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The best bake shop blueberry muffins are moist and fluffy, full of fresh, juicy berries, and finished with a buttery brown sugar streusel crumb topping. These coffee house Blueberry Streusel Muffins are big, decadent, and totally satisfying. Whip up a batch for a convenient grab-and-go breakfast, a lovely addition to a brunch buffet, or a sweet make-ahead afternoon snack. They’re freezer-friendly, too!
Blueberry Muffins with Crumb Topping
We all know that the best part of a muffin is the muffin top, so the best blueberry muffin recipe must yield tall, puffy domes with a decadent, buttery, brown sugar streusel topping! It sounds easy enough, but these muffins required many rounds of testing to get them just right. I wanted moist muffins with plenty of rich flavor that rise high, have a delicious crumb topping, and remind you of those decadent bakery-style treats that we all know and love. These blueberry streusel muffins do not disappoint!
I love an easy blueberry muffin when I want something quick and simple. By contrast, I think of these blueberry muffins with streusel crumb topping as “special occasion” muffins. They might require a little bit more effort, but they’re totally worth it! These are the muffins that you bake when you want to wow your brunch guests, gift a special breakfast to a friend in need, or just sink your teeth into something totally decadent and satisfying. They’ve truly got it all — a moist, rich, interior (thanks to plenty of sour cream and butter), loads of sweet, juicy blueberries, and tall, streusel-coated tops. What more can you ask for in a humble not-so-little homemade muffin?!
How to Make Tall Muffin Tops
There are a few key steps to creating that nice, high dome on the muffin top:
- Use a thick batter (you’ve got that here, thanks to the sour cream!)
- Fill the muffin cups to the top (I like to use an ice cream scoop, large cookie dough scoop, or 2 ¼-inch dough scoop like this to equally measure the same amount of batter into each cup)
- Start the oven at a very high temperature to help the tops rise, and then lower the heat after 5 minutes to allow the rest of the muffins to cook through without burning.
Ingredients
This is just a quick overview of the ingredients that you’ll need to mix up a batch of bake shop blueberry muffins. As always, specific measurements and complete cooking instructions are included in the printable recipe box at the bottom of the post.
- All-purpose flour: used for both the streusel and the base of the muffins.
- Brown sugar: sweetens the streusel.
- Granulated sugar: for both the streusel and the muffin batter.
- Butter: adds flavor and moisture to both the streusel and the muffins.
- Cinnamon: a subtle touch of warmth for the streusel.
- Salt: enhances the flavors in the muffins.
- Baking powder and baking soda: the leavening agents that help the muffins rise.
- Nutmeg: just a hint gives the muffins a classic bakery-style taste that’s reminiscent of a donut.
- Eggs: for structure.
- Vanilla extract: adds more flavor.
- Sour cream: provides an acidic element that helps the muffins rise. It also gives them a moist, tender texture, while keeping the batter thick so that the muffins rise high and have a nice dome. Use a full-fat sour cream (not light) for the best flavor and texture. You can also substitute with a full-fat Greek-style plain yogurt.
- Whole milk: thins the batter slightly so that it comes together.
- Blueberries: Fresh, sweet, perfectly-ripe berries are best! You can substitute with frozen blueberries, but they’re not my preference because they turn the batter an odd shade of bluish-green.
How to Make Moist Blueberry Streusel Muffins from Scratch
These muffins are so decadent, moist and rich — they’re basically cake disguised as muffins! Instead of folding together the wet and dry ingredients as you would normally do for a classic muffin recipe, we’re using the electric mixer to cream together butter and sugar, then adding the dry ingredients alternately with the wet ingredients in the same method that you would use to make a cake batter from scratch. The end result is simply the best blueberry streusel muffin recipe you’ve ever tasted!
- Stir together the streusel, then set it aside until you need it later.
- Sift together the dry ingredients, then set that bowl aside as well.
- Cream together the butter and sugar.
- Add the eggs and vanilla extract.
- Alternately add the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients to the butter and sugar mixture.
- Gently fold in the blueberries.
- Spoon the batter into 16 paper-lined muffin cups, filling each cup to the top.
- Sprinkle with the streusel topping, pressing down gently.
- Bake the muffins in a 425° F oven for 5 minutes. Then, do not open the oven door, but lower the oven temperature to 350° F. Bake for an additional 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Cool in the pan for about 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack.
How to Serve Blueberry Muffins with Streusel Topping
Blueberry muffins are such a versatile little treat. You can offer them for a quick grab-and-go breakfast on busy mornings; pile some in a basket as a part of a special brunch buffet; set out a few with a glass of lemonade or iced tea for an afternoon snack; or even add them to your bread basket as a side dish with dinner. We love the variety of a bread basket that includes some homemade bread, a few warm muffins, and a couple wedges of cornbread. It turns an ordinary weeknight meal into a special restaurant-worthy occasion — and you can pull each of these items from your freezer with almost zero effort!
Enjoy the coffee shop blueberry muffins at room temperature or serve them warm. They’re best with a smear of soft butter or a dollop of homemade blueberry jam!
Storage
Allow the muffins to cool completely. Store in a large Ziploc freezer bag or other airtight container. The muffins will last for 2-3 days at room temperature, or you can freeze the muffins for up to 3 months.
