Blueberry Almond Streusel Muffins

This is the best Blueberry Almond Streusel Muffin you’ll ever taste. I’m not, “pretty sure of it,” I’m positive. Because I make muffins on a regular basis, I was always trying to find new ways to make them better. It’s all in the mixing, this one was nailed a decade ago and has been my ace-in-the-hole ever since.

The standard method used for making muffins is called the Muffin Method. This recipe is made using the same method I use when mixing cakes. As a result, these Blueberry Almond Muffins are more like a coffee cake as opposed to a weak-bodied muffin. They’re the Arnold Schwarzenegger of muffins, in fact. 

Let’s pump you up. 

What do I need to Make these Blueberry Almond Muffins?

First things first, you’ll need a muffin tin to bake the muffins in. If you are a fan of darker, crunchier muffins (no muffin wrap or liner), you’ll only need pan grease. Since I love a wrapped muffin- because I like light, soft sides- I use parchment muffin/cupcake cups to line my pan with.

For the batter you’re going to use a dry mix: all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt, and a hint of ginger. A wet mix, which is made up of milk, sour cream, and almond extract, will be added along with the dry to the base mix. The base of our Blueberry Almond muffin is made of sugar, an egg, and unsalted butter. I recommend Danish Creamery butter, of course.  Fresh blueberries, or thawed frozen blueberries, will finish out the muffin batter.

To top the muffin, use my easy to make Streusel Topping with Slivered Almonds recipe. 

Begin by preheating your oven to 375°F. Then, line your greased muffin tin with your muffin liners (or don’t). 

Combine the Dry Ingredients

Preventing a muffin tragedy- known in the baking world as “tunneling”- is as easy as mixing your muffin batter in steps. Tunneling is exactly what it sounds like: elongated and irregular holes which form inside of the baked muffins. Tunneling is caused by overmixing. Not only is tunneling ugly, it causes the muffins to have a tough texture. 

Begin the mixing by combining the all-purpose flour, baking powder, ground ginger, and salt together in a mixing bowl. Use either a whisk to mix the dry ingredients together or a sifter to mix everything together while simultaneously incorporating air into the mixture. This will later contribute to a light, tender crumb in the muffins.

Set this bowl aside. 

Mix the Wet Ingredients Together

In the second stage, you’re going to combine the wet ingredients, the milk, sour cream, and pure almond extract, together. Use a whisk to blend the three together, in a mixing bowl, until smooth. Set this bowl to the side while you begin building the batter’s base. 

The Creaming Method

You’re going to treat the rest of the mixing as if you’re making a cake. Because, technically, you are making a cake. A coffee cake, but a cake, nevertheless.  Again, most muffins are made using the Muffin Method. Dry ingredients are mixed with all of the wet ingredients. Done and done. While that’s a perfectly acceptable method to use when making these blueberry almond muffins, we want something more. I introduce you to: The Creaming Method [insert fanfare here]. The Creaming Method begins with a lighter-than-air buttery base and alternates the dry and wet to create a thick batter. This batter bakes up to create a tender, fluffy cake, or muffin. Ta-freaking-da!

In a large mixing bowl, use your electric hand mixer, or a stand mixer, to blend together the butter and sugar. Blend them on medium speed for 6 or 7 minutes, or until they are pale yellow and fluffy. Add the egg to the mixture and continue blending on the same speed for an additional 3 to 4 minutes. It’s nearly impossible to overblend at this stage, but it’s entirely possible to undermix. The name of the game is light and fluffy when you’re trying to achieve a tender, airy muffin. 

Finish the Batter, Alternating the Wet and Dry

Once you’ve unlocked the light and fluffy level, you’re going to gradually add the remaining ingredients. Always begin and end with the dry mixture. That means: separate the dry ingredients (mentally) into thirds. Just eyeball it. Add a third of the dry mix to the sugar-butter mixture.

Blend in the flour on low speed until it’s mixed in. Don’t overdo it. This is when we want to be conservative with the mixing. The more you mix flour, the more gluten will develop. The more gluten that develops, the tougher the muffins will be. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the beaters before proceeding.

When it comes to dividing the wet ingredients for mixing into the batter, we’re only dividing it in half. So, add half of the wet ingredients to the bowl and blend on low speed. Again, blend just until the batter is smooth. Scrape everything down once more. 

Add the remaining dry, then the last of the wet, followed by the last of the dry ingredients. Scrape down both the bowl and the beaters in between each addition. This scraping down of everything is crucial in achieving a well-balanced muffin batter. 

It’s Going to be THICK

This batter isn’t going to look like any muffin mix from a box, my friend. The mixed blueberry almond batter should have the consistency of a thick buttercream icing when you’re done mixing. 

Finish the Blueberry Almond Muffin Batter

Remembering not to overmix the batter, use a rubber spatula to gently fold in the fresh blueberries. You can use frozen blueberries, too, just make sure you’ve thawed them and strained off any excess juice. While some bakers say the use of frozen blueberries, without thawing them, is the same as using fresh berries, I disagree. I find that frozen blueberries make the interior of the muffin gummy and gross. So, don’t do that with mine. Save all that for them “uhvah” blogs. 

Okay, so fold the blueberries into the batter, just until you see a blueberry in every bit of batter you scan. 

You’ll need to store the finished batter in the fridge or bake your muffins immediately. You can also freeze this batter, as is, for up to 6 months.

To bake, use a #12 portion scoop (2 3/4 ounces or 1/3 of a cup) to scoop the muffin batter into your prepared muffin tin. Give the filled pan a few raps on the countertop to settle the muffin batter down into the muffin cups.

Here’s a tip to create those Instagram worthy muffins- push 3 or 4 blueberries onto the top of each muffin. It’s an old bakery trick that makes it look like those muffins were baked by God Himself. 

