These bakery-style lemon blueberry muffins with sparkling crowns were inspired by the famed Jordan Marsh blueberry muffins recipe. Jordan Marsh was an iconic department store in Boston up until Macy’s absorbed it in 1994. On the top floor of the store there was a dining room that served blueberry muffins that rivaled those made by the Ritz-Carlton. Woven into the fabric of daily life and childhood memories, they were beloved by thousands of loyal customers who looked forward to a little indulgence after a busy day of shopping and browsing.
Ingredients for Lemon Blueberry Muffins
These are the simple ingredients for bakery-style lemon blueberry muffins: good-quality butter, granulated sugar, lemon zest, freshly-squeezed lemon juice, pure vanilla extract, large eggs, all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt, sour cream, milk, fresh blueberries, and sanding sugar.
Jordan Marsh Blueberry Muffins
You may be wondering about the difference between the original Jordan Marsh Blueberry Muffins and this new elevated recipe. The department store used a mix of pastry flour and bread flour rather than all-purpose flour. The original muffins did not include lemon juice or lemon zest. The original recipe called for only 1 teaspoon of vanilla and 1/2 teaspoon salt. To make their batter moist and give it a light-purple tint, they squished 1/2 cup of the blueberries and folded that into the batter. Rather than milk and sour cream, they used only milk. The topping for each standard-size blueberry muffin? A whopping 2 rounded teaspoons of granulated sugar!
Blueberry Muffin Recipe
These are the recipe instructions for making delicious lemon blueberry muffins from scratch: Adjust the oven rack to the middle position. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Prepare a 12-well muffin pan by inserting paper liners and then set it aside. Cream the salted butter and granulated sugar together in the bowl of a stand mixer with the flat paddle attachment until it’s light and fluffy.
Add in the vanilla, lemon zest, and fresh lemon juice. Mix briefly. Add each egg one by one, mixing on low speed after each addition. In a small bowl, add the flour. Measure out one tablespoon of the flour from the bowl and reserve it. To the flour add the salt and baking powder. Whisk the dry ingredients well.
Add 1/3 of the dry mixture to the mixing bowl and mix on low. If needed, scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula. Add the sour cream to the sugar/butter mixture and blend on low speed. Add another 1/3 of the flour mixture and mix again. Add in the milk. Mix until fully blended. Add the rest of the dry ingredients and mix until incorporated.
Fluffy Blueberry Lemon Muffins
How to Make Blueberry Muffins
Rinse the blueberries and drain them well. Dust the blueberries in the tablespoon of reserved flour. This will prevent the berries from sinking down to the bottom of the batter. With a spatula, manually fold the blueberries into the batter.
You are now ready to scoop the muffin batter into the muffin pan! Evenly distribute the batter between all 12 muffin liners. Sprinkle the top of each muffin with 1/2 teaspoon of white sanding sugar. These large sugar crystals are fairly heat resistant and add a sparkly touch and beautiful texture to your bakery-style blueberry lemon muffins.
Best Blueberry Muffin Recipe
Bake your blueberry muffins for approximately 25 minutes, or until the tops are lightly golden and a cake tester run through the middle of two separate muffins comes out clean.
Easy Blueberry Muffins
Ahhh…just imagine your kitchen smell absolutely amazing, just like a bakery! My husband loves that smell when he walks through the front door after a busy day! Allow your lemon blueberry muffins to stay in the pan until they’re completely cooled.
Enjoy the first freshly-baked blueberry muffin with a small pat of butter! Mmmm…so delicious!
Best Kitchen Tools for Blueberry Muffin Recipe
These are the kitchen tools I used when making this yummy blueberry muffin recipe. When cooking and baking, my KitchenAid stand mixer is my best friend! I also love having a variety of thick absorbent dishtowels on hand. When cooking I try to use them instead of so many paper towels. I am completely in love with USA bakeware. Most of my goodies here on the blog are made using some type of USA pan. They’re heavy, high-quality and so darn lovely. I smile when I use them.
Lemon Blueberry Muffins
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 12 muffins 1x
Description
These bakery-style lemon blueberry muffins are incredibly scrumptious! The lemon zest and lemon juice added to the batter is like waving a magic wand over the muffins and brightening them up with a kiss of sunshine. The Jordan Marsh Blueberry Muffins recipe it’s inspired by calls for 2 full teaspoons of granulated sugar sprinkled on top. For this recipe we dial things down to 1/2 teaspoon of sanding sugar.
