Browned Butter Blueberry Muffins
There are three things I want you to take away from this post. No foolin’ around… I’ll get straight to the point.
One. You’ll want to stop by tomorrow if you think you might like to be one of those people that attends my (holy heck yes!) summer party. It’s in August. It’s for real.
Two. You know that part of the pedicure when the lady at your feet goes to it with a pumice scrub? It’s at that point that I have to try with every ounce of who I am, not not not to kick her in the face. I’m ticklish. Extremely. Now you know.
Three. These blueberry muffins are (yes) perfect. Straight forward. Simple. Summer. One whole hell of a lot better than the stale coffee shop version… perfect. How often do I say something is perfect? Not often. Fact.
Browned Butter Fresh Blueberry Muffins
adapted from The Gourmet Cookbook
makes 12 glorious muffins
7 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1/3 cup whole milk
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups fresh blueberries
For the Topping
3 Tablespoons cold, unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3 1/2 tablespoons sugar
Put a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line muffin pan with paper or foil liners
Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Keep an eye on the butter. Melt and cook down the butter until little brown bits appear in the pan. The crackling will subside and butter will begin to brown fairly quickly after that. Keep a close eye. Remove from heat.
Whisk milk, egg, yolk and vanilla until combined. Add the brown butter and stir to combine.
Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl Add milk and butter mixture all at one and stir gently to combine. Gently but thoroughly fold in the blueberries.
Divide the batter among muffin cups and spread evenly.
To make the topping combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and rub together with your fingertips until crumbly. Sprinkle evenly over the batter in the cups.
Bake until golden and crisp and a wooden pick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, about 18-20 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack for 15 minutes then remove from the pan. Serve warm or at room temperature.







179 Comments Add A Comment
Gosh, these look so good. Blueberries are just coming into season here and I always snatch them up while I can never really thinking about what exactly I’ll do with them. Perhaps starting with these for easy summer breakfasts would be good. Thanks Joy!
Hey tickle-ish lady, those muffins are bookmarked! :)
This is definitely on my to-do list for the weekend – thanks for giving me something to look forward to! Oh, and you’re not the only one who has to avoid kicking the poor pedicure lady in the face; I have that problem too. If you ever figure out how to deal with it better, let me know!! ;)
Joy,
First, I love your humor-it makes your baking even more delish somehow. And, second I LOVE the fact that your cupcake/muffin tins look like mine, worn with age and showing signs of overuse but still creating beautiful baked goods! The pictures of your muffins were beautiful. They look great-can’t wait to try them! I made some blueberry cupcakes yesterday w/ blueberry frosting–must be the cupcake/muffin “de jour” lol! I wish I lived closer so I could attend the picnic AND get a pedicure with you–I have the same dilemma-curse those ticklish feet! Thanks for another great recipe filled with beautiful photos, great looking food, and downright humor and honesty! u rock!
Perfect for summer. These can be baked in my mini-cooker outdoors on the screen porch! Thanks so much for the summer food help, and one more in a string of lucious recipes. A Joy Party? That would be one where WE repay YOU by bringing wonderful things to eat from OUR kitchen to YOU, right? Hope it’s a wonderful day for you. You certainly deserve it.
I just made blueberry muffins last night BUT I am sending them all in to work with the hubs AND I still have a pint of blueberries left over in the refrigerator! Any ideas what I am going to be doing with them???? Thanks for sharing!
Hi Joy,
This looks like a great recipe. Is there any chance you could start adding metric equivalents for your British readers? Also, can I substitute buttermilk for wholemilk because I’m intolerant to whole milk?
Thanks!
mmm these look so much better than the skanky coffee shop type that I always end up buying – stale and kinda dry. Will definitley try making these as a treat! yum :)
Oh, I adore blueberry muffins. Love the topping!
was looking for the perfect blueberry muffin recipe & now i found it!
fact:love your blog!
fact: love your photography!
fact: your recipes are treasures!
Oh maaaan, Joy. I JUST made some “Blueberry Boy Bait” on Tuesday (Smitten Kitchen creation, and it’s yummmmmmmy!) But now? Well, now all I want are your blueberry muffins.
They look delightful.
I tried out your vegan cake recipe, it was amazing! Thank you so much for sharing.
Katie xox
Um, I want to make these right now. Oh, and I am totally with you on #2. I have to try very very hard not to jerk my foot out of their hands.
I love anything with brown butter. That is how I make scrambled eggs. I brown the butter first! I will definitely try these. Thanks for the recipe and beautiful photos. And, I never have the pumice done. I literally start to sweat when they try.
thank you, THANK YOU, Joy for that little print button!
click!
Hey Joy! It’s pretty easy to see that you love blueberries & muffins :-) How would you rate the browned butter muffins compared to regular? How does the browned butter make it taste different? Thanks!
i’ll take 12 :)
YUM.
I want to eat all 12 for breakfast, please.
Yummmmm, Wow!! Those look amazing!! Your recipes make me happy – even the ones that I probably would not try (I am a picky, Plain Jane!!). Thanks so much for sharing =)
There are already like, a bazillion good things about blueberry muffins. But then you add browned butter? a whole ‘nother level :)
Everything is better with browned butter.
I’ll be making these tomorrow, they look amazing.
