Blueberry muffins are a quintessential breakfast treat, so for our tried-and-true favorite, we've channeled that small-town bakery vibe to create a muffin that hits every nostalgic note. Light, fluffy, and absolutely bursting with blueberries, these muffins will delight everyone who tastes one. Read on for our tips for making them the best they can be.
It all starts with the batter. Creaming the butter and sugar with a hand mixer is a little extra work, but it's the secret to the light, super-tender crumb we love so much in a muffin. Once the batter is in the pan, top each muffin-to-be with more berries and some sparkling sugar so they really have that fresh from the bakery look.
To line or not to line is one of the hottest debates in the muffin world. After extensive research (and a LOT of muffin-sampling), we found that we prefer spraying the wells of the pan with nonstick spray rather than lining them with muffin liners. Baking without liners creates a gorgeous caramelized crust on the bottom and sides of the muffin, which adds tons of great flavor and texture. We think it's worth the 2 minutes it takes to clean the pan.
Many muffin recipes call for baking at one steady temp, but we found that starting at a higher heat for exactly 8 minutes (set a timer!) before dropping the temperature is the best way to get that beautiful height and golden brown color, not to mention all those pockets of jammy burst blueberries.
You're going to want your timer handy once the muffins come out of the oven, too. After 5 minutes, move the muffins from the tin to a wire rack. Muffins that cool completely in the muffin pan will get soggy as they sit, and lose a lot of that great crisp exterior and crunchy top. You might have to use a paring knife to loosen the muffins where the blueberries have burst and stuck to the sides of the pan, but once that's done, you should be able to gently twist the muffins and pop them right out.
One final tip: You can use frozen blueberries instead of fresh if you like, and you don't even have to thaw them. Just mix them frozen straight into the batter before baking.
Made these? Let us know in the comments below.
Yields: 12
Prep Time: 5 mins
Total Time: 40 mins
Cooking spray
(240 g.) all-purpose flour
baking powder
baking soda
kosher salt
(1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
(100 g.) granulated sugar
(55 g.) packed light brown sugar
large eggs, room temperature
sour cream
whole milk
pure vanilla extract
fresh blueberries, divided
coarse sparkling sugar