The Best Lemon-Blueberry Muffins
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
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:
PrintThe 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 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 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 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.
659 Comments on “The Best Lemon-Blueberry Muffins”
Is there an obvious lemon flavor? Just asking before I give this recipe a try. i want to be able to taste the lemon
Thank you
Yes! The flavor of the lemon zest permeates the muffins.
This is my absolute favorite muffin recipe! Have made it a handful of times using oversized muffin tin. I follow the recipe exact and they never disappoint! Best ever!
Wonderful to hear this, Rita!
I made 2 dozen muffin and they were devoured almost in their entirety. Thanks for sharing such a delicious recipe!
Wonderful to hear this, Blake!
This recipe was the best I have ever had!!
Wonderful to hear this, Sage!
I love all the blueberries. I accidentally didn’t add flour and milk correctly but they still came out yummy. I used jumbo muffin pan and cooked for less time. I would definitely make again
Wonderful to hear this, Sheri!
I made this as directed other than I followed the lower salt note, and I substituted in lemon juice for the lemon zest. I looked it up online and it said to use 2-3 T for 1 medium lemon zest. The batter didn’t smell very lemony but I didn’t want to throw off the wet/dry balance either so I went ahead and substituted about 2 T more lemon juice in the milk measurement, which made a buttermilk of sorts as well. The batter was thick and though I filled my muffin cups almost full I still had to use a third muffin tin so I ended up with 18 standard size muffins. I think that is because I have my Mom’s muffin tins from the 50’s which are smaller than the muffin tins of today. The blueberries leaked a bit which made a mess of the muffin tins, but luckily none of it ran over into the oven. As for the muffins themselves, they did firm up nicely after setting a bit in the tins after coming out of the oven. The most predominant flavor is definitely the blueberries. I would have actually preferred a slightly sweeter muffin but it was good. I think I’ll keep looking for another recipe I like better though.
Very good! It was a hit with the hubs and the kids. I also did 1/2 cup white whole wheat flour and 1.5 cups AP flour and none of the tasters in my house seemed to mind. It was a touch sweet for my tastes so going forward would probably cut the sugar to 2/3 or 3/4 cup. For 12 muffin pan 18 min in the oven seemed to be about perfect.
Wonderful to hear this, Jillian!
Wow these muffins are amazing. You get the lemon flavor along with the blueberries and it’s amazing. The Sugar crust on the muffin tops is definitely a must. Definitely the best muffin recipe. I made these for my parents and they loved them. 10/10 would recommend!
Wonderful to hear this, Brianna!
These were delicious! I used your suggestion from another post and massaged the lemon zest into the sugar. This gave the muffins a wonderful lemon flavor. Will reduce the sugar some as they were a little sweet for my taste. My husband loved them as is. Thank you for all the wonderful recipes you share!
Oh I love this idea Cindy! Thanks so much for writing.
I was a little worried about the muffins being too sweet so I substituted 1/4 cup of the sugar for dark brown sugar. The muffins are wonderful; a perfect balance of lemon and blueberry. They’re not too dense like some muffins but perfectly fluffy. Thank you!
Wonderful to hear this, Ashley!
Made these this weekend and turned out perfect! I added some sliced almonds on top as well. They were bakery quality and I will definitely make again soon. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Wonderful to hear this, Robin!
This was absolutely delicious! A nice lemon zing in the muffins. Perfect recipe 👌
Wonderful to hear this, Sarah!
You list baking powder in the ingredients but state baking soda in the instructions. Please clarify. Thank you.
My mistake, never mind!
😍😍😍
I made these for the first time today. They were awesome! I substituted butter withe coconut oil, and milk with coconut milk, but otherwise followed the recipe exactly. They turned out perfectly. I made 12 muffins and baked at 375 for 23 mins. Thank you for sharing!!
Wonderful to hear this, Sandra!
Made these with fresh picked blueberries and they were easy and absolutely amazing!!
Wonderful to hear this, Karen!
I have a question do you have the nutritional information on these?
Thank you
Hi Susan! I don’t offer nutritional information … check out “my fitness pall dot com”.
These were fantastic. My 5 yr old inhaled 2 and wanted another soon as it was cool enough to touch! I used orange zest and 3 tbsp of fresh orange juice in the batter, reduced the milk by a bit. Also used 3/4 cup of sugar and it was just right.
