Moist Sour Cream Blueberry Muffins — These are hands down the best homemade blueberry muffins EVER. They’re fluffy and moist thanks to the addition of sour cream in the batter. Not to mention they’re bursting with fresh blueberry flavor. These are bound to be your new favorite muffins!
Table of Contents
Moist Blueberry Muffins with Sour Cream
It’s been about a year since my last blueberry muffin recipe. So I began my seemingly annual quest to create the softest, moistest, and best blueberry muffins.
For a jumping off point, I turned to one of my favorite cookbooks for classic recipes, The New Best Recipe from the editors of Cook’s Illustrated.
It’s a 900+ page Bible and if you don’t have it, it’s well worth the $20 bucks for a classic cookbook with so many recipes, and all tested a million different ways right down to what does an extra egg yolk or one extra quarter cup of sugar do to the final result.
The blueberry sour cream muffins have a buttery soft crumb and are dense enough without being heavy, nor are they airy or cake. A great balance of density and lightness.
With all those blueberries staring back at you, these babies are hard to resist.
And you can never have too many blueberry muffin recipes.
Ingredients for Sour Cream Blueberry Muffins
Making blueberry muffins with sour cream is so quick and easy! Gather the following ingredients:
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Pinch of salt
- Egg
- Granulated sugar
- Unsalted butter
- Vanilla extract
- Sour cream
- Frozen blueberries
How to Make Blueberry Muffins with Sour Cream
This recipe for blueberry muffins with sour cream is very straightforward and easy to follow. Here are the basic recipe steps:
- In a large bowl, add the flour, baking powder, and salt and whisk until combined.
- In a separate large bowl, whisk egg until light in color, then add granulated sugar and whisk vigorously until thick.
- Slowly add melted butter to the egg-sugar mixture, followed by the vanilla and sour cream.
- Add frozen blueberries to the flour mixture, tossing lightly with a spatula to coat them.
- Then slowly add the egg-sour cream mixture to the flour and blueberries. Use a spatula to gently fold the batter together.
- Divide the batter between 12 greased muffins cups and bake until muffins are set, and soft yet springy to the touch.
- Allow muffins to cool in pan for about 15 minutes before carefully removing.
How to Tell When Blueberry Muffins Are Done
With over 1 cup of sour cream and a very moderate 350F oven, the homemade blueberry muffins cook for 30 to 35 minutes, much longer than typical muffins.
Watch your muffins and not the clock because baking times will vary based on the berries, sour cream, pan size, climate, and oven variances.
The muffins don’t get very golden on top so don’t judge doneness by the color of the tops. They should be springy to the touch and do a toothpick test.
Tips for the Best Blueberry Muffins
I added a few pinches of turbinado sugar to the tops before baking and while it’s almost imperceptible in terms of taste and texture, it helps the muffins achieve a more golden appearance on the tops.
These blueberry muffins get better as they cool because you can really appreciate the abundance of juicy berries in every bite, adding to the overall moisture quotient amidst the fluffy interior.
If desired, you can replace the blueberries with another favorite berry of yours.
Blueberry Muffins FAQs
Yes! I made these blueberry muffins with frozen blueberries since they’re readily available and inexpensive. Not being reliant on fresh berries in the dead of winter is nice. I also added more than the Cook’s Illustrated recipe.
No, keep the berries frozen when adding them to the batter because they run and bleed less if kept frozen. They’re tossed in the dry ingredients and coating them helps prevent them from sinking as much while baking.
I haven’t tried with fresh blueberries but the baking time would be reduced, but I’m not sure by how much. Because there’s almost 2 cups of frozen blueberries in the batter, the pan and batter are very cold going into the oven.
Although I normally swear by buttermilk (or Greek yogurt) and oil to keep cakes, muffins, and quick breads moist, there’s no buttermilk, oil, and only 1/4 cup of melted butter in these blueberry muffins. Pretty amazing! The secret to keeping the blueberry muffins so moist and soft is sour cream. It works wonders to produce wonderfully tender and rich muffins.
Yes! I used lite sour cream with success. I wouldn’t use fat-free because you need some fat for moisture, but lite worked just fine.
I don’t recommend using milk instead of sour cream in this recipe. Milk would make the batter too runny, and then you’d have to add more flour to balance everything out — and who knows what other tweaks you’d have to make by that point!
Most likely, yes! You’d want to use plain Greek yogurt, preferably full-fat.
