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Best Ever Buttermilk Blueberry Muffins

Best Ever Buttermilk Blueberry Muffins in a muffin pan.

A little carton of buttermilk in the fridge goes a long way.  Not wanting to see it go to waste, that single carton inspired me to make those Old Fashioned Glazed Buttermilk donuts that you all went crazy for, a batch of my Best Ever Buttermilk Waffles for dinner, and these Best Ever Buttermilk Blueberry Muffins!

Best Ever Buttermilk Blueberry Muffins in a muffin pan with a muffin cut in half in the front of the picture.

Why does buttermilk make baked goods so delicious?  According to Fine Cooking, buttermilk is used in baking because it creates a “slightly acidic batter helps keep baked goods moist and tender by breaking down long, tough strands of gluten.”

I definitely notice that my baked goods with buttermilk rise up to be lighter and fluffier, and the texture of the crumb is absolute perfection!

So along with buttermilk, another reason these are the Best Ever Buttermilk Blueberry Muffins is the height of that muffin top.  I like to fill my muffin wells to the very top and even dome them a little.  

I love when the batter hangs over the top and creates that crisp edge!

Three Best Ever Buttermilk Blueberry Muffins on a kitchen towel.

And one of my favorite toppings is coarse sparkling sugar.  It gives these muffins the best crunchy sweet topping.  I’ll link it here, but you can probably find it in the sprinkle section in the baking aisle of your grocery store.

Best Ever Buttermilk Blueberry Muffins in a muffin pan on a wooden backboard with a bowl of fresh blueberries.

And oh man, those big juicy blueberries that can’t take the heat one more second and just burst that purple goodness all over the inside of the muffin.  Perfection!

A close up view of Best Ever Buttermilk Blueberry Muffins in a muffin pan.

I think you’ll be surprised how quickly these come together too.  I mix up all the dry ingredients in a large bowl, and then I mix and measure the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla in my 4 cup glass measuring cup.  

Just use a wooden spoon to mix everything together.  The more gently you handle the batter, the more tender your muffin will be!

A close up view of Best Ever Buttermilk Blueberry Muffins in a muffin pan.

What a treat these Best Ever Buttermilk Blueberry Muffins are!  Add buttermilk, blueberries, and sparkling sugar to your grocery list (you probably have everything else) and make these this weekend.  You’ll be glad you did!

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Best Ever Buttermilk Blueberry Muffins

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

4.6 from 116 reviews

These Best Ever Buttermilk Blueberry Muffins have it all! Sweet juicy blueberries, a sparkling sugar topping, and the most delicious tender crumb!

  • Author: Julie
  • Prep Time: 20 mins
  • Cook Time: 26 mins
  • Total Time: 46 mins
  • Yield: 12 large muffins 1x
  • Category: Breakfast
  • Method: Bake
  • Cuisine: American

Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 cups granulated sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 1/2 cup oil (canola, vegetable, or avocado)
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
  • 34 teaspoons coarse sparkling sugar

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a standard size muffin tin with parchment paper liners and spray each one with nonstick spray for baking.
  2. In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
  3. In a small bowl, whisk together buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla extract until smooth.
  4. Gradually mix the buttermilk into the flour mixture, stirring gently and being careful not to overmix.
  5. Gently fold the blueberries into the batter.
  6. Use a large scoop to divide the batter evenly into each muffin well. They will be filled to the very top. Sprinkle generously with sparkling sugar!
  7. Bake at 400 degrees for 22-26 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffin comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes in the pan and then transfer to a cooling rack. Store in an airtight container.

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 Muffin
  • Calories: 261
  • Sugar: 17g
  • Sodium: 209mg
  • Fat: 10g
  • Saturated Fat: 1.1g
  • Unsaturated Fat: 9g
  • Trans Fat: 0g
  • Carbohydrates: 38g
  • Fiber: 1.1g
  • Protein: 4.5g
  • Cholesterol: 32mg

244 Comments

  1. This recipe is the best i’ve ever used!! They stay moist and fresh for so long too. I have made them with blueberries but also tried with chocolate chips and then frozen raspberries and they have all turned out perfect!! I recommend this recipe not only for the blueberry muffins but also a base for any other muffins. I think i will try apple and cinnamon next!!

    Reply
  2. Oven temp too high and time too long for such small muffins. Too course and dry. Not sweet enough. Won’t bake again.

    Reply
  3. Very easy and the muffins turned out and delicious! Now I have a great way to use up that buttermilk in the fridge. I added extra blueberries bc I love them and why not and they still came out great and held together well! Thank you for this very easy and yummy recipe!

    Reply
  4. I loved these! I like my muffins very muffin-like, not cake-like. So many of the recipes out there make overly sweet and overly greasy muffins. These were perfect. Fluffy with crisp tops, but not dry, and not overly sweet. Thank you!!!

    Reply
  5. These muffins are beautiful and moist. My only issue is that the muffins seemed to take on the flavor of the canola oil more than anything, which was disappointing. Next time I may sub oil for applesauce to avoid that issue.

    Reply
    • That is strange that the oil had a dominant flavor. You can substitute any oil. My oil of choice lately is avocado oil, which I get from Costco. It seems to be very neutral in flavor and has a high smoke point, so it can be used for cooking and baking.

      Reply
  6. Easy, delicious recipe. I prepare the dry ingredients and store in ziplock bags. Their makes it easy for the kids to just mix in the wet ingredients. Almost as easy as the store bought mix but tastes much better !

