Yield: 6 blueberry streusel muffins // Total Time: 40 min. // Disclaimer: This post includes affiliate links. //
Blueberry Streusel Muffins
Why you’ll love these blueberry streusel muffins
Blueberry streusel muffins is the shorthand term for this recipe – but I don’t think the name does it justice. Here’s why you’ll love these blueberry streusel muffins:
1. They’re light and fluffy. The muffins themselves are super light, fluffy & tender thanks to one of my favorite ingredients – buttermilk!
2. They’re loaded with streusel & jam. They’re almost like a blueberry coffee cake muffin, in the sense that there’s a layer of streusel baked both inside of and on top of the muffins. They also have some blueberry jam layered in there for some more blueberry flavor.
3. They come together in less than an hour. If you’re craving muffins NOW or want to bake them off in the morning, there are no worries here! These come together in about 40 minutes.
Small batch blueberry streusel muffins
This recipe makes 6 muffins. I love making small batch bakes because they are the perfect size myself and others who don’t have a lot of people to bake for in their home. Small batch helps cut down on waste and eliminates the feeling that all that excess dessert MUST be eaten. Here on my blog I like to post a mix of small batch and “regular batch” recipes from time to time. All my recipes can easily be doubled or tripled to fit your need, so long as you use grams to measure!
Recipe tips
Weigh your ingredients
- Weighing your ingredients is important for getting the recipe perfect and getting consistent results. Not weighing your ingredients can lead to adding too much or too little of an ingredient and can easily throw off a recipe. If you haven’t already, I highly recommend purchasing a kitchen scale. This one is super cheap and worked well for me when I was starting out! If you don’t have access to a scale, here is the best way to measure flour:
- How to measure flour with cups: fluff up the flour with a fork, then use a spoon to scoop it into your measuring cup. Use a knife to level off the top of the cup, then use as directed.
Mix the batter carefully
- It is super important to not overmix the muffin batter. Overmixing the batter leads to more gluten development which will take your muffins from light and fluffy to tough and chewy. If you’ve ever had your muffin tops be super pointy – overmixing is also the culprit! Be sure to mix the flour gently into the batter, and stop mixing right when that last flour streak disappears.
Room temperature ingredients
- It is important for the ingredients to be at room temperature so that they properly incorporate with each other. If you have ever had your batter look curdled, it is most likely due to the ingredients separating from being at different temperatures. Take out the egg and buttermilk at least 30 minutes and up to 1 hr 30 min. before starting the recipe. Here’s how to get room temperature ingredients FAST if you’re in a time crunch or forgot to take the ingredients out (like I often do):
- Egg: place the egg in a bowl and run hot water over it for 1 continuous minute, or let it sit in a bowl of warm water for 5 minutes.
- Buttermilk: microwave the buttermilk in 5-second intervals until it is no longer cold, but is not warm (room temp!)
Under-bake, don’t over-bake
- Muffins like to go from under-baked to over-baked super quickly so it is important to keep a close eye on them. Start checking at 14 minutes with a toothpick. If the toothpick comes out wet, check them again in 2 minutes and so on until only a few moist crumbs stick to the toothpick.
Get those perfect muffin tops
- The trick to getting those nicely domed muffin tops is (mostly) all in your oven’s temperature! Bake the muffins at 425°F / 220°C for 5 minutes. Then, without opening the oven, reduce the temperature to 350°F / 175°C and continue baking until done. The super high heat will make the muffins rise nice and tall! You will also want to bake them lined in every other tin on the muffin pan, and fill them to the very top. This recipe makes the perfect amount of batter to fill every muffin liner straight to the top for those perfect muffin tops!
Get evenly distributed muffin batter
- My favorite way to evenly distribute muffin batter is to use cookie scoops! Works perfectly every time. So long are the days of eyeballing which muffin may need a little more batter.
Ingredients and substitutions
For the cinnamon streusel:
Unsalted butter: the base of the streusel, really what makes it buttery and delicious. You can use salted in place of unsalted butter here.
Light brown sugar: sweetens and adds flavor to the streusel. In a pinch granulated sugar will work here as well.
Ground cinnamon: for flavor. This can be omitted or replaced with your favorite spice.
All purpose flour: adds structure to the streusel.
For the blueberry muffins:
All purpose flour: for structure and chewiness.
Baking powder: for helping the muffins rise.
Baking soda: for helping the muffins rise.
Salt: to help balance and bring out the sweetness of the muffins.
Unsalted butter: for tenderness and flavor. You can use salted butter in place of the unsalted, just be sure to omit the extra salt from the muffins.
Granulated sugar: for sweetness and locks moisture into the muffins.
Vanilla: for flavor. I use and love this vanilla extract!
Buttermilk: for tenderness, moisture, and flavor. I know it can be annoying to purchase buttermilk if you’re not baking a lot – so here’s an easy substitute: simply whisk together 40g sour cream + 70g milk.
Blueberries: I recommend fresh blueberries but have a note on how to use frozen later in this post!
Blueberry jam: I used a wild blueberry jam from bonne maman but any blueberry jam will work here!
How to make blueberry streusel muffins
Here are the basic steps to follow to make these muffins. You can find the complete recipe at the end of this blog post!
