Quick Blueberry Muffin Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to making moist muffins? ›

The idea here is to start the muffins in a very hot oven for just a short amount of time. This activates the baking powder and allows the muffins to shoot up in height quickly. We then turn the heat down and continue to cook for longer. This is done to avoid over-browning and overbaking.

As a general rule, the thinner the batter, the lighter the muffins will be when baked. But don't be afraid to bake thick, gloppy batter. It can yield moist muffins with extra keeping power. Buttermilk gives muffins a special moistness and flavor.

Fresh or frozen blueberries work great! This tried-and-true recipe is a keeper, and the only one you need if you've been looking for a straightforward, go-to blueberry muffin recipe!

If there isn't enough egg, your batter or dough may not be able to hold its structure or could end up overly dry or dense. On the other hand, if there is too much egg, your baked goods could lose their shape due to excess liquid, or have a rubbery (or even overly cakey) texture depending on the recipe.

Structure - although oil makes baked goods very moist and longer lasting than butter, for high rising baked goods that need more structure, like muffins, butter is a better choice. Butter is wonderful for incorporating air into baked goods.

The best bakery-style crumb muffins start with cake flour

Cake flour is more finely ground and has less protein, which leaves the muffins with a fine, light crumb and soft texture. Using cake flour is an easy way to avoid heavy, dense muffins even if you end up stirring just a bit too much.

Quickbreads and muffins are hydrating batters, which means the flour absorbs the liquid over time, resulting in a very moist muffin, and improving the flavor. So let your muffin batter rest, up to 24 hours if possible.

Start the oven on high

Bake your muffins at 400°F for the first 5 minutes, then drop the temperature to the more standard 350°F for the remainder of the bake time. This method sparks the leavening agents (especially baking powder) in the batter to react quicker, creating that gorgeously risen top.

Why did my blueberry muffins turn green? ›

Blueberry Baking Chemistry

Blueberries turn greenish-blue in a batter that has too much baking soda (or grey in a smoothie with a lot of dairy), which creates an alkaline environment. That's why mixing a little lemon juice into your batter or smoothie will give you a more vibrant color.

If you don't drain them, you'll end up with blue-colored muffins! Also, draining helps keep excess liquid out of the batter.

But anyone who's ever put frozen blueberries into the mix knows—whether pancake, muffin, or cake batter—even if you go straight from the freezer and they don't thaw, the juice that's collected on the outside of them will immediately turn your batter purplish-blue.

That slightly bitter, kinda “tinny” flavor you often experience when biting into a muffin, biscuit or scone is the result of using a baking powder in high quantities — as is needed for these quick-rise treats — with aluminum in it.

Choosing vegetable oil is the best option for baking moist, delicious baked goods. Canola oil, the most common vegetable oil used in baking, doesn't add a strong flavor. It allows your cake's flavor will shine through while still achieving a moist texture.

The main cause of dry, hard muffins is over-mixing the batter and overcooking the muffins. So the the 3 simple secrets for beautifully soft and moist blueberry muffins are: use butter AND oil -butter makes things tasty but oil makes things moist. So use both!