Skip the bakery lines and make bakery style blueberry muffins at home! You’ll love the crispy muffin tops, moist and fluffy texture, and juicy blueberries in every bite. You only need one bowl and 30 minutes!
In my pastry chef days, I scooped and baked dozens of fresh, homemade blueberry muffins every morning. Today, I’m sharing all of my tips, tricks, and secrets from my bakery experience to make the best bakery style blueberry muffins at home.
From achieving perfect domed tops, crispy edges, and super moist (never dry) texture, these muffins are also freezer-friendly, and I’ve included instructions for making the batter in advance!
For more bakery-style desserts, try my bakery chocolate chip cookies and homemade cinnamon rolls!
Table of Contents
Why Bakery Muffins are the Best
- They are soft, super moist, and bursting with blueberries.
- Easy to make, and no mixer is required!
- Big muffin tops with crispy edges.
- They’re sweet but not too sweet.
- A perfect blueberry recipe (like my blueberry rolls) for breakfast or brunch!
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
All-purpose flour: Flour gives the muffins a dense structure to create perfectly domed tops and to support the blueberries so they don’t sink to the bottom. This can not be substituted!
Blueberries: Use wild Maine blueberries for the best blueberry flavor. Their small size ensures even distribution in the batter. Use any leftover berries to make my blueberry blondies or blueberry crumb cake! See tips on baking with blueberries below for more tips and options!
Butter: I recommend using a higher-fat European butter like Kerrygold or Plugra for the best flavor. The extra fat yields a moist muffin with double the flavor!
Buttermilk: Avoid homemade buttermilk substitutes! While it can give them a tangy flavor, it does not have the same fat content that is needed for a rich flavor and moist texture.
Sour cream: Adding sour cream to the batter enhances moisture, tenderness, and richness, resulting in a bakery-quality product. Substitute with full-fat Greek yogurt if needed.
Oil: While butter is added for flavor, oil is added for extra moisture. Any flavorless oil like canola, vegetable, or grapeseed oil is perfect. Other oils like coconut or olive oil can be used but will impact the flavor.
Find the full list of ingredients, measurements, and instructions in the recipe card below!
Tips for Baking with Blueberries
Blueberries have a tendency to bleed into the batter, I personally love this look and think it looks super pretty! If you don’t, use larger frozen blueberries or fresh blueberries instead of the smaller wild ones.
Keep frozen berries in the freezer until ready to use. Measure frozen berries last to prevent them from defrosting and bleeding into the batter.
Adjust the bake time depending on the berry. Fresh blueberry muffins may bake 1-2 minutes faster than frozen ones due to their lower moisture content.
Flavor Variations and Additions
Flavor additions: Add fresh citrus zest like lemon, lime, or orange. You can experiment with extracts like coconut, blueberry, or almond extract. Add finely chopped walnuts, pecans, or thinly sliced almonds for extra crunch!
Toppings: Sprinkle the tops with coarse sugar crystals, streusel, or crumb topping, or bake them plain!
Berries: Replace the blueberries with raspberries, blackberries, or chopped strawberries.
Using the Right Muffin Pan
Using the right muffin pan is essential for achieving bakery style muffins that are perfectly baked, beautifully shaped, and easy to handle. Here is my professional recommendation:
- Use a metal muffin pan: Glass or ceramic pans need to be baked at a lower oven temperature (25° less) to keep them from browning too much. Note that dark black pans will also conduct heat differently and will need to be baked at a lower temperature.
Recipe Instructions
Step 1: Combine the dry ingredients. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.
Step 2: Whisk together the wet ingredients. Whisk together the sugar, buttermilk, sour cream, melted butter, eggs, oil, and vanilla bean paste in another large bowl.
Step 3: Whisk the wets into the dries. Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients and whisk until almost combined.
Step 4: Fold in the blueberries. Fold the blueberries into the muffin batter until combined.
Step 5: Scoop the blueberry muffin batter. Line six of the muffin pan cups. Overfill the batter into the muffin liners.
It’s important to overfill the liners in order to get the tall muffin tops!
Step 6: Bake the blueberry muffins. Sprinkle the tops with lemon sugar, then bake! Let the pan cool on a wire rack for no more than 5 minutes, then remove them from the pan.
Storage, Freezing, and Make Ahead
Make ahead: Store the prepared muffin batter in an airtight container for up to 4 days. It can be baked straight from the fridge- bake at 425F for 13-14 minutes, then at 350F for 10-13 minutes.
Storage: Store the cooled muffins at room temperature in an airtight container with a slice of bread or paper towel to preserve moisture and freshness.
Freezing: This blueberry muffin recipe is freezer-friendly! Wrap the baked muffins in plastic wrap and store them in an airtight container or freezer bag for up to 1 month.
Top 5 Tips for Bakery Style Muffins
- Use a kitchen scale. Baking with a scale is my #1 baking tip. If you do not have a scale, use a spoon to fluff the flour first, then spoon it into your measuring cup.
