Blueberry Muffins — tall, tender and bursting with berries

i. Origin & history

The blueberry muffin is American. Blueberries are native to North America, and Indigenous peoples used them fresh and dried long before European settlement. Muffins in the American sense — small, sweet, cake-like breads baked in individual cups — became possible with the spread of chemical leaveners in the nineteenth century: first pearl ash and baking soda, then baking powder from the 1850s onwards. Recipes for berry and blueberry muffins appear in American cookbooks, especially from New England, by the late nineteenth century.

The word muffin itself is older and English. In Britain it originally meant a flat, round yeasted bread cooked on a griddle, split and toasted — what Americans call an English muffin. The American muffin borrowed the name for a quite different thing. When the American-style muffin became popular in Britain from the 1980s onwards, largely through coffee chains, the two meanings had to coexist, and 'blueberry muffin' in Britain always means the American cake-like version.

Blueberry muffins became the classic American muffin in the twentieth century, aided by the growth of cultivated highbush blueberries, frozen fruit and packet mixes. Their status is such that in 1988 the blueberry muffin was adopted as the official state muffin of Minnesota.

Over time, muffins grew. Early recipes made small, modest breads; modern bakery muffins are large, sweet and domed, closer to cake. The recipe here aims for the bakery style — high, craggy tops and plenty of fruit — while keeping the tender, slightly bready crumb of a proper muffin.

ii. Why you should barely mix the batter

Muffins use the muffin method: dry ingredients in one bowl, wet ingredients in another, combined with as few strokes as possible. The reason is gluten. Wheat flour forms gluten when it is mixed with liquid, and the more it is stirred, the stronger and more elastic that gluten becomes. In bread this is desirable; in muffins it produces a tough, rubbery crumb riddled with long vertical tunnels. Stopping when there are still a few streaks of flour and lumps in the batter gives a tender result.

The dome comes from heat and batter thickness. A thick batter holds its shape as it rises, and a hot initial oven — around 220 °C for the first few minutes — makes the baking powder react and the outside set quickly, pushing the batter up into a tall dome before the oven is turned down to bake through. Filling the cases to the top also helps produce bakery-style tops.

Resting the batter for 15–30 minutes, or even overnight in the fridge, also improves the dome. The flour fully hydrates and thickens the batter, and the baking powder starts working slowly. Many bakeries make their batter the day before.

Blueberries can sink or bleed. Tossing them in a spoonful of flour helps them stay suspended, and frozen berries should be added straight from the freezer and folded in at the last moment so they do not stain the batter purple.

iii. Ingredients

Makes 12 servings · scroll the side panel to adjust

• 300 g plain flour, plus 1 tbsp for the berries
• 2½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
• ½ tsp fine salt
• 175 g caster sugar
• 1 lemon, finely grated zest
• 2 large eggs
• 200 ml buttermilk or plain yoghurt thinned with milk
• 100 g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 2 tbsp neutral oil
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 250 g blueberries, fresh or frozen
• 2 tbsp demerara sugar, for the tops

Buttermilk or yoghurt adds tang and tenderness and reacts with the bicarbonate for extra lift; whole milk works, but omit the bicarbonate. Butter gives flavour and a little oil keeps the muffins moist for longer. Small wild blueberries distribute better and bleed less than large cultivated ones; frozen are fine. Lemon zest brightens the blueberry flavour without making the muffins taste of lemon. The demerara topping gives a crunchy, sparkling crust.

iv. Method

1. Heat the oven to 220 °C (200 °C fan, 425 °F). Line a 12-hole muffin tin with tall paper cases.
2. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt, caster sugar and lemon zest.
3. In a jug, whisk the eggs, buttermilk, melted butter, oil and vanilla until combined.
4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and fold together with a spatula in no more than 10–12 strokes, until just combined; a few lumps and flour streaks are fine.
5. Toss the blueberries in 1 tbsp flour and fold them in with 2–3 more strokes. If time allows, rest the batter for 15 minutes.
6. Divide the batter between the cases, filling them to the top. Sprinkle with demerara sugar.
7. Bake for 5 minutes, then, without opening the door, lower the oven to 190 °C (170 °C fan, 375 °F) and bake for 15–18 minutes more, until risen, golden and a skewer comes out clean.
8. Cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack.

v. Tips & common mistakes

• Undermix the batter. Lumps are good. Overmixing develops gluten and makes tough, tunnelled muffins.
• Start hot, then lower the heat. The initial blast at 220 °C creates the tall dome; the lower heat bakes through without burning.
• Fill the cases to the top. Half-filled cases give small, flat muffins.
• Use frozen berries straight from the freezer. Thawed berries collapse and turn the batter purple-grey.
• Toss berries in flour. A light coating helps keep them from sinking to the bottom.
• Do not overbake. Take them out as soon as a skewer comes out clean; muffins dry out quickly.

vi. Variations

Streusel blueberry muffins add a crumble topping of butter, flour, sugar and cinnamon. Lemon-glazed muffins are drizzled with lemon icing. Wholemeal or oat muffins swap part of the flour. Raspberries, blackberries or chopped cherries can replace the blueberries.

For other American-British bakes, see strawberry shortcake and apple pie. Blueberries feature in berry crumble tart, and for another breakfast treat try maple pecan pancakes or Belgian waffles.

vii. Serving & storage

Blueberry muffins are best warm or on the day they are baked, for breakfast, brunch or with mid-morning coffee. They need nothing more, though a little butter on a warm muffin is a pleasure.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature, lined with kitchen paper to absorb moisture, for up to 3 days. Refresh in a 160 °C oven for 5 minutes. They freeze very well for up to 3 months; thaw at room temperature or warm from frozen in a low oven. Unbaked batter keeps, covered, in the fridge overnight.

ix. More from British & Irish

• Strawberry Shortcake — biscuits, berries and cream
• Apple Pie — double-crust classic
• Berry Crumble Tart — crumble-topped berry tart
• Shortbread — Scottish butter biscuit
• Maple Pecan Pancakes — breakfast stack
• Zucchini Bread Pudding — courgette bread pudding