1. Make the streusel. In a small bowl, melt the butter. Then, mix in the sugar, cinnamon and flour and set aside.
2. Prep the dry ingredients. In another small bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. Remove 2 tsp. of the flour mixture and mix it into a small bowl with the blueberries to coat them.
3. Mix the wet ingredients. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, melt the butter. Whisk in the sugar, followed by the egg, vanilla, and buttermilk.
4. Fold in the dry ingredients. Add in the dry ingredients, and use a rubber spatula to fold the mixture together just until a few flour streaks remain. Add in the blueberries and fold just until no flour streaks remain.
5. Layer the muffins. Add ~3 tbsp. of muffin batter to the bottom of each muffin tin. Top with 1 tsp. blueberry jam, followed by 1 tbsp. streusel. Repeat.
6. Bake. We’ll start the muffins out at 425°F for 5 minutes, which will help them rise up nice and tall. Without opening the oven door, reduce the temperature to 350°F for the remainder of the baking time.
7. Serve and enjoy!
Blueberry streusel muffins Q & A
Can I double this recipe?
- Of course! Obviously it won’t be a small batch anymore but small batch isn’t always what we need! Simply double all of the ingredients in the recipe to make 12 delicious muffins. I even more strongly recommend measuring by weight if you are going to double the recipe for the best results.
Can I use frozen blueberries?
- Definitely! You’ll just want to keep the blueberries frozen right up until they need to be added to the batter.
Will these work with a different fruit?
- Yep! You can use blackberries or raspberries and their respective jam – or you can mix it up with different berries and different flavored jams.
Can I make the batter ahead of time?
- Yes! Simply make the muffin batter and cover it tightly with plastic wrap. Leave it in the fridge overnight to assemble the muffins in the morning. I’d recommend waiting to make the streusel until the morning of.
How to store these muffins
- Like most baked goods, these muffins will definitely taste the best on the day that they are baked. They will last for up to 3 days stored in an airtight container at room temperature.
Why do you measure in grams?
My recipes are all written in grams because it is the most accurate way to bake. When you use a kitchen scale, you ensure that your baked goods turn out as close to the written recipe as possible. Plus, the cleanup is way easier when using a scale! I will provide standard cup measurements but please note that I have not tested the recipe using cup measurements and therefore can not guarantee your recipe will come out how mine did. Here is my favorite kitchen scale, and here’s an article about why I use a kitchen scale, and why you should too!
A note on oven temperature
Ovens vary and fluctuate in temperature. For example, I always have to set my oven to 330°F if I want it to bake at 350°F. If you love to bake like I do, I highly recommend getting an oven thermometer. They are super helpful for letting you know when your oven might be lying to you! I use this one.
Tools and ingredients
You can find all my favorite tools and ingredients that I use on my Amazon Storefront page, here!
Did you make these blueberry streusel muffins?
If you made these blueberry streusel muffins I would love to see them and know your thoughts! Please leave a comment and review down below, and tag me on Instagram @freshbeanbakery. If you have any questions about the recipe I will gladly do my best to answer them in the comments below!
Blueberry Streusel Muffins
Ingredients
Streusel
- 42 g unsalted butter (3 tbsp.)
- 75 g light brown sugar (¼ c. + 2 tbsp.)
- 50 g all purpose flour (⅓ c. + 1 tbsp.)
- ½ tsp. ground cinnamon
Blueberry Muffins
- 130 g all purpose flour (1 c. + 1 tbsp.)
- 1 ½ tsp. baking powder
- ½ tsp. baking soda
- ¼ tsp. salt
- 80 g blueberries (½ c.)
- 56 g unsalted butter (¼ c.)
- 100 g granulated sugar (½ c.)
- 1 egg room temperature
- ½ tsp. vanilla
- 110 g buttermilk room temperature (½ c.)
- ¼ c. blueberry jam
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F / 220°C. Line a muffin pan with 6 parchment liners.
Streusel
- In a small bowl, melt the butter. Add in the brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Use a fork to mix the ingredients together, then set aside. The streusel will seem super buttery & become a cohesive dough, but will be able to be crumbled by the time we add it to the muffins.
Blueberry Muffins
- In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Add the blueberries to a small bowl. Mix in 2 tsp. of the flour mixture to coat the blueberries, and set aside.
- In a medium sized mixing bowl, melt the butter. Whisk in the sugar, followed by the egg, vanilla, and buttermilk.
- Add in the flour mixture. Use a rubber spatula to lightly fold the mixture until just a few flour streaks remain.
- Add in the flour coated blueberries and fold just until no flour streaks remain.
- Now it's time to layer the muffins. Start by pouring ~3 tbsp. of muffin batter into the bottom of each muffin liner. Top with 1 tsp. of blueberry jam, followed by ~1 tbsp. of streusel. Top with an additional ~3 tbsp. of muffin batter, 1 tsp. of blueberry jam, and the remaining streusel.
- Bake the muffins at 425°F for 5 minutes. Without opening the oven door, reduce the temperature to 350°F / 175°C. Bake for an additional 10-15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean.
- Serve and enjoy!