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (reserve one tablespoon of the flour)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 2 + 1/4 cup fresh blueberries, rinsed and well drained
- 1/2 cup high-quality butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 + 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice, freshly squeezed
- Zest of one large lemon
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup whole milk (or 2% milk)
- 6 teaspoons white sanding sugar crystals
Instructions
- Adjust your oven rack to the center position. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Line a 12-well muffin pan with paper liners. Set it aside.
- Add the flour to a medium mixing bowl, reserving one tablespoon of the flour for later. Add the baking powder and salt to the bowl. Whisk these three ingredients together well. Set the bowl aside.
- Rinse and drain the blueberries well. Pat them gently with a paper towel to remove more water. Add them to a medium mixing bowl with the reserved tablespoon of flour. Toss the blueberries in the flour so they’re well coated. This technique will keep the fruit from sinking down to the bottom of the batter. Set the bowl of floured blueberries aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy – at least two minutes. Add the vanilla, lemon juice and lemon zest to the bowl and mix them in. This technique is very important: One by one, add each egg to the bowl of the stand mixer, mixing well after each addition.
- The flour adding technique is also very important. Don’t just add in all the dry ingredients at once! Begin by adding 1/3 of the flour mixture to the wet ingredients. Mix on low speed until just combined. We don’t want to over-mix at any time or this will create a dense batter! Use a rubber spatula, as needed, to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Add the sour cream and mix again briefly. Add more of the flour mixture and mix until incorporated. Add the milk and mix again. Add the remaining dry ingredients and blend until incorporated.
- Remove the mixing bowl from the stand mixer. With a rubber spatula, manually fold the floured blueberries into the batter. Divide the batter evenly between the 12 muffin cups, generously filling each cup all the way to the top and a little beyond. Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon of white sanding sugar on top of each muffin.
- Bake for approximately 25 minutes or until the muffin crowns are a light golden brown and a cake tester inserted briefly into the center of two to three muffins comes out clean. Allow the muffins to completely cool down while still in the pan. Remove when they’re cool. Enjoy your freshly-baked lemon blueberry muffins!
Notes
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What is the best way to store muffins? Store muffins in a zip-top plastic bag with any excess air removed, or in an air-tight container. At room temperature in a cool dry environment, your muffins will stay fresh for 1-2 days.
Can muffins be refrigerated? When properly stored in the refrigerator in a sealed container, your muffins will stay fresh for up to one week.
How do you keep muffins from getting soggy? Before storing freshly-baked muffins in an air-tight container, allow them to sit uncovered on a baking rack for an hour or two. This will allow enough time for excess heat to escape (heat causes condensation) and for additional excess moisture to be evaporated. Line a container or resealable plastic bag with a paper towel or thin kitchen cloth. Arrange the muffins in a single row and then cover them with another paper towel or cloth. Seal the container.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Category: Breakfast, Brunch, Snack, Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: lemon blueberry muffins, blueberry muffins, lemon blueberry muffin recipe
HOMEMADE BLUEBERRY MUFFINS > PIN IT TO PINTEREST
Save this delicious blueberry muffin recipe for later. Pin it to Pinterest right now!
DELICIOUS BREAKFAST PASTRIES
These gorgeous CREAM CHEESE DANISH PASTRY are super quick and easy to make! You’ll feel just like Martha Stewart when you serve these scrumptious beauties at your next family brunch or get-together with friends. These yummy pastries are perfect for a holiday breakfast or anytime just because!
BAKERY-STYLE LEMON BLUEBERRY MUFFINS > JOIN THE CONVERSATION!
Do you enjoy eating freshly-baked muffins? What do you think about this quick easy recipe for bakery-style lemon blueberry muffins? I’d love to hear your thoughts! Join the conversation in the comments below.
Love these muffins! I made 36 of these and used frozen blueberries instead for budget purposes. They still turned out delicious! The only thing is the frozen blueberries dyed the batter blue but I thought this made them really pretty to have a white/ blue batter! Instead of sanding sugar, I just used a light sprinkle of granulated sugar on top of each muffin. I can see how creaming the butter and sugar until fluffy is crucial to this recipe. I highly recommend following the directions thoroughly step by step. Great recipe, would love to make again but maybe for a smaller crowd next time! 😂
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Hi – really looking forward to trying this recipe! I was just thinking about adding a lemon drizzle glaze to each to add some moisture, do you think I should leave out some of the lemon in the actual cakes so they’re not too lemony or just add the drizzle to the normal recipe?
Thanks,
Millie
Hi Millie. I love this delicious idea! I suggest adding the lemon glaze drizzle without changing the recipe.
