Blueberry Muffins With Sour Cream

I often find blueberry muffins so disappointing; they either lack real fresh blueberries, or they are too sweet, or just crumbly.

I have spent the last few months in search of the perfect blueberry muffins, and now I can happily report that these are the ones!

Packed with real blueberries and perfect batter, these blueberry muffins are just divine. They are easy to make, they are not too sweet, and they are bursting with blueberries in every bite.

The addition to these muffins is sour cream, which makes the difference between classic muffins and those that are super delicious and perfectly moist.  

Making The Muffins (Overview)

I’ll give you a full recipe with ingredients and step-by-step instructions at the end of this article, but here’s a brief explanation so you know what you’re getting yourself into first.

Most muffin recipes are built on the muffin method. This method consists of mixing dry and liquid ingredients in separate bowls, then combining these two. The muffins we have today are made in a single bowl.

The mixture is more similar to the cake method; the dry and liquid ingredients are both added to the butter-sugar-egg mixture, and all are mixed in a single bowl.

Once you have the batter, fold in the fresh blueberries, and make sure to do it very gently.

Fresh Vs. Frozen Blueberries

Both fresh and frozen blueberries work great in muffins. I made these muffins with both types, and I had a really hard time telling the difference in flavor. However, there are some differences in how they interact with the batter. 

Fresh blueberries are easy to work with; you just fold them into the batter, and you’re done. They are sturdy and they do not break. Peak season blueberries also taste wonderful and are a great addition to any cake or muffins. 

However, off-peak blueberries can lack flavor. Something like this will never happen with frozen blueberries because they are picked at the peak of their ripeness. 

Now, the issue that comes with the frozen blueberries is that they can color your batter.

The unbaked batter has a beautiful color, but once baked it can turn into something kind of purple-grey-green color that does not look appealing (unless you want to add blue-purple or indigo food coloring to make it look like the blue is purposeful).

So, if you want to use frozen blueberries in these muffins, make sure to add them when they are completely frozen and bake the muffins immediately. 

The color of the batter can be also affected by its acidity to alkaline features. The alkaline batter, or plain batter, can turn your blueberries a bluish-green color, while the acidic batter (like this one because it has sour cream) can turn your blueberries reddish-purple. 

Preventing

As mentioned, the easiest way is to use fresh blueberries. This issue may happen only with the frozen blueberries, because of the juices that bleed into the batter.

So, always use frozen blueberries, and I even like to spread them onto paper towels just to grab some of the extra moisture before use.

When you place them on a paper towel and cover and roll for 20 seconds, you can see that much of the color (I assume it is that some may be coated with juices) stays behind on the paper towel.

Toss the blueberries with some flour, not only to prevent them from sinking into the batter but also to prevent color transfer on the batter and you will be good to go.

Key Steps For Making Blueberry Muffins

Use oil or melted butter; the base of these blueberries are oil (or melted butter) and sour cream. These ingredients will make your muffins moist. For some extra flavor, you can use butter.

Do not over-mix; as you already know, you should try not to over-mix the batter. Over-mixed batter will result in dense muffins. 

Lemon zest is a must; lemon balances the sweetness of the muffins and makes the flavor of blueberries even brighter.

Make sure to look for organic lemons for the perfect amount of zest. If you cannot find these, then choose either dried lemon peel or freeze-dried lemon peel.

How To Serve And Store Blueberry Muffins?

Nothing can beat freshly baked blueberry muffins and these are best served with some tea or a glass of milk. The leftovers will keep well at room temperature for a few days.

My favorite way to serve these muffins is to cut them in half and toast or set them under a broiler for a few minutes, and then slather them with butter. This is my version of a perfect breakfast.

Blueberry Muffins With Sour Cream

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