How to Reheat
If the muffins are frozen, allow them to sit on the counter for a few minutes while you preheat the oven to 350° F. Frozen muffins will require about 10-12 minutes in the oven; room temperature muffins will only need about 5 minutes to warm through.
Alternatively, you can microwave one muffin at a time for 15-30 seconds or just until warm.
Are blueberry muffins bad for you?
While I wouldn’t consider this muffin recipe healthy (it includes flour, butter, sour cream and sugar), you will appreciate that the homemade muffins are made with just a few simple ingredients. You can choose high quality ingredients, organic fresh berries, and leave out all of the funky preservatives or additives that you might find in a similar boxed mix. You can also control the size of your muffins, unlike jumbo bake shop blueberry muffins that might be twice as large.
Each blueberry streusel muffin has about 355 calories, 18 grams of fat, 4 grams of protein and 44 grams of carbohydrates.
Recipe Variations
- You can substitute with frozen blueberries; however, be aware that the frozen berries will “bleed” and likely turn the batter a weird bluish-green color. Do not thaw the frozen berries before tossing them with flour and adding them to the batter.
- Omit the streusel topping and just sprinkle some coarse sugar on top of the muffins before they go in the oven. They will still be delicious!
- Use any fresh berries that you have available. A mix of finely-diced strawberries, blueberries, blackberries or raspberries would be perfect.
- Swap out the sour cream and use thick, full-fat, plain Greek-style yogurt.
- Lemon Blueberry Streusel Muffins: to give these muffins a powerful lemon punch, add 1 tablespoon of fresh lemon zest to the batter.
Tips for the Best Blueberry Streusel Muffin Recipe
- Use full-fat sour cream for a rich, moist muffin.
- Toss the blueberries with a little bit of flour so that they stay suspended in the batter and don’t sink to the bottom of the muffins.
- The key to a perfect muffin is just barely mixing the ingredients. You want them to come together, but a few lumps are fine. This way they’ll stay moist and tender!
- Fill the muffin cups nice and full to give the muffins those nice domes and a high rise.
- To check if the muffins are done, insert a toothpick into the center and make sure it comes out clean. Don’t cook them for too long, or they can dry out.
- This recipe yields 16 standard-size muffins. You can bake the batter in jumbo muffin tins for giant bakery-size treats. You’ll need to increase the total baking time to 30-35 minutes for the jumbo muffins. Similarly, you can bake the batter in mini muffin tins. The mini muffins will bake much faster, so they will only need a total of about 12-15 minutes in a 350° F oven.
More Blueberry Recipes to Try
- Old-Fashioned Blueberry Cobbler
- Blueberry Jam
- Banana Blueberry Smoothie
- Blueberry Scones
- Blueberry Bread
- Whole Wheat Banana Blueberry Muffins
Blueberry Streusel Muffins
Ingredients
FOR THE STREUSEL TOPPING:
- ⅔ cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 ½ tablespoons granulated sugar
- ¼ cup (½ of a stick) salted butter, melted
- Pinch of cinnamon
- Pinch of salt
FOR THE MUFFINS:
- 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, softened at room temperature
- 1 ⅓ cups granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup sour cream
- ½ cup whole milk
- 1 ½ cups fresh blueberries, tossed with 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour to coat
Instructions
MAKE THE STREUSEL:
- In a medium bowl, use a fork to combine flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar, melted butter, cinnamon and salt until crumbly. Set aside.
MAKE THE MUFFINS:
- Preheat oven to 425° F. Line 16 muffin cups with paper liners and set aside.
- In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to cream together butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape the sides of the bowl, as necessary.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla and mix to combine.
- In a large measuring cup, whisk together sour cream and milk.
- With the mixer on low speed, alternate adding the flour mixture and the sour cream mixture, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Mix just until combined, but do not over-mix. Gently fold in the blueberries.
- Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, filling each cup to the top. Sprinkle with streusel topping and gently press down.
- Bake the muffins on the middle rack at 425° F for 5 minutes. Then, do not open the oven door, but lower the oven temperature to 350° F. Bake for an additional 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for about 5-10 minutes; transfer to a wire rack.
Notes
- Use full-fat sour cream for a rich, moist muffin.
- Toss the blueberries with a little bit of flour so that they stay suspended in the batter and don’t sink to the bottom of the muffins.
- The key to a perfect muffin is just barely mixing the ingredients. You want them to come together, but a few lumps are fine. This way they’ll stay moist and tender!
- Fill the muffin cups nice and full to give the muffins those nice domes and a high rise.
- To check if the muffins are done, insert a toothpick into the center and make sure it comes out clean. Don’t cook them for too long, or they can dry out.
- This recipe yields 16 standard-size muffins. You can bake the batter in jumbo muffin tins for giant bakery-size treats. You’ll need to increase the total baking time to 30-35 minutes for the jumbo muffins. Similarly, you can bake the batter in mini muffin tins. The mini muffins will bake much faster, so they will only need a total of about 12-15 minutes in a 350° F oven.
I am absolutely floored at how good these are!!! So soft and fluffy. I grow my own blueberries and they are smaller than what you find at the store, so I could have probably put 2 cups or more in. But I’m not complaining, I do need self control to not eating all of them. Thanks for this recipe.
Thank you, Christine! I’m so glad that you like them. I bet they’re amazing with your homegrown berries!