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:
Blueberry Cream Cheese Muffins — These FAST and EASY blueberry muffins are chock full of juicy blueberries and they’re filled with tangy-sweet cream cheese! You’re going to fall in LOVE with their super soft and moist texture! Perfect for breakfast, brunch, snacks, or dessert! No mixer required and you can use fresh or frozen berries.
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!
They taste amazing but somehow they don’t look like yours! I made all 24 and they are really small. :/ total operator error
Yes this recipe yields 12 normal sized muffins. You made twice that so yes I am sure they are very small. Glad they taste amazing.
The recipe is great as it says. I did use fresh blueberries. My boys 5yr and 3 yr twins are devouring them.
The recipe is great as it says. I did use fresh blueberries. My boys 5yr and 3 yr twins are devouring them.
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad your kids are devouring them!
I can’t wait to try this recipe. I love a blueberry muffin with a rich batter and it seems like this could be the one for me! I just have a question, when you say “lite” sour cream what is the fat percentage? The country that I live in doesn’t sell sour cream, but there are alternatives with a similar taste so I’m trying to gage the best one based on actual fat content. Thanks!
I would just use a full fat product then since it can get a little tricky to guess the fat percentages. Even in the US, lite products can vary quite a bit.
Can I use blueberries in can instead of frozen?
I would use either fresh or frozen but not canned.
Can I substitute yogurt for the soy yogurt for the sour cream? I have a customer that only wants me to use soy products. Thanks
I haven’t personally tried it but I think it will be ok.
Has anyone had success making the muffins Gluten Free?
I have tried a number of recipes over the last 12 months. This is by far the moistest. Even with oil, the others were always a bit dry. This recipe was easy and delicious.
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad these are the moistest and easy!
These came out perfect!! Great recipe!
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad they came out perfect!
Can you substitute bananas in the recipe and it still work?
I’ve only made it as written so can’t comment on what will happen if you start making changes.
Would you just post the recipe! I feel like I have to jump through hoops to get to the recipe! All I want is the extra moist blueberry muffin recipe that uses sour cream. I need baking time and temperature with a list of measured ingredients that is easily accessible. Thanks JD
You can always go to another website that suits your needs better if you are put off by having to scroll down and read my blog post before getting to the free recipe.
Calm down Judy! Averie – this recipe is my go-to. It’s simply fabulous. Thank you for the recipe. Love your blog!
Thanks for letting me know it’s your go-to recipe!
I made these today (7-30-17) and they were SPECTACULAR ! I have never made Blueberry Muffins before and followed the recipe to the letter except I did add about 1/2 cup extra blueberries and added some slivered almonds to the top, had to bake them a few extra minutes longer than it said but they melted in my mouth. This is definitely will do again! My DH thought they were excellent he ate 2 immediately!
Thanks for the great recipe!!
I made these today (7-30-17) and they were SPECTACULAR ! I have never made Blueberry Muffins before and followed the recipe to the letter except I did add about 1/2 cup extra blueberries, had to bake them a few extra minutes longer than it said but they melted in my mouth. This is definitely will do again!
Read some of the other reviews and don’t understand what the problem could be, I loved them!!
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great for you!
Quick question: if I want to make mini versions of these, how long do I hold them for, and at what temperature?
Keep the temp the same and being that I haven’t tried the recipe as mini muffins I can’t say for sure how long to bake. It’ll depend on your pan and just bake until done. Enjoy!
Sophie, I was looking to make these mini as well. Can you recommend a cooking time?
Hi, I want to try this recipe but I don’t have sour cream in my country, is it okay if I use buttermilk instead?
No because it would make the batter far too runny and the recipe is intended for sour cream.
Thanks for the recipe! Given that regular sour cream is about 20% butterfat, the recipe can actually be thought of as having 1 stick (8 tablespoons) of butter which I’m sure would account for some added richness. And light sour cream, with all its gums and stabilizers, probably tenderizes and moistens the final product, something you couldn’t get with natural ingredients. Thanks again!
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great for you!