The BEST buttermilk blueberry muffins with a crunchy sugary top! Making blueberry muffins with buttermilk is the key for a moist fluffy texture! If you haven't tried buttermilk berry muffins, you're in for a treat! Give these blueberry buttermilk muffins a try!
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And if you like these best ever buttermilk berry muffins, you’ll love my 3 Ingredient Pumpkin Muffins, my White Chocolate and Raspberry Muffins, and my Chocolate Chip Mini Muffins with Orange Zest!
Blueberry Muffins with Buttermilk
For me, blueberry muffins are such a classic snack -- I remember having them a lot growing up, from a coffee shop that was near where we lived. They were always huge, and the delicious blueberry flavor made them such a great snack on the way to school. Tender muffins with juicy blueberries were always a treat.
THESE are the muffins I make when I want to recapture that magic. They're tangy and fluffy thanks to the buttermilk, and the crunchy sugar topping takes me right back to my childhood.
Why This is the BEST Buttermilk Blueberry Muffins Recipe
- Tall & fluffy - thanks to my two-step baking process, they come out of the oven nice and tall, with domed tops and a soft, fluffy texture.
- Tangy - adding full-fat buttermilk gives them a unique flavor that balances out the sweetness of
- Lemon zest - blueberry and lemon are an ICONIC combination. So I like to add a little lemon zest in these muffins to capture that bright flavor.
- Crunchy tops - adding raw sugar before baking gives the tops of these muffins incredible cafe-style texture.
And if you love the combination of lemon and blueberry in these fluffy muffins, you've got to try my Lemon Blueberry Cookies and my Lemon Blueberry Mascarpone Cake! They're so perfect for springtime! And for more blueberry goodness, try my Strawberry Blueberry Pie!
When I Make These
- Brunch party - a basket of fresh-baked buttermilk blueberry muffins are always a hit at a brunch gathering.
- Breakfast meal prep - I love to make and freeze a batch of these delicious muffins for an easy grab-and-go morning treat!
- After-school snack - I've made these for my niece and nephew and they love them so much!
Jump to:
- Blueberry Muffins with Buttermilk
- Why This is the BEST Buttermilk Blueberry Muffins Recipe
- When I Make These
- What is the secret to moist muffins?
- Are muffins better with oil or butter?
- Blueberry Buttermilk Muffin Recipe Ingredients
- Equipment
- Step by Step
- Tips and F.A.Q.
- More Berry Recipes You'll Love
- 📖 Recipe
- 💬 Comments
What is the secret to moist muffins?
These bakery-style muffins truly are the BEST -- they're light and fluffy, but with a moist, buttery texture from the softened butter and buttermilk in the batter. They get a lot of height from both baking powder and baking soda in the batter, and from two different baking temperatures.
But the best part of all is that this recipe for blueberry buttermilk muffins is so simple! It comes together so quickly and doesn't require any major equipment. So what are we waiting for? Let's get started on this recipe!
Are muffins better with oil or butter?
I love the buttery flavor of these muffins! I find that although vegetable oil does contribute to a moist texture, the buttermilk in these muffins helps to achieve that texture without sacrificing any of the buttery goodness!
Blueberry Buttermilk Muffin Recipe Ingredients
The best blueberry muffins are made with buttermilk to add flavor, lemon zest to complement the blueberries and brighten up the flavors, and they are topped with turbinado sugar. Here's everything you'll need to make them:
- all-purpose flour - you'll whisk your flour together with your other dry ingredients to start your muffin batter.
- baking powder and baking soda - gives the buttermilk blueberry muffins a lift and lighter texture. The baking soda also interacts with the buttermilk and lemon zest to add even more lift and help the tops brown. I originally made this recipe without baking soda and loved it, but I found that baking soda was just what these muffins needed for a bit more height! So the video below doesn't include baking soda, but the recipe card reflects the change.
- salt - helps to balance out the sweetness in the batter.
- unsalted butter - should be room temperature
- granulated sugar - brings out the sweetness of the blueberries in these buttermilk muffins!
- lemon zest - this is what gives these muffins their amazing lemony flavor! It's not overpowering, but it makes them so bright and delicious! And if you love lemon desserts, check out my Blueberry and Lemon Pound Cake! And for more lemony goodness, check out my collection of recipes with lemon curd!
- eggs - they should be room temperature as well -- if you're in a rush, let them sit in some warm water for about 15 minutes.
- vanilla extract - it should be the good stuff -- pure vanilla extract. I like to make my own!
- buttermilk - muffin recipes using buttermilk ensure a moist texture while adding flavor! If you don't have buttermilk, you can just you regular milk or make your own buttermilk substitute.
- blueberries - these juicy berries are the best part! Feel free to use either fresh blueberries or frozen blueberries for this blueberry buttermilk muffins recipe! If you have fresh berries, check out these tips on how to keep summer berries fresh for longer! And if you love baking with berries, try my Blackberry Coffee Cake!
