Old-Fashioned Blueberry Muffins

Last updated on December 18th, 2024

These Old-Fashioned Blueberry Muffins are tangy, tender, and bursting with freshly picked summer blueberries. Here in the Midwest, blueberries are now in season and ready to be made into delicious summer baked goods like muffins, scones and pies.

Vintage Inspiration: I’ve gone back to my roots and taken my great Aunt Ruth’s vintage recipe for Old-Fashioned Blueberry Muffins and baked them modern swapping out methods and ingredients. Aunt Ruth worked for a prominent family that owned a department store in West Virginia. This is where she mastered her baking skills and created several recipes that have been passed down within our family.

How to make Old-Fashioned Blueberry Muffins

INGREDIENTS

blueberries (fresh or frozen):

These blueberry muffins are delicious year-round, however, they taste even better with fresh hand-picked blueberries. After picking the berries, put them in them in an air-tight container and store in the fridge for 1-2 weeks. To freeze them, place berries on a 1/2 sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Do not wash them as their natural coating helps preserve them. Spread in a single layer and freeze for 1 hour. Place berries in ziploc bags or vacuum seal them for up to 8-10 months.

Avoid mushy or fruit stained muffins:

Before adding the berries to the batter, toss them in a bit of flour or cornstarch. Mix together all the ingredients and then fold in the berries by hand as the last step. This will ensure that the blueberries will be evenly incorporated and not sink to the bottom or turn your batter into blue mush.

How to zest and juice a lemon:

Using lemons in baked goods will offer a bright, zingy flavor and their natural acidity will activate leaveners like baking soda and baking powder to ensure they rise. Put lemons on the counter the day you plan to use them as room temperature lemons yield more juice than ones straight out of the fridge. Always remember to zest your lemon before you juice it. The easiest way to zest a lemon is to use a Microplane. To juice the lemon, use a hand-held lemon squeezer or a vintage style glass citrus reamer with bowl.

BAKER’S TIPS

How to prepare the muffin pan:

Aluminum muffin pans are best since they conduct even heat. I prefer to use vintage muffin pans or modern Nordic Ware. You can choose to spray the pan or use natural muffin liners. Even when using muffin liners, I always lightly spray the muffin pan before I put the muffin liners in to prevent the muffins from sticking in case they spill over. Fill your muffin liners at least 3/4 of the way full to ensure they will rise above the liner when baked and come out bakery style.

Old-Fashioned Blueberry Muffins

Old-Fashioned Blueberry Muffins are moist and full of fresh picked blueberries and a bit of zing from the lemon zest and sour cream.

Servings 12

Ingredients

DRY INGREDIENTS

• 1 ½ c. unbleached flour
• 2/3 c. sugar
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• ½ tsp. salt

WET INGREDIENTS

• ⅓ c. oil or melted butter
• 1 egg
• ½ c. sour cream or milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla

MIX-INS

• 1 T. lemon zest
• 1 ½ c. blueberries toss in flour

Instructions

• PREP
• Toss blueberries in flour and set-aside. Zest lemon and set aside.
• Line muffin pan with muffin liners, or spray with non-stick spray.
• MAKE BATTER
• Whisk together dry ingredients flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in bowl.
• Add oil, sour cream, egg, vanilla, and lemon zest and mix well.
• Gently fold in blueberries by hand and mix together.
• Scoop batter into muffin liners ¾ full. Brush tops with cream or milk and sprinkle with course sanding sugar.
• Bake at 375° for 10 minutes. (oven time may vary). Reduce oven to 375° and bake for 10-13 minutes. Let cool and store in air-tight container.

Notes

Blueberries: Both fresh or frozen blueberries work in this recipe. If you use frozen berries do not let them thaw too long prior to making batter, as they could turn batter blue. Be sure to toss blueberries in gluten-free flour prior to mixing in the batter. This ensures that they will be evenly distributed throughout the batter.

GLUTEN-FREE:

Storage: Gluten-free baked goods do not have the same shelf-life as conventional baked goods. Store in airtight container on counter 1-2 days, refrigerate 3-5 days, or seal in plastic and place in freezer safe container for up to 6 months. When freezing, allow to come to room temperature before opening the container.

Gluten-Free Baking Tips: If time allows, be sure to let the batter rest as hydrating the gluten-free flour is an important step to help eliminate grittiness. You can make batter ahead and store in the fridge up to 1 week until use.

DIETARY SUBSTITUTIONS
• In place of the sour cream or milk, use unsweetened oat, coconut or almond milk.
• To replace the egg, add 1 tsp. soda to the batter with 1 T. vinegar poured on top of the soda.

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: American

Keyword: muffins

Please let me know how it turned out for you! Leave a comment below and tag @vintagebakedmodern on Instagram and hashtag it #vintagebakedmodern