Better than Starbucks Blueberry Muffins

Do you enjoy Starbucks Blueberry Muffins? We think these are even better! They’re moist, delicious, loaded with juicy blueberries and they rise up high, with beautiful domed tops!

When traveling, we often enjoy Starbucks Blueberry Muffins for a breakfast treat. I decided to try to come up with a copycat version and we think these are even better. All of our taste-testers agree!

And since we first published this recipe, back in 2019, we’ve had lots of new tasters and recipe testers. Here are a few of their reviews:

• Absolutely the best blueberry muffins…EVER! The batter is a bit thick, but don’t worry, they turn out AMAZING!!! Don’t cut the sugar they are perfect as is…not too sweet.
• My 10 year old son made these yesterday with my 78-year-old mother. All three generations confirmed that these were the best muffins ever. Thank you for a great recipe and even more for a great memory I’ll now have of my mom baking with my son.
• OMG, I’ve just made this (I used yogurt instead of buttermilk) and they turned out p-e-r-f-e-c-t! My family loved them! And I think they’re actually better than the actual Starbucks ones. Thank you Chris so much for this recipe. Greetings from Argentina!
• Absolutely delicious! Beautiful result, complete with high domed tops! I will never make any other recipe!

And the comments go on and on. I love that one reader shared that she used gluten-free flour and they turn out wonderful:

• I use Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 gluten-free flour with this recipe, and it comes out perfect every time.

So this has become my go-to recipe for other muffins too. I use the same base recipe for these Fresh Strawberry Muffins.

And also these fabulous Peach Crumble Muffins. It’s one of those never-fail recipes that always produces beautiful muffins with pretty rounded domes.

What ingredients are in blueberry muffins?

You probably have pretty much everything you need to make these Better than Starbucks Blueberry muffins. Besides blueberries, the ingredients for these muffins are common household staples; flour, sugar, butter, eggs, buttermilk, baking powder and soda and salt.

I tried some recipes calling for oil and some for butter and found that butter gave the muffins better flavor and a nice crumb texture. The butter is melted in this recipe so you don’t have to worry about taking it out of the fridge ahead of time to soften.

To me, there’s something magical about baking with buttermilk and I think Fine Cooking sums it up perfectly:

Buttermilk owes its success as a baking ingredient to its acidity. It’s not nearly as sour as lemon juice or vinegar, of course, but the milder lactic acid present in buttermilk makes it a real boon to bakers. A slightly acidic batter helps keep baked goods moist and tender by breaking down long, tough strands of gluten.

Its tartness adds a delicious but subtle tang to cakes and pastries and its thick consistency adds a rich, creamy quality to baked goods. The acid in buttermilk helps with leavening. Together with baking soda, it produces carbon dioxide, which why pancakes and other baked goods made with buttermilk rise much higher than those with regular cow’s milk.

Super easy!

I could tell you how easy these muffins are, with just one bowl and no mixer needed, but I think showing you is even better. So here’s a video of these Better than Starbucks Muffins being made:

See what I mean? So easy… so delicious!

How to get Bakery-Style High Domed Muffins

Several of the recipes I tried while working on these Better than Starbucks Muffins were good, but not so pretty. I love a muffin with a rounded, domed top in lieu of those that rise up, but then flatten and spill over the sides of the muffin cups.

So how do you achieve the high, domed tops? Well, part of it is the recipe itself and the proportions of flour, sugar and leavening agents, but there are a few tricks that help create these beauties:

• Make sure your baking soda and powder are fresh. If you don’t bake frequently, just replace them about every 6 months. They’re not expensive.
• Don’t overmix the batter. Use a spoon or spatula, never a mixer for making muffins. Use a folding motion to keep the batter light. Mix just until the flour disappears. In fact, it’s okay if there’s a tiny bit of flour that’s not mixed in.
• Don’t try to add more blueberries. One and a half cups is perfect for this recipe and yields a delicious muffin with plenty of fruit.
• Let the muffin batter sit for about 15 minutes before baking. This gives the gluten time to relax and the flour to be more absorbed by the liquid ingredients.
• Fill muffin cups fairly full, about ¼-inch from the top.
• Start muffins in a hot, 425˚F and bake for 5 minutes before reducing temp to 350˚F. Set a timer so you don’t forget (been there, done that)!
• Don’t be tempted to open the oven door to check the muffins. Rather use the window on the door and the oven light. You don’t want the temperature to suddenly drop.