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The Best Sour Cream Blueberry Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- pinch salt, optional and to taste
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ¼ cups sour cream, I used lite
- 1 ¾ cups frozen blueberries + more for sprinkling on tops*
- about 2 to 3 tablespoons turbinado sugar or sparkling sugar for sprinkling tops, divided
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a Non-Stick 12-Cup Regular Muffin Pan with floured cooking spray (I prefer the cosmetic look of not using liners so I didn’t); set aside.
- In a large bowl, add flour, baking powder, optional salt, and whisk until combined; set aside.
- In a separate large bowl, whisk egg until well-combined and light-colored, about 20 seconds.
- Add 1 cup granulated sugar to the egg and whisk vigorously until thick and homogenous, about 30 seconds; set aside.
- In a small microwave-safe bowl, melt the butter, about 30 seconds on high power. Allow butter to cool momentarily, about 1 to 2 minutes.
- Slowly add the butter to the egg-sugar mixture, whisking while adding it; or add it in 2 to 3 additions, whisking after each addition until mixture is combined.
- Add the vanilla and whisk until combined.
- Add the sour cream and whisk until smooth and combined, don’t overmix; set aside.
- Add 1 3/4 cup frozen blueberries to the flour mixture, tossing lightly with a spatula to coat them. This helps prevent berries from sinking while baking.
- Slowly add the egg-sour cream mixture to the flour-blueberries and fold using a spatula until batter comes together, the berries are evenly distributed, and most of the flour bits are folded in (some small spots of flour can remain); don’t overmix. Batter will be quite thick.
- Using a large cookie scoop or cooking-sprayed heaping 1/4-cup measure, equally distribute batter in prepared pan until all batter is gone and has been distributed equally.
- Top each cup with about 2 blueberries (creates a nice visual appeal).
- Top each cup with a generous pinch of turbinado or sparkling sugar. This encourages tops to become more golden while baking.
- Bake for about 30 to 35 minutes (I baked 34 minutes), rotating pan once midway through baking. Bake until muffins are set, cooked through, soft yet springy to the touch, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, or with a few moist crumbs but no batter. Because the moisture content in the sour cream and the blueberries varies, as do pan sizes, climates, and ovens, bake until done; watch your muffins and not the clock. The frozen berries really cool down this batter, and due to the moisture content and heaviness of the sour cream, these muffins take longer than most to cook. The tops don’t get very golden and they stay quite pale so don’t judge their doneness by the color of the tops.
- Allow muffins to cool in pan for about 15 minutes before carefully removing; use a paring knife to help dislodge any stubborn ones.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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More Easy Blueberry Muffin Recipes:
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Healthy Blueberry Muffins — These easy blueberry muffins are made with Greek yogurt instead of butter, and there’s only a little vegetable oil and sugar in these. Don’t worry, these don’t taste healthy at all!
Vegan Blueberry Muffins — These are the BEST blueberry muffins I’ve ever had, vegan or otherwise. An avocado replaces the butter (and much of the oil) you’d typically add to muffin batter.
Blueberry Muffin Tops — If you like to eat just the tops of your muffins, you’re going to LOVE this EASY recipe for soft and tender blueberry muffin tops bursting with juicy berries in every bite!! Only 1/2 cup sugar in the entire batch!!
Flourless Blueberry Banana Muffins — No flour or oats, no butter, and no added white or brown sugar yet they’re incredibly moist, super soft, perfectly sweet, and are bursting with blueberries.
Blueberry Muffin Cake — This fast and easy cake tastes like a big buttermilk pancake that ran into a blueberry muffin on the way to the oven. It’s fluffy, tender, and moist from both the buttermilk and sour cream that’s incorporated into the batter!
OH HOT DAMN! These are my jam!!!! Keep me baking… Til the A.M.! Averie, this recipe rocks my socks in every way. These muffins are insanely delicious!! I added a cinnamon crumble topping and I’m in heaven. You rock girl!!!! Thank you for the recipe!!!
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great for you! Your cinnamon crumble topping sounds wonderful, too!
These turned out great and my roommates loved them. I think next time I will double the sugar make them more sweet, but they are still delicious.
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great for you! Sometimes certain blueberries are just more tart than others so sometimes you do need a little extra sugar :)
I’m not much of a cook…I usually beeline it for the boxed mixes, but since your directions were so clear, I thought I’d give it a shot. Of course, only eleven of the 12 could fit into my container to give to a relative today, so I had to test one! It was delicious! I followed all of your directions, except I omitted the sugar on top (didn’t have any of that type on hand) and I added about 5 blueberries on top. Thanks!