5 star recipe according to my family!!! Just made these for the second time (in the oven as I type) and doubled the recipe so we can bring them to work to share! Hands down the best blueberry muffin recipe I’ve ever made! Thank you for sharing the recipe!
Woo-hoo! This is exactly what I love to hear! Amy, I’m so happy you and your family are enjoying this delicious recipe. Many wishes for a great weekend. – Denay
What can be substituted for lemon zest? Can I use lemon extract or lemon juice and how much?
Hello Fina. There are 3 great options! Use an equal amount of zest from another citrus fruit like an orange or lime. You can also use lemon extract. Here’s the formula: 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract = 1 teaspoon lemon zest. You can also use lemon juice. Here’s the formula: 2 tablespoons lemon juice = 1 teaspoon lemon zest. Happy baking!
I just got done baking these and they are SO good. I followed the recipe to the tee and they turned out perfectly. I would definitely recommend giving this recipe a try. Thank you!
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I made this recipe because it looked so easy and yummy! they turned out perfect, so flavory with the lemon and beautiful with the look of the blueberries thank you so much for sharing!!
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I love these muffins! Because I love lemon so much, would it be overkill to do a lemon glaze on top?
Hi Hannah! Happy Sunday. I’m lovin’ hard on the idea of lightly drizzling these yummy muffins with a delicious lemon glaze! Mmmm…Mmmm…that sounds good! Many good wishes are sent your way for a delightful week. :-)
These muffins are absolute perfection! Yum. Pinning to make this weekend.
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Yumm! These look so delicious! They’d be perfect for a brunch!
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Lisa, you’re absolutely right! These lemon blueberry muffins are a delightful addition to any brunch or breakfast table. Served on a cake stand they’ll have a beautiful presentation.
Thank you! I have been searching for an amazing lemon blueberry muffin recipe!
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These are tasty! A recipe I use on the regular!
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Kelsey, I loved hearing that this yummy blueberry muffin recipe has now become a staple in your kitchen! Thanks so much for stopping by to join the conversation.
Wow, it looks very delicious. I have pinned this recipe for making it later.
Melani, I’m so happy you found this scrumptious recipe for lemon blueberry muffins and pinned it to Pinterest! I can hardly wait until you make them and enjoy every last bite. Yum, yum!
Wow, nice! Blueberry Muffins are my fav. I ate this every week when I visited Starbucks. Of course, they don’t taste as good as this recipe. I’m going to pass your recipe to my mama to try out too. Cheers.
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I HAVE to try these! I love anything lemon, and these sound amazing. Definitely a project for this weekend. Thanks for sharing!
These sound so delicious! I need to try them! I love blueberry and lemon anything!
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Oh my goodness, these look so amazing! I always love the sugar crystals on top of a warmed bakery muffin! YUM!
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During the summer I crave both blueberry and lemon so I think these are perfect! Who doesn’t like an easy to bake muffin?
These are delicious! I love cupcakes and muffins. These are also cool housewarming gifts, and party delights.
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What a wonderful post! These look like amazing muffins. Thanks for sharing! :)
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These look delicious! I love fresh blueberries in muffins!
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You have me craving blueberry muffins now. I haven’t made them in a very long time. There’s nothing like the smell of freshly baked goods in the kitchen.
omg I want one of these! Im not the expert in baking but this looked easy to make! Must try this recipe soon! yum yum yum!
I love to bite into sticky berries and fruits in muffins and cookies. But I don’t know how to make them without having the fruit burnt (the part that comes out while baking). Thank you for the recipe.
Lemon Blueberry is my absolute favorite flavor! These look so moist and delicious. I’ll have to try this recipe in the future!
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I love blueberries. Thank you for sharing this recipe! It looks yummy, and I would love to bake some too!
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Lemon and blueberry together is aleays so refreshing. These look and sound delicious.
What a fantastic flavor! I love lemon and I love blueberry, so this is perfect for me. I nearly wanted to lick the screen. You take such great photos!
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I love the taste of lemons and blueberries. I made a lemon blueberry zucchini bread the other day.
Those muffins look absolutely scrumptious! I love it when my mama makes fresh homemade blueberry muffins and I get to enjoy one with some butter melted on it!
The way you explained how to make these delicious lemon blueberry muffins seems very simple and doable. Going to try this very soon.
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It just seems like it would taste good. Love the combination of blueberry and lemon. Sounds delightful.
I like the touch of lemon. That just seems like it would taste very good. I want to try this recipe. Yummy!
Truly the best blueberry muffins!!! I love that crunchy topping!
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These blueberry muffins look phenomenal! I need to make a batch for brunch this weekend!
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