[1] Homemade blueberry muffins are so much better than store-bought (photo © Taste Of Home).

[2] Use fresh blueberries whenever possible. If you need to use frozen berries, check out the tips below (photo © Elena Taranukhina | Unsplash).

[3] We love these buttermilk-blueberry muffins with streusel topping. Here’s the recipe (photo © The Baker Chick).

[4] Summer is peak blueberry season. Enjoy as many as you can (photo © Vino Li | Unsplash).

[5] You can turn sweet muffins into dessert sundaes (photo: The Nibble).

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.

> How to freeze the muffins.

> The difference between muffins and cake.

> The year’s 4 muffin holidays.

Elsewhere on The Nibble:

> The history of blueberries.

> More blueberry recipes.

> The year’s 11 blueberry holidays.

> All of the July food holidays.
 
 
RECIPE: TWIN MOUNTAINS BLUEBERRY MUFFINS

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

 
Preparation

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.
 
 
HOW TO USE FROZEN BERRIES

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.
 
 
The article continues below the photo.

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.
 
THE YEAR’S 4 MUFFIN HOLIDAYS

 
 
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MUFFINS & CAKE

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.
 

[7] Turn blueberry muffins into a sweet, pastry-like breakfast bread with the addition of lemon icing. Or, serve them for dessert with a scoop of ice cream and some fresh berries. See photo #5, above. Here’s the recipe (photo: The Nibble).

_______________

*You can substitute 1-7/8 cups of all-purpose flour, but pastry flour creates more tender muffins.
 
 

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Serve a fresh fruit tartlet with a matching sorbet. Here are the easy steps: Choose a pairing theme (mango, raspberry, strawberry or other fruit where you can buy or make a matching sorbet) and assemble the ingredients.

You can start by looking for inspiration at artisan sorbets±blueberry tarragon, strawberry basil, etc. But there‘s nothing wrong with a simple, everyday sorbet.

FRUIT TARTLET WITH SORBET

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. CUT the fruit into pieces that fit comfortably into the tartlet shell

2, ADD a light base of crème pâtissière or alternative (if using current jelly, pour it over the fruit). Top with fruit.

3. SCOOP sorbet onto plate; add tartlet; garnish and serve.
FOOD 101: TART VS. TARTLET

A tart is an open-face pastry with a base of plain or puff pastry dough. It is baked in a shallow tart pan that has either straight or fluted sides and a removable bottom, or in a metal tart ring placed on a baking sheet. The filling can be sweet or savory.

“Tart” refers to the full-size, multi-portion pastry, a cousin to the pie. Individual-size tarts are called tartlets; a mini tart (bite size) is also a tartlet.

Unlike a pie, a tart is removed from the tart pan or ring before serving. Here are all the differences between tarts and pies.
  

While we’re great fans of the original Mojito recipe, here‘s a variation from Cruzan rum, a distiller that makes both conventional and flavored rums on the Caribbean island of St. Croix:
 
COCONUT MOJITO RECIPE

Ingredients Per Drink

1. Muddle mint, lime and sugar in a cocktail shaker; top with rums and ice. Shake 2 times to mix.

2. POUR into glass. Top with coconut water/soda.

Variations

You can add cranberry juice to make a Cranberry Mojito, or muddle raspberries for a Raspberry Mojito.

For more intense coconut flavor, check out the Coquito Mojito, a recent winner in a Florida cocktail competition.

And if you love beets, try this Beet Mojito.

 
MOJITO HISTORY

The mojito (moe-HEE-toe) is a quintessential Cuban cocktail. The name derives from the African voodoo term mojo, to cast a small spell.

The drink can be traced to 1586, when Sir Francis Drake and his pirates unsuccessfully attempted to sack Havana for its gold. His associate,* Richard Drake (a possible distant relative), was said to have invented a mojito-like cocktail known as El Draque, “The Drake.” It was made with aguardiente, a crude forerunner of rum, sugar, lime and mint.

Around the mid-1800s, rum was substituted and the cocktail became known as a Mojito.
 
FIND MORE OF OUR FAVORITE COCKTAIL RECIPES.
*His position was “factor and prize agent.”
  

An easy Pavlova. Photo by Irina Kupenska |
IST.

The Pavlova consists of a meringue base topped with fresh fruits. Most people buy the meringue shells at bakeries, but ambitious bakers can make their own.

In addition to individual meringue shells, the meringue can be shaped into cake layers that are alternated with fruit, for a spectacular effect (just check out “Pavlova meringue” in Google Images).

According to chef Herbert Sachse of the Hotel Esplanade in Perth, Australia, the “Pavlova” was born at the Hotel 1935. According to Hotel legend, it was named at a meeting at which Sachse presented the cake: either the licensee, the manager, or Sachse remarked, “It is as light as Pavlova,” who had been a guest of the hotel during her 1929 tour. Years later, Sachse stated in an interview that he sought to improve the Meringue Cake recipe that he found in the Women’s Mirror Magazine, which was contributed by a New Zealand resident. (Source: Linda Stradley, What’s Cooking America.)
While the desert is light and airy for summer, it can be tailored to every season:

 
FIND MORE OF OUR FAVORITE DESSERT RECIPES.