Wonderful to hear this, Shil! Great to hear reducing the sugar worked out just fine.
One word to describe these – amazing!
Yay 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
These are unbelievably good. I have a similar recipe without the lemon that includes brown sugar, sour cream and 2 eggs instead of one but I like the texture of the muffins from this recipe much, much better. I might cut the total sugar down a bit next time because they are a bit sweet for me but I love everything else about these muffins, including the lemon. I creamed the butter, sugar and lemon zest for a long time too, to make sure the muffins were light after baking and they are just awesome! Thanks for sharing!
Wonderful to hear this Rachel! I could totally see cutting the sugar back a bit.
These were so yummy! I added some fresh raspberries to the batter. These are so good, not overly sweet. I used 1/2 tsp of salt as suggested. Will make again!!
Wonderful to hear this, April!
Excellent muffins!! just made them (used spelt flour rather than AP flour and coconut sugar rather than white sugar) so moist and dense, really delicious!! this is my new go to for blueberry muffins. The lemon flavour wasn’t very apparent, so next time I will use the zest of two lemons but these were still amazing!! thanks so much!
Yay! So nice to hear this, Sara!
Wonderful recipe! I have these cooling on the counter now — can’t wait to dig in! I’m curious how you achieved a lovely brown exterior? Everything is perfect about my muffins, except that they’re quite pale in color. While I’m sure this won’t affect their taste, I’m a sucker for good aesthetics. 🙂
Thanks!
Hi Jess! I’m not sure I did anything special here. What material is your pan? Does your oven typically run cool? My initial thought is to simply raise the oven temperature by 25 degrees but keep an eye on them — check after 15 minutes to ensure they aren’t browning too quickly.
Also, just checking: you’re using unbleached flour?
Just made these and they just came out of the oven. Can’t wait to try them. They smell and look amazing 🙂 Thank you for the recipe.
Wonderful to hear this, Dei!
Awesome !
Yay!
This recipe is sooo good!
Yay 🙂 🙂 🙂
The muffins are absolutely delicious and so moist. The lemon zest created a perfect balance and adding the turbinado sugar, on top, was like icing on a cake. Thank you for sharing the recipe. It will be my go to for blueberry muffins.
Wonderful to hear this, Barbara!
I made these muffins, and they were delicious. Even better on days 2 and 3.
Wonderful to hear this, Lisa!
Hi, this is an excellent recipe. The texture is moist.
The best recipe I’ve used so far. I added more lemon zest because I like lemon!
I modified the topping and used a struessel topping made with 2 tbsp butter, 2 tbsp flour and 3 tbsp sugar, enough to form a crumble topping.
That struessel topping sounds amazing! Thanks for sharing!
I haven’t made these Blueberry Lemon muffins yet, but I will give them a try! I usually make them without the lemon peel and with olive oil instead of butter, they come out great! I wiil post another comment after I make this recipe…
These were amazingly good! I did mess with the recipe : buttermilk instead of milk; mixed the zest through the sugar – a tip from another of your recipes- (inc that for sprinkling on top); 130g fresh blueberries and 200g fresh strawberries (diced); added cinnamon and cardamom (1tsp each) – took 24 min in standard muffin cups and I got 14 absolutely scrummy muffins. Really prominent lemon flavour initially (to my partner’s and his families, oh – and the neighbours – delight). The flavours beautifully melded after a few hours but still had a lovely lemony tone. Still great on day 3 -tho can’t believe we restrained ourselves and didn’t eat them all on day 1.
Thank you for the recipe ( I finally braved something else besides the wonderful Apple Orchard muffins, yay!) … going to try raspberry with the blueberry next.
Oh yay, Ania! So nice to hear all of this. And you know I’m always down with swapping in buttermilk for milk 🙂 🙂 🙂 Thanks for writing and for sharing all of your notes. It’s inspiring for others to know they can safely make swaps and get great results. Raspberries will be delicious!
FANTASTIC recipe! Super yummy! I used my oversized muffin tin… I might actually share them!
Yay! Wonderful to hear this, Janet! I love the jumbo muffin tin for this recipe, too 🙂 🙂 🙂