Our favorite Lemon Blueberry Muffins! Fluffy and tender muffins filled with lemon zest, lemon juice, and blueberries and finished with a lemon-sugar crumb topping and tangy lemon icing. These flavorful muffins are perfect for breakfast or snacking. They can even be served as dessert.
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In my world, muffins fall under one of two categories:
- “Company Muffins”: These are the muffins you make when you want everyone to be impressed. You make them for company, you bring them to a brunch, and you serve them on holidays. They’re buttery, sweet, and tender – like something from a bakery.
- “Everyday Muffins“: These are the muffins that I make for my family on a regular basis. Because we can’t always start our day with something that closely resembles cake (dang it!), I make some healthy swaps like reducing sugar and swapping in whole grain flours, etc.
These Lemon Blueberry Muffins fall squarely into the “Company Muffin” category, and I couldn’t be happier about it. You need to make these and share them and spread the Lemon Blueberry Muffin love!
Recipe overview
This recipe is super easy. You don’t need any fancy equipment. You can use a hand mixer or make it by hand.
- Start with the crumb topping. Assemble it and place it in the fridge while you continue with the muffins.
- Combine the dry ingredients in one bowl.
- Combine the wet ingredients in another bowl.
- Combine the wet and dry ingredients, then stir in the blueberries.
- Place in a muffin pan and top with the crumb topping.
- Bake!
- Cool and add the lemon icing.
What makes this recipe the best
There are several things that make these muffins better than any other lemon muffin I’ve made before:
- Lemon zest, lemon juice and lemon glaze ensure that every bite of these muffins is loaded with bright lemony flavor.
- Sour cream makes these muffins extra moist and gives them a tender texture. The tang from the sour cream also complements the lemon.
- A splash of almond extract imparts a subtle almond flavor that goes great with lemon.
- Blueberries! Lemon and blueberries were made to be together. The pop of fresh blueberries takes these over the top!
- Lemon sugar crumb topping AND lemon icing. The perfect finishing touch on top of the muffins.
FAQs
Yes. Keep the blueberries frozen and stir them in straight from the freezer. The smaller they are the better, since large (frozen) blueberries will hold quite a bit of moisture. Note: The color might bleed into the muffin batter a bit more than it would with fresh blueberries.
Sure! You’ll have a delicious lemon muffin.
Try one of these Sour Cream Substitutes.
Two large lemons should provide enough juice and zest for this recipe.
Nope. This batter is supposed to be thick. I recommend scooping it with an ice cream scoop to fill the muffin cups. It will likely be too thick to pour.
You can make my Blueberry Bread or Lemon Loaf Cake.
Try this recipe instead: Lemon Blueberry Bread.
Recipe tips
- Don’t overmix when combining the wet and dry ingredients.
- If you choose to use a hand mixer instead of a whisk (for the wet ingredients) make sure you don’t beat the mixture for too long. You don’t want to incorporate too much air.
- Use a fine grater (like a Microplane) or zester to remove the zest from the lemons. Only remove the yellow part of the skin, not the white pith.
- Use an ice cream scoop to scoop the batter into the muffin pan.
- Prefer to skip the crumb topping? You can absolutely leave it off and these muffins will still be delicious (see pic below).
Serving and storage
Serving: These muffins are best the day they are made. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature. They are perfectly delicious on their own, but adding a pat of salted butter makes them extra tasty.
Storage: Store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 2 days or freeze for up to 2 months. Note: The crumb topping might soften over time.
Recipe
Lemon Blueberry Muffins
Ingredients
Crumb topping:
- ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
- ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
Muffins:
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup sour cream
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- Finely grated zest of 1 large lemon
- 2 large eggs, room temperature*
- ¾ teaspoon pure almond extract
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
- 1 ⅓ cups fresh blueberries
Icing:
- ¾ cup powdered sugar, sifted
- 1-2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- a pinch of lemon zest
Instructions
Crumb topping:
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a 12-count muffin pan with paper liners.
- For the topping: In a medium-sized bowl rub the sugar and lemon zest together with your fingers. Stir in the flour. Add the cubed butter and use your fingers to rub the butter into the flour/sugar until all of the butter is in small pieces and the mixture resembles sand. Place in the refrigerator while you continue with the recipe.
Muffins:
- In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl, whisk, sour cream, sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest, eggs, almond extract, and melted butter. You can do this by hand with a whisk or with a hand mixer. Mix until just combined. Don't over mix.
- Pour the wet ingredients over the dry and carefully stir with a rubber spatula until the two mixtures are just combined (it will be thick and a little lumpy. That's OK. Don't overmix). Carefully stir in the blueberries.