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great for you!
Hi! These are amazing, do you have the nutritional information for them??
No I don’t. Glad you love them!
Just tried these and they came out great! They taste fantastic… and the texture is amazing! Thanks so much for posting. I can always count on your recipes :)
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great for you and that you can count on my recipes! Thank you for saying that!
In.cre.di.ble! I followed the recipe exactly, except that I used fresh blueberries. These were wonderful. Thank you for the recipe.
Glad they came out incredibly well for you!! :) Thanks for trying the recipe!
This recipe works and it’s amazing. I’m a terrible baker but these are the first “professional” looking and tasting muffins I’ve produced. I followed the recipe as close as I could except I didn’t have blueberries so I used dried cranberries soaked in boiling water for a few minutes. Also used Russian sour cream. Thanks a lot for this recipe.
Glad they came out great especially since you call yourself a terrible baker. I doubt it! Anyone who thinks to sub dried cranberries in boiling water for a few mins to mimic blueberries is an awesome baker :) Glad the muffins came out great for you!
I love these muffins a lot and so do my kids. So I’m just wondering- have you tried using different fruits like banana or apple? Do you think they would work with this batter?
Btw, I froze a few mini muffins as a standby for breakfast, popped them in the toaster for 3 min and they were still soft and fluffy!
Great call on freezing/toaster for standby breakfasts and so glad these are a hit with everyone.
I haven’t tried this exact recipe with other fruit. I would be inclined to use other berries rather than apples or bananas. If you need muffin recipe inspiration, I have all kinds from apple to banana to strawberry here! https://www.averiecooks.com/category/bread/muffins-bread
I just made these last night. I must say that I was really afraid how they would turn out as the batter after mixing was really sticky. But they turned out super! I made mini ones for my twin toddlers who gobbled up two minis at breakfast. I’ll be making these again.
I’m happy to hear everyone is pleased & that you’ll make them again!
Turned out great ! Baked for 25 minutes with fresh wild berries . I added a small amount of a crumb topping. So much for my diet.
Glad they turned out great! Your crumb topping and wild fresh berries sound like such a treat – YUM!
Hi, the amount of baking powder seems alot. Can I clarify is it 1 tablespoon or tsp? The recipe looks great! Thanks!
It is 1 tbsp and that’s not excessive for this recipe because the batter is very heavy from all the sour cream so you need something to really lift it. Make as written, you’ll love them!
These were THE best blueberry muffins I ever made!! My hubby raved about them! Very moist. The only sub I made was 1/2 cup coconut sugar and 1/2 equivalent of Stevia extract to cut down on the carbs. I also used coconut sugar for the tops. AND I used fresh blueberries. This is a keeper! Thanks.
Thanks for trying the recipe, Bonnie, and glad they were the best blueberry muffins you’ve ever made! So happy they got rave reviews! And using half coconut sugar/half stevia to reduce carbs along with coc sugar on top, sounds great!
This batter is soooooo thick… I did add raspberries and blueberries but did everything else the same… Except I had full fat sour cream… I will let you know how they turn out in about 30 minutes. I couldn’t get the batter fully mixed though or it would have been pink and purple!
Tried these…mine turned out awful! they were dry and were not as sweet. Keep in mind, I substituted the sour cream for Greek Yogurt, two 5 oz containers. I omitted the toppings (sugar and decorative blueberries). Dunno, if the toppings were ‘making or breaking’ the muffins, but sorry, awful…could just be me. Used fresh blueberries too….
I adapted the recipe from Cooks Illustrated, which tests their recipes literally hundreds of times before they publish them in their cookbook so I’m sorry they didn’t work out for you, but it’s perhaps because you did make a few changes from what I did. I do think that Greek yogurt is not quite the same in keeping things moist as sour cream is so I would stick with sour cream which is what I called for in the recipe, and then if you were finding them not as sweet, maybe it’s because you omitted the sugar topping and sounds like you needed that…and/or your blueberries could have just been less sweet than mine. I would make the recipe exactly as I wrote it and I doubt you’ll encounter the same issues. Thanks for trying your version of it though!
I can’t wait to make these muffins. I make a version of this but not with sour cream. These are calling my name.
If you try these, LMK how they go for you!
Sour cream does wonderful things to baked goods. I’m so excited fresh blueberries are just starting to come into season.