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 and this lemon-blueberry quick bread.
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 or Morton kosher salt, use 3/4 teaspoon. If you are sensitive to salt altogether, use 1/2 teaspoon salt.
Ingredients
- ½ cup (113 g ) unsalted butter, room temperature
- zest of 1 lemon
- 1 cup + 1 tablespoon (214 g) sugar
- 1 egg, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 cups (256 g) all-purpose or cake flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1½ teaspoon Diamond Crystal 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, roughly 18-25 minutes, 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
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
738 Comments on “The Best Lemon-Blueberry Muffins”
Do you have any advice for making them look more golden brown like yours? Mine came out very pale, but still delicious.
Hi! What kind of flour are you using? It’s not bleached is it? And what kind of sugar are you sprinkling on top?
I used unbleached flour and turbinado sugar. I didn’t bake them for the full 30 min because they were done a little bit earlier and I didn’t want them to get dry. Should I have tried to bake them longer? They were perfectly done in the middle and crispy on top but just very pale, not beautifully golden brown like in your photos. I did a 12 muffin pan.
It sounds as though you’re doing everything right! My only thought would be to brush them with some melted butter before sprinkling the sugar on, or increasing your oven temperature slightly — you could try 25ºF higher. Keep an eye on them and lower the temp if they’re browning too quickly and remove them when they’re done… they might take less time.
10/10. I’m not a baker, even the simplest of recipes I fail at. However this was quick, simple, as described.
Best lemon blueberry muffins. I added poppyseeds to mine!
Yum to adding poppyseeds! Sounds delicious. Thanks for writing 🙂 🙂 🙂
Great recipe. I’d like to try it in muffin/cupcake liners. Do you think it would be okay??
Yes, go for it!
Absolutely delicious! However, the tops of my muffins flatten out, instead of rising. I followed the recipe as closely as I could, and even added a bit more baking powder. Any suggestions?
Hi Eric! What kind of muffin tin are you using? Do you think you maybe overfilled them?
I think this recipe was pretty good. I would have liked it a little sweeter, with more lemon flavor and about half the blue berries. The crumb was good and more intense (sweet) but the bread of the muffin seemed to lack flavor. Maybe cutting down on the salt would make it sweeter? Anyway, I always try a recipe the way written first and then make my own tweaks after that.
Okay, I’d like to amend this. Once the muffins cool down they are sweet enough and lemony enough. I do think 1c of blueberries would have been sufficient, but that really is personal preference. I’m tried them just a few minutes out of the oven and when they are warm you get less sweet and less lemon.
This a wonderful easy recipe. The muffins turned out delicious. Only problem, they are addicting.
I’d be proud to serve these to guests. I wish I could post the pictures of how mine turned out. I’m more of a cook than a baker but these were extremely easy to make.
Great to hear, Vickie! Thanks for writing 🙂 🙂 🙂
Just made these beautiful muffins with my 3 granddaughters – off school for the day. They’re really delicious and look great too. Used soya milk and used the juice of 1/2 a lemon in the soya milk to make it buttermilk
Yum!😋
I have a lovely picture of the muffins but can’t figure out how to add it to my review 😂
Great to hear, Jan! Thanks so much for writing and sharing your notes. I wish commenters could upload photos… unfortunately I don’t have that functionality just yet.
Can I use buckwheat flour?
I worry they’ll be very crumbly and possibly gummy, too, if you do bc buckwheat flour doesn’t have any gluten. Are you trying to make them gluten free or are you looking for a recipe to use up some of your buckwheat flour?
Alex, I am reading several of these many comments re flour. I believe you noted on one not to use bleached ap flour. So unbleached ap flour vs cake flour (which I think is always bleached) I wonder how the results differ and which is the preferred method. Thank you.
Hi! And yes, I generally don’t advise using bleached flour for anything unless you’re trying to create a very specific dish that calls for bleached flour. I think cake flour might make for a lighter crumb, but the crumb here is very light if you use ap flour — I honestly can’t really imagine it being any lighter. Hope that helps!
Tried this recipe this afternoon and definitely will be making these again. Easy to make with a hand mixer. I did use 1.5 tsp of regular salt and should have listened to the recipe note about only doing 3/4 tsp. They ended up notably salty but I like my desserts sweet and salty so no issues here I’ll eat them all but for others who probably want sweet muffins just do the 3/4 tsp. Made the 12 regular size and cooked about 32 mins but I think it was because I had to use frozen blueberries and the batter was a bit more wet. Great recipe, relatively quick, will eat them all 5/5
Made these muffins over the weekend and this recipe is definitely a keeper. They were the best Lemon Blueberry muffins I’ve baked in a long time. I didn’t have coarse sugar for the top but granulated did the job. I have several bags of cranberries in the freezer and I am going to use the base recipe and switch out the blueberries for cranberries and orange for the lemon. Hoping they will turn out as good as the blueberry. Thanks Ali for sharing a great recipe!
Great to hear, Isabel! Thanks so much for writing 🙂 🙂 🙂
How long will they last? Or how should I storage them?
Store them in an airtight bag or vessel for up 3 to 5 days at room temperature or freeze them for up to 3 months.
These turned out amazing! I followed the recipe to a “T” and I’m glad I did. The edges were crispy and the tops were sugary-crunchy. The lemon zest gave just that slight tang. This is now my go-to recipe!
Great to hear, Melissa! Thanks for writing 🙂 🙂 🙂
Lemon blueberry is my favorite flavor combination. These muffins are the perfect mixture of both. They’re like a refreshing summer breeze. Light and airy. I bake A LOT and I wouldn’t change a thing.
Great to hear, Tami! Thanks for writing 🙂
These were so good!!! I don’t like to modify but I used soy milk because it’s what I had and they still came out excellent!!
Great to hear! Thanks so much for writing 🙂
These were outstanding, will definitely be making these again & again. The only thing I would do differently is use cupcake liners as my muffins really stuck to the pan even after greasing the insides extremely well. I used Sparkling Sugar on top and we loved the bit of crunch on top. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
Hi
Please could you post the measurements in metric. Cup sizes are sometimes different in UK and I have had limited success using US measurements in other recipes
Thanks
Diane
Yes! I always do with new recipes… I’ll update this one ASAP.
look carefully at the note about salt or you will have to add some extra things to make the batter not salty :’) but i fixed it and they were excellent big hit
Hi! Love the recipe. How many calories do you estimate each muffin would be if I made 12 of them?
Hello- how do you store these? Room temp, fridge? How long does it last staying at room temp or fridge? Thanks!
Hi! Store them in a ziplock bag at room temp for up to 3 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
I now have my go–to recipe for bb muffins. These are the most flavorful and densely wonderful muffins I’ve ever made. With lemon and fresh picked blueberries, this was a favorite with my kiddos as well. Thank you for this recipe!
Great to hear, Anne! Thanks for writing. These are on-repeat here right now 🙂
Literally the best blueberry muffins! I substituted with GF 1-1 flour, added 1 tsp vanilla bean paste and 1/3 cup Greek yogurt. They turned out amazing!
Great to hear, Meesh! Thanks for writing 🙂 🙂 🙂
These were tasty and easy to make. With some revisions I think they will be excellent. The dough was too stiff to the point I couldn’t stir in the berries (I added chopped fresh peach also). I added a tablespoon of milk to try to moisten. I did the 12 standard muffins and cooked for 20 minutes (at 15 they weren’t even browned). They finally browned up a bit more (I saw another post had same problem) but they were a bit dry. Next time I will add 1/4 cup whole milk with the moist ingredients and only cook for 18 minutes.