- turbinado sugar - goes on top of our prepared muffin batter to give the berry buttermilk muffins a nice sweet crunch on the tops of the muffins! I use this crunchy sugar method in my banana carrot muffins and it adds a great texture!
Equipment
You can bake this buttermilk blueberry muffin recipe in a 12-cup muffin pan lined with squares of parchment paper, or with cupcake liners. You'll also need a hand mixer to cream the butter and sugar, and a cookie scoop to fill your muffin cups or paper liners!
Step by Step
- These lemon blueberry buttermilk muffins comes together so easily! I've seen muffin recipes that call for melted butter or vegetable oil, but for this recipe we'll cream softened butter into the batter to give the muffins a soft, tender crumb and a nice shape. You'll be so happy with the results!
- Once you've creamed your butter and sugar together, you'll mix in your eggs, vanilla, and lemon zest. Then in a separate bowl you want to measure out and combine your dry ingredients, including your blueberries. Pro tip: coating the blueberries in the flour mixture keeps them from sinking to the bottom of the muffins!
- Finally, you'll just mix in one-third of your dry ingredients, then half the buttermilk, and continue alternating unto the batter is just combined.
- If you need to, splash in a little more buttermilk to help the batter come together.
You'll end up with a nice thick batter that you can spoon into the muffin tin and sprinkle turbinado sugar on top of each muffin. Be careful not to over-mix it, and handle it gently to keep the blueberries intact. Then just pop them in the oven for about a half hour, and enjoy your blueberry buttermilk muffins!
Tips and F.A.Q.
The acid in buttermilk breaks down gluten, which gives us the most moist and tender buttermilk blueberry muffins! It also interacts with the baking soda in this recipe to give our muffins a higher lift.
Definitely with milk! Or even better, use buttermilk, like with these berry buttermilk muffins! Sour cream is also a great way to ensure moisture!
If you don’t have buttermilk, feel free to use whole milk, replacing two teaspoons of the milk with vinegar. This will create the acidic effect of buttermilk to help these delicious muffins come out fluffy and moist.
Using softened butter, like in this recipe, is a good first step! You also want to make sure that you don't overmix your batter. Once you add in your dry ingredients, you want to gently fold the batter until it's just combined.
How do I get that domed top on my muffins? Well, for best results to achieve that nice high top on our muffins, we’re going to start out at a higher oven temperature so that the batter will release a burst of steam to lift the tops of our muffins higher. Also, resting your muffins before baking helps create a thicker batter, which also promotes a higher rise in this blueberry muffin recipe.
The key to keeping your blueberries from sinking to the bottom of your muffins (and avoiding the resulting sogginess) is to coat your blueberries in flour! In this recipe, we're tossing our blueberries in the dry ingredients before we combine them with the wet ingredients. The flour mixture keeps the exterior of the blueberries dry and helps suspend them in the batter as the buttermilk berry muffins bake.
These muffins store and freeze very well! Just keep your muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days, or wrap them individually in plastic and freeze them in a freezer bag for up to 2 months.
If you try this recipe, I would love it if you could leave a star review rating and comment below! It’s so wonderful hearing your feedback! And don’t forget to share your creations with me by tagging @chenee_today on Instagram!
More Berry Recipes You'll Love
- Blueberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake
- Skillet Blueberry Cobbler with Smoked Sugar
- Blueberry Cream Cheese Bars
- Lemon and Blackberry Cake
- Raspberry and White Chocolate Blondies
📖 Recipe
Equipment you may need
Ingredients
- cooking spray
- 2 ¼ cups (288 g) all-purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon (5 g) salt
- 1 tablespoon (12 g) baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon (1 ml) baking soda
- 1¼ cup (250 g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (114 g) unsalted butter - softened
- 2 large eggs - room temperature
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) pure vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoon (4 g) lemon zest
- ⅔ cup (160 g) full-fat buttermilk* - room temperature (plus 1 tablespoon more if needed)
- 1½ cups (222 g) blueberries - fresh or frozen (see note), washed and dried
- ¼ cup (50 g) turbinado sugar - for topping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F. Spray a 12-cup muffin pan with cooking spray on top (between the cups) and line with cupcake liners or squares of parchment paper.cooking spray
- Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir blueberries into flour mixture to coat.2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, ¾ teaspoon salt, 1 tablespoon baking powder, ¼ teaspoon baking soda, 1½ cups blueberries
- Using a stand mixer or handheld mixer, cream butter with sugar for 2 minutes.1¼ cup granulated sugar, ½ cup unsalted butter
- Mix in eggs, vanilla, and lemon zest until fully combined.
- Alternate adding in dry ingredients with the buttermilk, stirring with a wooden spoon or spatula until just barely combined. If necessary, add an additional tablespoon of buttermilk to help the batter come together.⅔ cup full-fat buttermilk*
- Add batter evenly to 12 muffin liners and sprinkle liberally with turbinado sugar.¼ cup turbinado sugar
- Bake in preheated oven for 8 minutes, then reduce heat to 375°F (without opening oven door).