    Reply
  7. Hi ..I love this recipe it’s my go to for muffins. I was wondering can this mixture be made in a bundt pan? Not sure if it will affect the final product..thank you

    Reply
  8. I just made it today, the recipe turned out good. I like more blueberry on my muffin. Will increase it to 2 cups instead of just 1 1/2 next time I make it. Thank you!

    Reply
  9. I had a pint of blueberries that were getting overripe so I looked for a muffin recipe. This one turned out so well! Light, fluffy, moist, not too sweet. I want to try it with cherries and other fruit. It’s a keeper?

    Reply
  10. Making them now. If your bottoms are burnt, put a temperature gauge in you oven to make sure your oven is the correct temperature and or I always keep a cookie sheet on the next rack down which helps keep the browning when I make sour dough bread and will do the same with anything you bake. Bake the muffins on the middle rack. Hope this helps.

    Reply
  11. Just baked them , haven’t tried them yet but they look delicious !!
    They came out very fluffy some of the muffins bleeded but most did not.
    We didn’t have sparkling sugar so we skipped that part.
    Overall these muffins look great can’t wait to try them!!😀Thanks for the recipe .

    Reply
    • Just tried them, they weren’t very sweet but they tasted great !
      Very fluffy and moist .I think we put in too much blueberries though.
      It tasted great but it was not as sweet as expected . Even though , I will surely make them again !🙂

      Reply
  12. Just made these muffins today with some blueberries I picked a few days ago. This recipe will certainly be my go to recipe from here on. Great crumb, not too sweet, baked per recipe! Thank you!

    Reply
  13. This is my family’s favorite breakfast treat. My 6-year-old is a picky eater and he devours these. I am making them once again this morning upon request. I love that they are not sickly sweet too! But then there is the crunch on top. Yum! I make them without any modifications. Sometimes I do use frozen blueberries and they turn out great. I don’t mind a little color bleed. I actually think they are pretty that way. Best muffins ever. 💕💕💕

    Reply
  14. Really good muffins! I’m using this as my go-to muffin recipe for all my different fruit muffins. Do you have any suggestions, however, on keeping the bottoms from getting dark? I only baked for 20 minutes but still had that problem. Might just be my oven, and I’ll try lowering temp a little next time, but appreciate any ideas you may have.

    Reply
    • Thank you, Jan, I’m so glad you like them. I think you should try 25 degree lower temperature, and also – are your muffin tins dark in color? Sometimes I find that lighter colored metal tins do better with this problem.

      Reply
  15. Yummy muffins! Perfect way to use up leftover buttermilk from another recipe. I added 1 teaspoon of lemon zest to the wet ingredients prior to combining with dry mix. So, so good. Thank you.

    Reply
  16. This recipe looks awesome! However, I do not normally like fruit add ins in my muffins. Is it possible to just leave out the fruit completely and add some spices but still get good muffins? Not sure if excluding the blueberries will cause the batter to dry out.

    Reply
  17. I didn’t care for these muffins. They were too bland and had a strong oil taste to it. I even added extra sugar than it was originally called for. Without the sparkling sugar topping, these muffins would have been tasteless. I won’t be making these again and will stick with the Jordan Marsh blueberry muffins recipe.

    Reply
  18. I really want to try this recipe but living in the uk I don’t have the cup measurements. Could you tell us in grams/mls please.
    Thank you

    Reply
  19. Completely delicious. I usually make more “healthy” (whole wheat, low sugar, etc.) muffins, but love blueberries and had some buttermilk to use up so thought I’d try these. What a treat! Like others, also used frozen blueberries with no trouble at all. And, I skipped the paper liners – worked fine with butter on non-stick muffin pans. I am going to try to freeze some of these to save for later. Thank you!

    Reply
  20. Skipped the sanding sugar. Wonderful. Also I like crustier finishes so I skipped the cupcAke liner and went with plain spray oil.

    Reply
  21. Love these muffins! While mixing I was worried my dough was too thick, but they turned out deliciously fluffy. And the sweetness level was perfect because I prefer my muffins less sweet. I will definitely be making these again!

    Reply
  22. Yum, easy recipe my kids’ were able to follow. They used 1/2 cup whole milk mixed with 1/2 cup yogurt whey. I started making my own yogurt and have been looking for ways to use the whey lol. These turned out great !

    Reply
  23. These turned out great! I added 1/2 cup of ground oatmeal in place of 1/2 cup of flour and I added about 1/4-1/2 cup of ground flax seed. I added a little more milk to make up for the extra dry mix. I used 1/2 cup of fresh blueberries and about 1 cup frozen mixed berries. I skipped the sugar on top too to avoid additional added sugar for my toddler. They are delicious, moist, not overly sweet, and rose well. I will definitely make these again!

    Reply
  24. Followed instructions to the letter but unfortunately, ended up with a bland and slightly tough muffin. Try this perhaps?
    2 cups flour, 1 cup full fat sour cream 2 tsps baking powder, ditch the soda bicarb, grated rind of one lemon, 1 tsp vanilla, 3 quarter cups frozen blueberries, 2 eggs …. try this using the same method. Conventional bake at 180 for 30 mins.

    Reply
  25. I was searching for a muffin recipe and find this one. It’s cool…I must try this in today for our family. Thanks for the clear instruction.

    Reply
  26. Came across this recipe as I was looking for a muffin recipe to use up some buttermilk I had. Made it following the recipe exactly, no tweaks, except that I used frozen wild blueberries instead of fresh and it came out perfectly! They were moist and the tops were nicely domed. I saw many reviews stating these weren’t sweet enough but for me, I found them to have the perfect sweetness with the blueberries added. Will definitely make again! 👍🏼

    Reply

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