A big bonus

In addition to being super delicious and really pretty, these muffins are WAY cheaper than the ones you buy at the green and white store. A Starbucks blueberry muffin is about $2.95. It will cost you less than $5.00 for a dozen of these Copycat Starbuck’s Blueberry Muffins. See what I mean? A big bonus (in addition to your kitchen smelling like a fine bakery)! Put this recipe on your Must-Make-Soon list!

Café Tips for making these Better than Starbucks Blueberry Muffins

• This recipe calls for Demerara or Turbinado Sugar for sprinkling on top of the muffins before baking. You’ll find these sugars in the sugar section of most larger grocery stores. Turbinado is also sometimes called “raw sugar”.
• No buttermilk? No problem. It’s easy to make your own and it won’t take more than a few minutes. Simply add 1 tablespoon of white vinegar (or lemon juice) to 1 cup of whole milk. Stir well and let it stand for 5 minutes. Voila! Faux buttermilk makes a great buttermilk substitute in baked goods.
• I usually make muffins without paper liners and then slip the muffins into papers if I want a pretty look when serving but if you prefer, line your pan with the papers before adding the batter.
• These muffins freeze well. Just freeze them on a plate uncovered. Once they are frozen (about an hour), transfer them to an airtight storage container or zippered bag. Thaw before serving.
• Use fresh or frozen blueberries for this recipe. I like to keep a bag of wild blueberries in my freezer so I can make these muffins or other blueberry recipes any time I want. Wild blueberries are smaller than the fresh berries you purchase at the market. I like them because the berries are more evenly distributed throughout the muffin.
• If you use frozen blueberries, leave them in the freezer until the last minute. Fold them in right before you scoop the batter into the muffin cups. If they thaw at all, the batter will get a little murky.

P.S. Want a good laugh? Check out this blueberry muffin recipe from the first few months of the blog back in 2011. I took my own pictures for these muffins. I think you’ll totally understand why I cook these days and Scott is the resident photographer! Then again, if you looked at Scott’s cooking you’d totally understand why I cook these days and he is the resident photographer, we’re quite symbiotic!!

If you enjoyed this recipe, please come back and leave a star rating and review! It’s so helpful to our readers to hear other’s results and ideas for variations.

5 from 27 votes

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Copycat Starbucks Blueberry Muffins

These easy, one-bowl, no-mixer muffins are similar to Starbuck's Blueberry Muffins. They're moist, delicious, loaded with juicy blueberries and they rise up high, with beautiful domed tops!

Author: Chris Scheuer

Course: Breakfast, Breakfast/Brunch

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Copycat Starbucks Blueberry Muffins, Starbucks Blueberry Muffins

Prep Time: 15 mins

Cook Time: 15 mins

Total Time: 30 mins

Servings: 12

Calories: 260 kcal

Ingredients

• ½ cup butter melted and cooled for 5 minutes
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• ¾ cup buttermilk I like whole buttermilk but low fat will also work
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 ½ cups fresh blueberries
• Turbinado (raw) or Demerara sugar

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 425F. Spray a 12 cup muffin baking pan generously with non-stick spray.
2. In a medium-large bowl, whisk the melted butter with the sugar then add the eggs and stir well to combine completely. Add buttermilk and vanilla. Stir again until well combined.

3. Sprinkle the flour with the baking powder, baking soda and salt evenly over the top and stir just until flour mixture is incorporated. Gently fold in the blueberries using a rubber spatula.

4. Scoop the batter into the 12 muffin cups and sprinkle each one with a scant teaspoon of Demerara or Turbinado sugar. Wait 15 minutes before baking muffins.

5. Bake for 5 minutes at 425˚F, then reduce the heat to 350˚F and bake for another 12-16 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Muffins will also spring back when lightly touched on the top when done.

6. Allow muffins to cool for 5 minutes then remove from pan to a cooling rack.

Calories 260kcal

Fat 9g

Saturated fat 5g

Cholesterol 49mg

Sodium 283mg

Potassium 173mg

Carbohydrates 40g

Fiber 1g

Sugar 19g

Protein 4g

Vitamin A 310%

Vitamin C 1.8%

Calcium 72%

Iron 1.5%

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