Bakery-Style Blueberry Muffins

Before you start

Coffee-shop blueberry muffins get their height from three choices home recipes often skip. The batter is thick enough to hold its shape, every cup is filled to the brim, and the muffins start in a very hot oven that pushes the batter upward fast before the heat is lowered to bake the centers through. A crunchy layer of coarse sugar on top adds the crackly finish.

This batter uses melted butter for flavor and a little oil for tenderness that lasts into the next day, with buttermilk for tang. Fold the berries in gently at the end; overmixing at that point streaks the batter purple and toughens it. A 30-minute rest lets the flour hydrate, which thickens the batter and gives taller domes.

Ingredients

• Batter315 g (2½ cups, spooned and leveled) all-purpose flour — take out 1 tbsp to toss with the berries
• 2 tsp (8 g) baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ¾ tsp fine salt
• 200 g (1 cup) granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs — room temperature
• 85 g (6 tbsp) unsalted butter — melted and slightly cooled
• 60 ml (¼ cup) neutral oil
• 180 ml (¾ cup) buttermilk — room temperature
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp finely grated lemon zest — optional
• 250 g (1⅔ cups) blueberries — fresh, or frozen and not thawed
• Topping3 tbsp coarse sparkling or turbinado sugar

Method

1. Line the muffin pan with paper liners or grease it well, including the flat top surface of the pan, because these muffins spread over the rims.
2. Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl. In a second bowl, whisk the sugar and eggs for about 30 seconds until slightly paler, then whisk in the melted butter, oil, buttermilk, vanilla and zest.
3. Pour the wet mixture into the dry and fold with a spatula until only a few dry streaks remain. Toss the blueberries with the reserved tablespoon of flour and fold them in with 3 or 4 strokes. The batter should be thick and lumpy.
4. Cover the bowl and let the batter rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 220°C (425°F) with a rack in the center.
5. Divide the batter among the cups; it will mound well above the rims. Sprinkle the coarse sugar generously over each top.
6. Bake for 5 minutes at 220°C (425°F), then, without opening the door, lower the oven to 190°C (375°F). Bake another 15 to 18 minutes, until the domes are golden and spring back and a toothpick in the center comes out with only moist crumbs or berry juice.
7. Cool the muffins in the pan for 10 minutes so the tops firm up, then lift them out onto a rack. Run a knife around any tops that stuck to the pan.

Tips for success

• Wild or small berries distribute more evenly and bleed less than large cultivated ones. If you use big berries, cut a few in half.
• Frozen berries go straight from the freezer into the batter. Thawed ones collapse and turn the crumb gray-blue.
• Press a few extra berries onto each top before the sugar goes on for a bakery look.

Substitutions

Buttermilk

Plain yogurt or sour cream thinned with a little milk to the same volume works. Sour cream makes a slightly richer, denser muffin.

Neutral oil

Use all butter (145 g total) for more flavor. The muffins taste richer on day one but firm up faster as they sit.

Coarse sugar

Granulated sugar mixed with a pinch of cinnamon gives a softer crust that is less crunchy but still sweet.

Variations

Streusel-topped

Replace the coarse sugar with a crumb topping of 50 g flour, 50 g brown sugar and 35 g melted butter rubbed together.

Lemon blueberry glaze

Whisk 90 g powdered sugar with 1 to 1½ tbsp lemon juice and drizzle over the cooled muffins.

Troubleshooting

Flat tops

The batter was too thin, the cups were underfilled, or the oven started too cool. Rest the batter, fill to the brim and make sure the oven fully reaches 220°C (425°F) first.

Berries sank to the bottom

The batter was runny or the berries were wet. Pat fresh berries dry, toss them in flour and keep the batter thick.

Gummy streaks around the berries

The muffins came out a few minutes early, or thawed berries added too much water. Bake until a toothpick shows only moist crumbs and use frozen berries straight from the freezer.

Storage

Keep the muffins in a container lined with paper towel at room temperature for up to 2 days; the towel absorbs moisture so the tops do not turn sticky. Freeze for up to 3 months and rewarm at 150°C (300°F) for 8 to 10 minutes.

Safety notes

Do not taste the raw batter, which contains raw egg and raw flour. Contains wheat, egg and milk.