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 to make them.
Back when I was working in bakeries, I baked hundreds of fresh blueberry muffins (and blueberry banana bread loaves) every morning, and there’s a reason people kept coming back for them: tall, domed tops, crisp edges, and a soft, tender crumb packed with blueberries.
I’ve included all the little details that make the difference, so these homemade muffins turn out perfect every time and freeze beautifully!
Step-by-Step Instructions
1
Whisking the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt first ensures everything is evenly distributed so the muffins rise tall and bake evenly.
2
Whisk the wet ingredients until smooth. This step helps dissolve the sugar and creates a rich, well-emulsified batter, which is what gives the muffins that soft, tender texture.
3
Once the wet and dry ingredients come together, mix until almost combined. You should still see some dry pockets of flour at this point.
4
Keep the blueberries in the freezer until the last second. This helps prevent them from bleeding too much into the batter. If you’re using fresh blueberries, you don’t have to worry about this.
5
Overfill the liners and bake in alternating cups. This is the key to tall, bakery-style muffin tops!
6
I finish the tops with lemon sugar, but you can also use the crumb topping from my blueberry crumb muffins instead.
Frozen blueberries are a staple in my kitchen, and these muffins are just one of the ways I use them! When I have a huge bag to use, the rest usually end up in a batch of blueberry scones or my blueberry crumb cake.
P.S. You can also bake them in a mini muffin pan. I made them this way for a friend’s baby shower, and they were an absolute HIT!
— Cambrea 🫶🏻
If you tried this or any other recipe on my website, please let me know how it went in the comments; 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 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 1/4 cups buttermilk, room temperature
- 1/2 cup unsalted European butter, melted (like Kerrygold)
- 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 2/3 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 (10 g) baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon (2 g) baking soda, 1 teaspoon (4 g) fine sea salt
- Whisk together the buttermilk, sugar, melted butter, eggs, sour cream, oil, and vanilla.1 1/4 cups (300 g) buttermilk, 1 1/2 cups (300 g) granulated sugar, 1/2 cup (113 g) unsalted European 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 2/3 cups (225 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!
Can I substitute with almond flour?
Hi Aimee, I don’t recommend almond flour because it doesn’t have any type of stabilizer. You should be able to use gluten free flour if needed!
What can I use as a substitute for the buttermilk and the sour cream ?
You can use plain full-fat Greek yogurt for the sour cream and whole milk instead of buttermilk.
I sometimes use plain yogurt in place of sour cream. As for the butter milk, just add lemon juice to milk. the best exact directions are ad bigger bolder baking.
I really love the way you wrote this recipe out. It couldn’t be any easier. Thank you so much!!!
So happy to hear that Jamie! 🙂
Absolutely delicious, one of the best recipes I have tried. The only thing I did different was added a few extra blueberries 🫐.
Hello, I am needing to make 50 of these muffins. I read that it is recommended to only bake 6 at a time , in a 12 cup pan. Would this still apply to the amount I need to make ? Or can I bake 12 at a time ?
Hi Megan! You can definitely bake the full 12, they just won’t get as tall as the photos. Just as delicious though! 🙂