- Alternate the liners: Baking the batter in two batches promotes better air circulation and heat distribution, leading to higher domed muffins and a more even rise!
- Overfill the liners. It’s the #1 trick for achieving that bakery-style dome!
- Bake the muffins at a high temperature, then turn down the heat. This initial shock of super hot air pushes the muffin batter up, so they bake really tall.
- Briefly cool them: Cool them in the pan for no more than 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. This will avoid sogginess and will prevent them from continuing to bake in the hot pan.
FAQs
This is caused by a muffin batter that is too thin or runny. Double-check that all of the ingredients were measured properly!
Overmixing, using too much flour, or using cold eggs, milk, or butter can affect the muffins’ rise and result in a dense texture.
If you love big, juicy bites of blueberries, use regular frozen or fresh berries. I personally love using wild blueberries because they have less water and more flavor!
Overbaking the muffins or using too much flour will result in a dry texture.
Underfilling the muffin cups, using expired leaveners, or baking at too low a temperature can cause this! I highly recommend checking your baking powder and soda for freshness and using an oven thermometer for the best results.
This can be caused by not baking them long enough. You’ll know they’re done when you touch the top and it is set but is still tacky.
More Delicious Muffin Recipes
If you tried this or any other recipe on my website, please let me know how it went in the comments below, I love hearing from you! Also, please leave a star rating while you’re there! You can also tag me on Instagram or Facebook so I can check it out!
Bakery Style Blueberry Muffins
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour, *See notes below for measuring*
- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 1/4 cups buttermilk, room temperature
- 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 2 large whole eggs, room temperature
- 1/3 cup sour cream, room temperature
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste, or vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups frozen wild Maine blueberries, *See notes below*
- 1/8 cup granulated sugar, for the topping
- 1/2 lemon zested, for the topping
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 F/220 C. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with 6 liners. In order for the muffins to get pretty bakery-style domes, note they should be baked in 2 batches!
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.3 cups (390 g) all-purpose flour, 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- Whisk together the buttermilk, sugar, melted butter, eggs, sour cream, oil, and vanilla.1 1/4 cups (300 g) buttermilk, 1 1/4 cups (250 g) granulated sugar, 1/2 cup (113 g) unsalted butter, 2 (100 g) large whole eggs, 1/3 cup (75 g) sour cream, 1/3 cup (65 g) vegetable oil, 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dries and whisk until almost combined. Then, gently fold in the blueberries.1 1/2 cups (200 g) frozen wild Maine blueberries
- Scoop the batter into the muffin liners, overfilling them so the batter sits higher than the liner. See the post above for a visual example.
- Rub the lemon zest into the sugar for the topping. Then, sprinkle it on top of each muffin.1/8 cup (25 g) granulated sugar, 1/2 lemon zested
- Bake for 10 minutes, then without opening the oven door, decrease the heat to 350 F/180 C and continue baking for 10-15 minutes longer, rotating the pan halfway through. You’ll know they’re done when the tops are golden brown and are no longer sticky with wet batter. The tops will still feel slightly soft to the touch, this is key to super moist muffins!
- Let the pan cool on a wire rack for no more than 5 minutes before removing them from the pan. Let them cool completely on the wire rack.
- Wash the pan, reline it with liners, and bake the rest of the muffin batter. Don’t forget to increase the oven temperature again before baking!
Video
Notes
Tried this recipe?Leave a comment below & tag @cambreabakes on social!The calorie information provided for the recipe is an estimate. The accuracy of the calories listed is not guaranteed.
Hi there! I have made this over and over and they are THE BEST! I would like to do them as mini-muffins, but I’m worried I’ll overbake them in the mini-sized tin. Any advice for baking adjustments? P.S. 5 stars, it won’t let me click the 5th star! Thanks!
Hi Jenna! I’m so happy to hear that. I would try baking the mini ones only at 350, instead of starting the temp off high at 400. Let me know how they turn out if you try them!!
Hi there! I made a batch of minis tonight, and your tip worked well! I baked them at 350f for 10 minutes, then rotated and finished at the same temp. for 6 minutes!
Yay! So happy to hear that. Thanks for coming back to let me know! 🙂
Can I sub butter for the oil and expect the same overall texture?
You can sub butter but the muffins will not be as soft or moist!
Hi @cambreabakes
Is it possible to substitute the vegetable oil for olive or avocado oil? Or will that change the consistency of the mixture? Thanks!
Hi Lindsay! Avocado would be my recommendation, you can use olive oil as well but it will give the muffins a subtle olive flavor. Hope that helps! 🙂
Turned out beautifully and taste amazing. So moist . Thank you for sharing
Made them gluten free. GF flour, 3/4 tsp xanthan gum, 1 extra tsp of baking powder. Used about 2T less flour than recipe called for. Because the recipe has a decent amount if fat, GF works well