- Bake another 15 minutes or until a toothpick entered into a muffin comes out clean. Let cool in muffin pan for 10 minutes, then serve warm or cool completely on wire racks.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Last Updated on March 19, 2026 by Chenée Lewis
Amy says
I love this recipe! Muffins turned out light, tender, and delicious!
Chenée Lewis says
I'm so happy to hear that! Thanks!
SK says
Holy moly. These are THE best muffins. I was looking for an orange blueberry muffin recipe b/c I had extra oranges and came across this. I substituted the lemon zest for orange zest and did half buttermilk, half fresh squeezed OJ. Can't wait to try the lemon ones. LOVE! Thank you!
Chenée Lewis says
Love the idea of orange and blueberry muffins! I'm so glad you liked the recipe!!
Olga La Fave says
Outstanding Chenee! Best lemon blueberry muffins I’ve ever had. Thank you for sharing this recipe, that I will make from now on.😋
Chenée Lewis says
Wow thank you so much! I'm so glad you loved them!
Lori says
The absolute best muffin. I gift them they are so delicious! ❤️❤️ I make lemon glaze to top them, thank you for sharing.
Chenée Lewis says
What a great idea! So glad you like them! 🙂
Amanda Wren-Grimwood says
Blueberry muffins are so delicious and I love that you can use frozen berries as I always seem to have some in the freezer.
Elisa says
This look really good recipe of the blueberry muffins, and better if they are homemade, thanks for sharing this recipe 🙂 will be making this really soon.
Elisa says
This recipe of the blueberries muffins, looks delicious, and is good to know what ingredients we are eating, win win!!! will be making this really soon. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Kim says
The kids loved these. I put them in their lunches a few days this week. Next time, I'm making a double batch, though. I only got one!
Chenée Lewis says
Thank you! And yes, better make more just to be on the safe side 🙂
Casey says
There is never a bad time for a blueberry muffin - you're absolutely right! These were delicious! The buttermilk really levels up the flavor profile!
Chenée Lewis says
Thank you!! I thought so too!
Kushigalu says
LOve the combination of flavors in these blueberry muffins. Thanks for sharing.
Al C. says
Amazing recipes! Thanks Cheney. Pardon my alterations/embellishments but assurances they all worked well. 😁
Mary Engel says
Thank you for this fabulous recipe...the muffins are huge and moist and the lemon glaze is the perfect topping! I plan on making them for friends and family. I highly recommend these muffins, simply delicious and beautiful to look at too.
Mary Engel
Chenée Lewis says
So glad you liked them! Thank you!
Joyce says
These are excellent,as described. I’m trying to reduce the fat content in my diet. I added only a 1/4 cup of butter and a 1/4 cup of applesauce and used 1% buttermilk. Also used monk fruit (keto) sugar instead. Topped them with a bit of lemon juice and sugar mixture. The results were amazing! My husband says these were off the charts!
Thank you!
Chenée Lewis says
I'm so happy to hear that you both liked them! 🙂
Tara says
Such fantastic muffins! The flavors sound absolutely amazing, especially with the combination of blueberry and lemon.
Tayler says
This is my absolute favorite muffin recipe! They're easy to make and turn out perfectly every time!
Chenée Lewis says
Thank you so much! I'm glad you like them!
Katherine says
I love blueberry and lemon together. These muffins are perfection!
Chenée Lewis says
One of my favorite flavor combos!
Nikki says
These muffins look scrumptious! I love that you add the lemon zest right into the batter. You get a little zing in every bite.
Savita says
These muffins turned out so good, the lemon blueberry flavor tastes amazing. Perfect for breakfast!!!
Chenée Lewis says
So great to hear it! Thanks!
Christina says
I've got my 3rd batch of these in the oven as we speak. The 1st time I used the recipe they were so moist and flavourful. My kids asked me to make them again in mini form. Disliked the ones from the silicone pan (nothing to do with the recipe). Trying again with an aluminium mini pan. I also added in some raspberries. Highly recommended this recipe.
Chenée Lewis says
So glad you like the recipe! I love the idea of adding raspberries!
Kate says
They were delicious this isn’t fifth time making them! I usually end up with 10 as I make them a bakery portion! Thank you for this lovely recipe!
Chenée Lewis says
So glad to hear that! Thank you!
Carolyn says
I am baking these now and am so disappointed; I did use frozen berries - the batter is completely bright purple, and they are flat on top and dripping all over the oven. I am an experienced baker and followed the recipe exactly - what went wrong?
Chenée Lewis says
Oh no! It sounds like maybe the frozen berries had more water content than normal? Whenever I've made these with frozen berries they stay mostly intact and don't affect the rise of the muffins. Either way, so sorry that happened -- if you try again, it might help to thaw them first and drain any excess liquid. Hope you get a chance to make them again!