- Evenly divide the batter among the muffin cups (I use an ice cream scoop). Sprinkle the crumb topping on top of each muffin cup, lightly pressing the crumb onto the top of the muffin batter.
- Bake for 18-23 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Place the pan on a wire rack to cool for 5-10 minutes, then remove each muffin to cool completely.
Icing:
- Whisk all ingredients until smooth. Adjust to your desired consistency by adding more powdered sugar to thicken or more lemon juice to thin. Drizzle icing over cooled muffins.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional Information is an estimate based on third-party calculations and may vary based on products used and serving sizes.
Tried this recipe?Leave a comment and rating below!Recipe adapted from Baking: From My Home to Yours.
Lisa
My 8 year old daughter and I made these today and they are incredibly good. Fluffy and flavorful. We can’t wait to make them again. Thank you for such a fabulous recipe! x
Celebrating Sweets
I’m happy to hear that! Thanks for taking the time to comment. 🙂 -Allison
Victoria A Filippi
These lemon blueberry muffins are delicious. I followed the recipe exactly and it is perfect. I made it into a loaf one time (for a change) and it was the most delectable slice of lemon blueberry bread you could ever dream of. Thanks for a wonderful recipe. P.S. The glaze makes them to die for!
Celebrating Sweets
Great idea to turn it into a loaf – I am definitely trying that. Thanks for taking the time to comment. Enjoy! -Allison
Catherine
Hello, some questions here 🙂 is it same temperature and how long did you baked it? Thank you.
Celebrating Sweets
Hi, Catherine. I haven’t tried it yet, but I would suggest baking at 350°F, and begin checking the center of the loaf with a toothpick around 45 minutes.
Adela
Can you use frozen blueberry instead?
Celebrating Sweets
Yes, that should be fine. I would recommend tossing them with a couple teaspoons of flour before stirring into the batter. Leave them frozen, do not thaw first. Also, they might bleed their color into the batter a bit, but that won’t affect the taste. Enjoy!
Jay
I just made mine with frozen blueberries. I tossed them in a little flour first. It did turn my batter blue but it taste the same.
Vanessa
I made these yesterday and they were probably the best muffin I have ever made, and I love making muffins 🙂 I used frozen blueberries, and used 2 cups instead of 1, as my kid can’t ever have enough blueberries in his muffins. Didn’t have a fresh lemon for zest, but I bet that would make it even better. And we skipped the icing as we had no powdered sugar, and I try not to have too much sugar anyway. Had to cook a couple extra minutes as they were pretty big muffins with all the extra blueberries. OMG, delicious! Saving this recipe for sure, and I will have to try and make it a loaf for pot lucks. Thanks so much, love it!
Celebrating Sweets
I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed them. Thanks for taking the time to comment. Enjoy! -Allison
Deana
Run granulated sugar through a blender till fluffy and u will have powdered sugar!! You kind of have to give it a little shake while it’s blending to keep the sugar moving down toward the blade is all.
Deana
Diane Brkich
Tried your suggestion, TOO many blueberries here, hope they cook well, batter was VERY stiff.
Krsti
Making these for an Easter party. Can I make ahead and freeze?
Celebrating Sweets
Yes, you can freeze them. There is a chance that the blueberries might bleed their color into the muffins just a bit after defrosting. But the taste should be just fine. Wait to add the icing until after freezing and defrosting. Enjoy!
Bee
These look so easy and delicious! Absolutely making some for breakfast tomorrow
Justine
Does this recipe make 12 cupcake size muffins or 12 larger muffins that you usually see in a 6 count tin (as pictured in the recipe)?
Celebrating Sweets
Hi, Justine. Twelve standard (cupcake) sized muffins. I use two 6-count pans (as pictured) or one twelve count pan. Enjoy!
Lila Zimmerman
I made these for my mom on mothers day, she said ” these are the best muffins I have ever had!!!” I ‘m a 9 year old and made it all by myself, it was a super easy recipe to follow and I had a lot of fun. I recommend them as a sweet treat for any muffin lovers.
Celebrating Sweets
Yay! I am so happy to hear this. Thanks for taking the time to comment. And great job, Lila! 🙂 -Allison
Teri
I made mini muffins with this recipe today. They were a perfect addition for my tea party!
Darice
I made these and used Young Living Lemon oil and used Lemon Ice Water for the added liquid. They were fantastic! In my icing I also substituted Lemon oil instead of Lemon zest it also was delicious. I added extra blueberries because we can never have enough of them. This is one of the best Muffin recipes I’ve made. It’s definitely a keeper! Thanks for sharing!
Celebrating Sweets
I’m glad you enjoyed them. Thanks for stopping by!