Sprinkle, then Bake the Blueberry Almond Streusel Muffins

For the “Streusel” part of this Blueberry Almond Streusel Muffin recipe, dump a tablespoon of this Streusel Topping with Slivered Almonds onto the top of each muffin. I say, “dump,” because that’s exactly what you’re going to do. It doesn’t need to be pretty or precise, because the muffins are going to do their own thing in the oven anyway. 

Pop your muffin tin into the preheated oven and bake the muffins for 20-25 minutes. The muffins are ready to come out of the oven when the surface bounces back when pressed with your fingertips. Be sure to press the surface of the muffin and not a clump of streusel. You can also check if they’re done by inserting a toothpick into the center of a muffin. If it comes out clean, they’re ready to be pulled from the oven.

Leave the muffins to cool, in the pan, for 5 minutes. Carefully transfer them from the muffin tin to a cooling rack and allow them to cool further. 

Serve the Blueberry Almond Streusel Muffins Now, or Freeze for Later

Now my favorite way to enjoy these muffins is to slather them with salted, sweet cream butter while they’re still steaming. Like, “burn the crap outta my mouth,” hot. For some reason, that gives me warm fuzzies. 

You can let yours cool to a sane, edible temperature, or be a savage like me. I’m definitely not here to judge you. 

However, or whenever, you eat them be sure to store any leftovers in an air-tight container. I usually pop my leftover blueberry almond muffins into a food storage bag. They keep at room temperature for 2 days, but anything longer than that, I recommend storing them in the freezer. 

Seal them in a freezer-safe storage bag for up to six months. When you’re ready to thaw them out, you can do so on the countertop. 

To give thawed (or stale-ish) muffins back their flair, just pop them into the microwave for 15 seconds. 

Be sure to pin this Blueberry Almond Streusel Muffin recipe to your Breakfast or Brunch boards and share with your friends. Remind them that it’s the best they’ll ever had because I said so! 

Blueberry Almond Streusel Muffins

Marta Rivera at Sense & Edibility

5 from 13 votes

These muffins have a coffee cake texture and mixing method, which I prefer over the traditional muffin method.

Servings: 1 dozen

Print Pin Recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 17 minutes mins

Total Time 32 minutes mins

Equipment

• muffin tin
• #16 portion scoop (optional)

Ingredients

  

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• 2 1/2 cups (300g) all-purpose flour
• 5 1/4 teaspoons (18g) baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 3/4 teaspoon (4g) kosher salt
• 1/2 cup (125ml) whole milk at room temperature
• 1/2 cup (113g) sour cream at room temperature
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure almond extract
• 3/4 cups (150g) granulated sugar
• 1 1/3 sticks (150g) unsalted butter (11 tablespoons) at room temperature
• 1 large egg
• 1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries (or thawed frozen blueberries)
• 1 1/2 cups Streusel Topping with Almonds

Instructions 

• Preheat your oven to 375°F. Line a greased muffin tin with muffin liners or use as is. 

Combine the Dry and Wet Mixtures Separately

• In a mixing bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking powder, ground ginger, and salt together in a mixing bowl.

  Set this bowl aside. 
• In a separate bowl, stir together the milk, sour cream, and pure almond extract until smooth.

  Set this bowl to the side as well. 

Mix the Batter

• In a large mixing bowl (you can also do this in your stand mixer), use your electric hand mixer to blend together the butter and sugar on medium speed for 6 or 7 minutes, or until the mixture is pale yellow and fluffy.
• Add the egg to the mixture and continue blending on the same speed for an additional 3 to 4 minutes.
• Add the dry and wet mixtures to the bowl, alternating each addition, beginning and ending with the dry mixture. For example: add 1/3 of the dry, 1/2 of the wet, 1/3 of the dry, the last of the wet, then the last of the dry.

  Be sure not to overmix after each addition. Blend on low speed just until it's mixed in. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the beaters after each addition is blended in.
• The final, mixed batter should have the consistency of a thick buttercream icing when you're done mixing. 

  Use a rubber spatula to gently fold in the blueberries until the batter is spotted with berries.
• Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin tin, using a #16 portion scoop (2 3/4 ounces or 1/3 of a cup). Give the filled pan a few raps on the countertop to settle the muffin batter into the muffin cups.

  Tip: push 3 or 4 blueberries onto the top of each muffin. This is an old bakery trick that makes the muffins extra pretty. 

Bake, then Cool the Muffins

• Top each muffin with a tablespoon of Streusel Topping with Slivered Almonds.

  Bake the muffins for 20-25 minutes, or until the surface bounces back when pressed with your fingertips.
• Allow the muffins to cool, in the pan, for 5 minutes before carefully transferring them to a cooling rack to continue to cool. 

  Serve as is or topped with butter.

Notes

Store leftover muffins at room temperature in an air-tight container or in a food storage bag. The muffins will keep at room temperature for 2 days.

If you plan to keep the muffins longer than 2 days, freezer storage is recommended. Seal the cool muffins in a freezer-safe storage bag for up to six months. When you're ready to thaw them out, do so on the countertop. 

To give thawed (or stale-ish) muffins back their flair, just pop them into the microwave for 15 seconds. 

Nutrition

Calories: 3393kcalCarbohydrates: 679gProtein: 76gFat: 40gSaturated Fat: 19gCholesterol: 287mgSodium: 4419mgPotassium: 1205mgFiber: 21gSugar: 211gVitamin A: 1355IUVitamin C: 23mgCalcium: 1918mgIron: 32mg

Course Mornings

Cuisine North American

Keyword baking, blueberry, mornings, muffins, nuts

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