Lemon Blueberry Muffins

Inspired by my wildly popular loaf cake with the same flavors, these Lemon Blueberry Muffins are bursting with bright, summery flavor. They also turn out remarkably tender thanks to my secret ingredient: Greek yogurt.

Meggan’s notes

In the pastry program at culinary school, we learned how nearly all quick bread recipes can be converted into muffin recipes. With that opportunity in mind, I developed these Lemon Blueberry Muffins based on my Blueberry Lemon Yogurt Cake. Compared to the loaf cake, these muffins can be yours in about half the time.

The secret to these muffins is the Greek yogurt. Add it to your batter with the wet ingredients for soft, moist muffins every time.

When it comes to blueberries, fresh or frozen blueberries are both approved. If using frozen blueberries, leave them frozen right up until the moment you are going to stir them in. Then, fold them in with as few strokes as possible. If you do see some residual purple streaks in the batter, they likely won’t bake up that way. In my experience, lemon muffins made with frozen berries look the same as those made with fresh blueberries.

Recipe ingredients

At a Glance: Here is a quick snapshot of what ingredients are in this recipe.
Please see the recipe card below for specific quantities.

Ingredient notes

• Baking powder: Instead of yeast, quick breads such as loaf breads, muffins, biscuits, and scones use chemical leavening agents, in this case baking powder (baking soda is another example).
• Yogurt: In addition to vegetable oil and four large eggs, yogurt is the key element to yielding a remarkably moist crumb. Use Greek yogurt, regular yogurt, whole milk yogurt, or even sour cream. I prefer plain, but bet vanilla or lemon-flavored yogurt would be just fine, too.
• Lemon: You’ll just need the lemon peel (aka zest) for the batter. Once you’re done zesting the lemon, slice it open and reserve the fresh lemon juice to use in salad dressings, cocktails, lemon glaze for cakes or cupcakes, or skillet dinners.
• Vegetable oil: Any neutral oil, such as avocado oil, rapeseed oil, sunflower oil, or canola oil, works just fine as a substitute.
• Blueberries: Fresh or frozen blueberries; either will do. If using frozen blueberries, leave them frozen right up until the moment you are going to stir them in.

Step-by-step instructions

1. Move an oven rack to the middle position and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin pan with muffin liners and coat with nonstick cooking spray. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together sugar, yogurt, eggs, zest, and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in 3 batches, whisking to incorporate after each addition. Fold in oil and stir carefully until uniformly combined. Fold in the blueberries and stir until just incorporated.

3. Divide the batter into the prepared muffin pan and bake for 25 to 30 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove from the oven and cool in the pan for 5 minutes.

4. Remove muffins from pan and cool completely on a wire rack set over a baking sheet.

Recipe tips and variations

• Yield: This recipe makes 12 muffins.
• Storage: Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 days.
• Freezer: Wrap muffins tightly in a double layer of plastic wrap, label, and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature.
• Switch up your fruit: Lemon and blueberries are lovely partners, put the pretty blue-purple orbs aren’t your only option. Feel free to fold in halved raspberries, halved pitted cherries, cranberries, or any small dried fruit you desire.

Meggan Hill is a classically-trained chef and professional writer. Her meticulously-tested recipes and detailed tutorials bring confidence and success to home cooks everywhere. Meggan has been featured on NPR, HuffPost, FoxNews, LA Times, and more.