These blueberry muffins are by far the best I’ve ever made. They’re stuffed to the brim with sweet berries and have the perfect soft and moist texture. The batter comes together quickly (no mixer required!), so that you don’t have to wait forever to get your muffin fix.

And the best part of this recipe? The lemon sugar topping that adds an irresistible crunch to each muffin top. I don’t normally think of lemon when I think blueberry muffins but it pairs so well together. These were one of the first things to go at the bake sale, and I just know you’ll love them, too!

 

Ingredients:

Lemon-Sugar Topping

1/3 cup sugar (2 1/3 ounces) (I used Turbinado Sugar)

1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated zest from 1 lemon

Muffins

2 cups fresh blueberries (about 10 ounces), picked over

1 1/8 cups sugar (8 ounces) plus 1 teaspoon

2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (12 1/2 ounces)

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon table salt

2 large eggs

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 cup buttermilk (may substitute with 3/4 cup plain whole-milk or low-fat yogurt thinned with 1/4 cup milk)

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

 

Directions:

FOR THE TOPPING: Stir together sugar and lemon zest in small bowl until combined; set aside.

FOR THE MUFFINS: Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Spray standard muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray. Bring 1 cup blueberries and 1 teaspoon sugar to simmer in small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, mashing berries with spoon several times and stirring frequently, until berries have broken down and mixture is thickened and reduced to ¼ cup, about 6 minutes. Transfer to small bowl and cool to room temperature, 10 to 15 minutes.

Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in large bowl. Whisk remaining 11/8 cups sugar and eggs together in medium bowl until thick and homogeneous, about 45 seconds. Slowly whisk in butter and oil until combined. Whisk in buttermilk and vanilla until combined. Using rubber spatula, fold egg mixture and remaining cup blueberries into flour mixture until just moistened. (Batter will be very lumpy with few spots of dry flour; do not overmix.)

Following photos below, use ice cream scoop or large spoon to divide batter equally among prepared muffin cups (batter should completely fill cups and mound slightly). Spoon teaspoon of cooked berry mixture into center of each mound of batter. Using chopstick or skewer, gently swirl berry filling into batter using figure-eight motion. Sprinkle lemon sugar evenly over muffins.

Bake until muffin tops are golden and just firm, 17 to 19 minutes, rotating muffin tin from front to back halfway through baking time. Cool muffins in muffin tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and cool 5 minutes before serving.

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Quick tip: To make your own buttermilk add a teaspoon of lemon juice to a cup of milk and let stand for five minutes.

Photo and recipe courtesy of Hooney’s.