Lemon Blueberry Muffins
Lemon and blueberry is a combo made in heaven, not to mention the numerous health benefits of blueberries from brain support to glowing skin. Make them white or whole wheat. Be sure to aerate your flour before measuring. - Jenny Jones
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Makes: 12 muffins
Ingredients:
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup + 1 Tablespoon sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- zest of two large lemons
- 1 cup reduced fat buttermilk
- 1/3 cup + 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 heaping cup fresh blueberries
- Glaze (optional):
- 1/3 cup powdered sugar + 2 1/2 tsp. lemon juice
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 400° F. Grease a 12-cup muffin pan or insert paper liners.
- Combine the dry ingredients & lemon zest in a bowl. Set aside.
- In another bowl or a measuring cup, whisk together the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla.
- Fold buttermilk mixture into flour mixture. Gently fold in blueberries. Batter should be lumpy so don’t over-mix.
- Divide batter evenly between muffin cups. Bake for about 20 minutes.
- For glaze, combine powdered sugar & lemon juice. Let muffins cool for 5 minutes and brush glaze on warm muffin tops.
No buttermilk? See Substitutions in my blog.
For A Whole Wheat Version use 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour + 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour.
Can you use frozen blueberries or do you need to thaw them first. I freeze my own blueberries when they are in season.
Another great recipe, Jenny! I just love all your recipes. You are my number one go to for recipes (shhh… even before mom lol) . Love you YouTube videos. Big fan
Thank you for all you do here.💕
As a lifetime whole wheat baker, I’m learning to bake with white flour, as my son-in-law can only eat white flour goods. Your white-flour recipes, Jenny, are a godsend as I navigate this new, pale-flour world. Today I made these muffins, and they are delicious. As I often do, I substituted live-culture yogurt for the buttermilk. While I would prefer the rich taste of buttermilk, the yogurt did the job. But the lemon zest! It fairly bursts on the palate. What a delight. Regrettably, I had no time for the glaze, which I know would have added that extra dimension of taste and texture. Still, the grandkids and their dad didn’t miss what they didn’t know!
I had to come back and update my comment…oh my goodness thank you Jenny!! The recipe turned out well even for me and that’s a big deal because this is only the second thing I’ve ever baked ( and I don’t think pre-made cookie dough really counts). I even forgot to mix all the wet ingredients separately and I used your substitute with the half sour cream and half 1% milk for buttermilk. The glaze is fantastic and my 5 year old said it’s better than the ones we buy from our local bakery which means the world. Big hugs, thank you!
✅ I updated this recipe to use only all purpose flour with the option of whole wheat. It seems whole wheat pastry flour is very hard to find during the pandemic.
I found your YouTube channel during the pandemic. My mom and I watched and loved your talk show back in the day. Thank you for the amazing recipes dear Jenny—whenever I think of something I’d like to make I check here first and I’ve recommended your channel even to relatives in Australia and Hungary!
I threw some cinnamon and nutmeg in as well
Love love love this recipe! They just came out of my oven and are delicious. This recipe is a keeper!
Ran to the store to pick up what ingredients that i needed to make this and saw the fresh blueberry muffins and ate them, maybe next week. I’m so weak!!!!
Just made a half batch (onesie household) — not only so scrumptious –these muffies are Beautiful!!
*Small tip to the eggless-baking types; I used Bob’s Red Mill “Egg Replacer” (a powder, just add water), and these lemon blueberry muffins rose high and light. Also, made the half whole-wheat pastry flour version — and used lemon yogurt mixed with whole milk as a substitute for buttermilk. Will buy some dry buttermilk for future batches.
Another thank you, Jenny.!
I used Unsweetened Almond Milk! AMAZING!!
Running to the grocery store to buy buttermilk but excited to tackle another one of your recipes Jenny!!
Buy a can of dry buttermilk and keep it on your shelf. That way buttermilk is always on hand.
Great tip, thank you!
Yes! That’s what I always keep on-hand! We have The Saco Pantry’s Cultured Buttermilk Blend available around here.
Finally found whole wheat pastry flour, muffins were so good, I did use frozen Wymans blueberrys from Maine, did the rinsing, blotting dry, flouring method and they came out so well, no bleeding whatsoever, the glaze was a plus, never did that before, I prefer smaller berries rather than cultivated ones, but did use 1 1/2 cups, wonderful recipe, thanks for sharing?
Hi Jenny, I love these muffins and have made them several times. I was wondering if I could bake them in two mini loaf pans? Let me k ow what you think. I have made several of your recipes and love when new ones are posted! Thanks for sharing all your recipes with us!!
I was thinking same thing Karen! I don’t see why not … just adjust your cooking time probably to 45 mins??
I just popped them in the oven. Made them exactly as the recipe said to make them. I love your recipes. They aren’t loaded with butter and the oil makes everything quite tasty.
