. Bless you
★★★★★
Great to hear, Sapna! Thanks so much for writing 🙂 🙂 🙂
I made the blueberry 🫐 lemon 🍋 muffins. They were a big hit at our Memorial Day celebration. They were light & fluffy inside.
Yummy!
Great to hear, Barbara!
These are seriously the best blueberry lemon muffins ever! I used frozen blueberries and omitted tossing them in flour, it worked great! Thanks for the great recipe!
★★★★★