Blueberry Muffins Recipe For National Blueberry Muffin Day
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Updated July 2026 July 11th is National Blueberry Muffin Day. If you’ve never made blueberry muffins from scratch, today’s the day. Use seasonal fresh blueberries. There’s nothing like the real deal. Most commercial blueberry muffins use frozen blueberries, which can get watery when baking at home. The technique for fixing that is below. The creator of this recipe is unknown, but it appeared in early versions of the Fanny Farmer Cookbook. Our Nana used it. The recipe is not in recent editions of the cookbook, but you can purchase a reprint of the Fannie Farmer 1896 Cook Book. Below: > Recipe: Twin Mountains Blueberry Muffins. > How to use frozen blueberries. > The difference between muffins and cake. > The year’s 4 muffin holidays. Elsewhere on The Nibble: > The year’s 11 blueberry holidays. > All of the July food holidays. The name references the Twin Mountains in Franconia, New Hampshire, a pair of mountain peaks called North Twin and South Twin in New Hampshire’s White Mountains. Fanny Farmer, who became the principal of the Boston Cooking School in 1891, originally titled her book The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book in 1896. In that first edition the recipe is listed as “Twin Mountain Muffins,” a basic muffin without inclusions. The blueberries were a subsequent adaptation. New England readers would have been familiar with the Twin Mountains. The name likely worked much like Maine Blueberry Muffins or Cape Cod Cranberry Muffins: It gave readers a sense of place and signaled a rustic northern New England blueberry tradition. Ingredients 1. PREHEAT oven to 400°F. COMBINE 1-1/2 cups flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar in a mixing bowl. In a second bowl combine eggs, milk, and butter. In a third bowl, sprinkle 1/2 cup flour over the blueberries. 2. POUR the egg mixture over the flour mixture. Stir only enough to dampen the flour; the batter should not be smooth. Gently stir in blueberries. 3. SPOON into buttered muffin tins. The batter should fill each muffin cup two-thirds high. Bake for 15 minutes. To freeze fresh blueberries for muffins without them becoming watery or bleeding too much juice into your batter, you can use the flash-freeze method combined with a few baking techniques. Frozen berries can become watery when defrosted. Here are tips for the best results with any type of berry: 1. WASH the berries and ensure they are completely dry by patting them with paper towels or—ideally—letting them air dry on a clean kitchen towel. Any residual moisture will turn into ice crystals that cause sogginess later. 2. SPREAD the dry berries in a single layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet, making sure they aren’t touching, and place the tray in the freezer for about two hours until they are frozen solid. 3. TRANSFER the frozen berries to a freezer-safe bag or airtight container, which prevents them from clumping together and allows you to measure out exactly what you need. When you’re ready to bake… 3. DO NOT THAW the berries: This is when they release most of their liquid and become watery. Instead, take them directly from the freezer and toss them in a small amount of flour (a tablespoon or two taken from the recipe’s total flour amount) to help them stay suspended in the batter and absorb excess moisture during the bake. 4. GENTLY FOLD the frozen, floured berries into the batter at the very last second and get the muffins into the oven immediately to ensure the best texture and appearance. |
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 [6] If you want to make blueberry muffins for friends, consider decorative muffin pan liners (photo: The Nibble). HOW TO FREEZE THE MUFFINS Blueberry muffins freeze very well when stored properly. Directions typically say “up to 3 months,” but we’ve kept them frozen for much longer. 1. COMPLETELY COOL the muffins to room temperature. Freezing them while warm can cause condensation and lead to sogginess or freezer burn. Once cooled… 2. WRAP each muffin individually in plastic wrap or aluminum foil to maintain moisture (we do both for each muffin). 3. PLACE the wrapped muffins inside a heavy-duty freezer bag, squeezing out as much air as possible before sealing. When you are ready to eat… 4. THAW the muffins at room temperature for about an hour. If you want a warm muffin, zap it in the microwave for 15 seconds. You can also reheat the muffins directly from the freezer to the microwave for 30-45 seconds. We’ve tried both and prefer thawing first. To use a conventional oven, preheat to 350°F (175°C) and bake the frozen muffins for 10-15 minutes until warmed through. Muffins are often referred to as “small cake-like breads” and quick breads, but this explanation needs to be rethought. As recipes have evolved over time, the sugar and butter content of many muffins put them into the cake category—more precisely, the cupcake category. Many of them can pass as un-iced cupcakes. That’s why you can serve them for dessert. Cut the muffin in half, toast it lightly if you wish, and top it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, or mascarpone. _______________ *You can substitute 1-7/8 cups of all-purpose flour, but pastry flour creates more tender muffins. CHECK OUT WHAT’S HAPPENING ON OUR HOME PAGE, THENIBBLE.COM. |
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