Today I had blueberries I wanted to use and I started looking at recipes and all of a sudden I thought ‘check out Jenny Can Cook I bet she has a recipe for Blueberry Muffins’. Sure enough.
Thanks again. BTW I’m once again thinking about your Oven BBQ Ribs. I am inviting the kids over for dinner next time I fix them.
Thank you for the great recipes Jenny.
May I know what is whole wheat pastry flour? Thank you!
This should explain it: https://www.jennycancook.com/flour-basics/
I have a packet of frozen blueberries – do you think they would work in this recipe?
It’s not so simple to switch from fresh to frozen blueberries but you can make muffins with frozen berries. Here is some info you should know first: http://www.kingarthurflour.com/blog/2013/09/08/too-blue-the-secret-to-baking-with-frozen-blueberries/
Can I replace the butter milk to sour cream? Cos i can’t get butter milk here.
Please see my blog posting titled “Substitutions” – https://www.jennycancook.com/category/substitutions/
If I using store bought butter milk, leftover butter milk must keep in refrigerator or freezer? Can keep in how long and defrost at fridge or at room temperature?
You can keep buttermilk for about a month in the refrigerator. Otherwise, it freezes well. It’s a good idea to freeze it in 1-cup portions and then thaw it in the refrigerator overnight. Then to re-use it just stir it up first.
Thank you!
I saw many comments say butter milk is make from real butter.. What do you think? So, the substitute butter milk is 1 cup of milk+ 1 teaspoon of vinegar or lemon juice right? Isn’t safe to make food?
Buttermilk is made from butter and is great for baking. If you don’t have it you can safely make your own substitution. Please see my blog posting “Substitutions” category: https://www.jennycancook.com/category/substitutions/
Hi Jenny,
All of these recipes look fantastic. Only issue is I’m British..so have no idea about the amount you talk about when you are saying ‘cups’ do you know what weight this would be in grams etc?
I am also thinking of making these without the blueberries and adding poppy seed instead. Do you think this will work?
Thanks
I never expected so many international visitors but I put a metric conversion chart in my blog to help with ingredients: https://www.jennycancook.com/category/a-metric-conversion-chart/ As for using poppy seeds, it sounds like it would work.
I love your baking, so yummy. I made the lemon brownies yesterday.. I’m glad to say they didn’t last long. Now to try the muffins. Thank you so much for the conversion chart. It’s been very handy. Freya
Jenny, i have a few questions to ask you, can I use sunflower oil for this recipe and other recipes? Can replace the baking soda to baking powder? Baking soda isn’t necessary must discard after one month opening, can continue using after one month? My muffin pan only have six, so must i reduce the temperature and timing?
Sunflower oil can be used to replace any oil in my recipes. Baking powder can not be substituted for baking soda as they have different functions. Baking soda reacts with acid ingredients to give a lift to baked goods. Baking soda should have a one to three-year expiration so it does not make sense to discard after one month. And with a 12-cup or 6-cup muffin pan, the time and temperature would stay the same.
Thanks a lot for answering my questions 🙂 you are wonderful, cos you will reply to anyone of us, some people will not like you, that’s why I like you so much, keep up the good work Jenny 🙂
Hi Jenny can I subsitute saskatoon berries for the blueberries?
I had to look them up and it appears that Saskatoon berries can be used to replace blueberries in many recipes so they should be good in muffins too.
What do I use instead of buttermilk? I’m lactose
The reason buttermilk is so good for baking is its acidic nature, which makes muffins and pancakes light and fluffy. You could try to make your own buttermilk with lactose-free milk. If you google lactose free buttermilk and you’ll find some recipes for making your own using either lemon juice or vinegar. I hope that works.
Hi Jenny,
Can I just pour the batter into separate cups like cupcake? The same result right?
I always bake cupcakes and muffins in the same pan but if you have individual cups, you can bake these muffins in them as long as you have twelve. If you have less cups, you may have to increase the baking time. Just a note: muffins and cupcakes are very different. Cupcakes and more light and cakey and muffins are more like a quick bread. So don’t expect this batter to result in light and fluffy cupcakes. You would need a different recipe for that.
This recipe was AMAZING, I had used self rising flour so it subtracted a few ingredients and substituted the blueberries for apples covered with cinnamon. It came out really good :0) with the help of your awesome recipe!
What do I use in place of whole wheat pastry flour?
I know that can be hard to get. If you use regular whole wheat flour the muffins may be too dry and tough. In that case, just use all purpose flour for the whole recipe.
what if I dont have wheat pastry flour? Should I replace it with all purpose flour 1 cup too?
You can replace the one cup of whole wheat pastry flour with one cup of all purpose flour. This means you would use a total of 2 1/2 cups of all purpose flour for the whole recipe.