Hi,
I love this post because last time I got a pedicure, I did kick the lady in the face. It was an accident. She just got really wild with the pumice. I didn’t hurt her, but I bought a ped-egg to do my feet at home, because I am afraid to go back.
My husband just said last night “You havn’t made blueberry muffins for a long time.” Indeed I have not, and mostly because I havn’t found THE blueberry muffin recipe to end all recipes. This looks like it might be THE ONE. Can’t wait to make them. Thanks mindreader Joy the Baker. Something to add to your resume.
JOY!!! Oh, how I’ve missed dropping by here. My excuse is sweetly lame – first pregnancy that throws everything off – but I realized very quickly how much I missed reading and drooling and loving all things food. So I’m here. Hopefully it won’t be another three months before I get to read about perfect muffins and apple pie granita (my universe might implode on that one), but it’s lovely to be here today. Off to read more. Have a great day…
Oh man! These look so good! I just made blueberry muffins for the first time not long ago. This might be my chance to try out some different ones, and decide which will be my go-to recipe for blueberry muffins.
They do indeed look perfect! Blueberry and butter what a heavenly combination!
I too am extremely ticklish and am embarrassed to say that I HAVE kicked a poor woman in the face before. It was a total accident, but she didn’t heed my “I’m really ticklish” warning. Yummy looking muffins, by the way.
I am all about browned butter. I just made a banana cake with a browned butter frosting (basic butter-and-confectioner’s sugar frosting) and the flavor was AMAZING. I also have a great carrot cake recipe that uses browned butter instead of oil…yum. Can’t wait to try these!
i get ticklish when the file my toenails. i try not to wiggle.
Look totally scrumptious!
Yes please. I’ve been looking for a new muffin recipe and I think these will do the trick!
thanks for the recipe, a friend of mine is getting married on Saturday, and these will be perfect to suprise her with at the beauty salon.
The browned butter trick would probably work in a variety of sweets. Gotta keep that one in mind.
These look delightful. Thanks for the recipe!
I’m exactly the same when I get a pedicure. I’m SOOO ticklish!
I laughed so hard about the pedicure part. If you look at my face during that part of a pedicure, I’m usually grimacing horribly! And my foot sometimes flinches involuntarily! And I have actually laughed out loud before. So embarrassing! It’s good to know that other people go through it too.
Also quite happy with the little “Print this recipe” button!
This look great, browned butter anything looks great! Add some blueberries and i’m sold!
I have the same urge during my pedi too! I’m sooo ticklish. When I get the rare facial I always scrunch my neck up when the facialist tries to massage it or put on whatever junk they put on my face lol. The only thing that keeps my from kicking the manicurist though is the fact its my best friend. I don’t think that’d be too good for the friendship! lol. I wish these muffins would magically show up in my oven. I have a summer cold and these would be awesome right now!
These look lovely, and since there’s a sale on blueberries this week, I’ve been looking for another blueberry muffin recipe to try (the last one was just missing…something. Not sure what). Thank you! I’ve been reading your blog for a while now but am always too shy to say anything. But blueberry muffins! That got me out of my cave :)
I wish I could come to the party… but I’m in Boston, so I don’t think it’s going to work out!
On another note, those muffins… wow. They look great! I have tried several blueberry muffin recipes and still not found one I’m completely satisfied with… this could be the one!
Hey Joy, I just wanted to say thanks. My grandma passed away this morning. I made these muffins tonight and it reminded me of all these memories I have of her teaching me how to bake. Making the topping brought back the memory of her teaching me how to make the topping for apple crisp. She always liked to do it with her hands. I’m really going to miss her.
i didn’t think anything could get better than the raspberry and jam muffins but now you’re tempting me. mmmm, can’t wait!
Best muffins I have ever tasted. So freaking good. I made these tonight. I only had 1 cup of blueberries so I also added 1 cup of chopped strawberries. They were ridiculous. Warm, melty fruit, and the topping tasted like crumbled up shortbread. Also, the batter kind of tasted like rice krispie treats. Also, yes, I do eat the batter left in the bowl. Thanks!
Back to Trader Joe’s for blueberries!
I made these this morning and they are HEAVENLY!!! I had never made anythng with brown butter before, but I sure will again! Thanks for the yummy recipe.
Girrrrrrl! These are to die for! I made them last night, and holy heck… they ROCK! It’s like the recipe came down from the heavens!!!!
Finally! I found my go to blueberry muffin recipe. I made these muffins this morning and they were great. I hope I can save a few for tmrw : ) The browned butter taste was divine. I didn’t have fresh blueberries, so I added a cup of frozen. I also added lemon zest.
Oh these are fantastic!! Browned butter is my new best friend.
And a lesson learned today: The batter SHOULD be thick. Dont over-stir or add extra liquid. The batter will get “tough” if over worked. Just follow the recipe and all will be well.
They most certainly look perfect! Tomorrow I’m off to the mountains for some blueberry picking :) Now I know what to do with them once I get back…
lol! Just yesterday, my husband says “I should buy some blueberries and make you make me some blueberry muffins!” (I can’t stand blueberries – yes, I know I’m weird – so I don’t make them at home.) So, he bought some last night and I’ve been looking for a muffin recipe for the last five minutes. That, and I needed my Joy fix. I haven’t been online in almost a week because I’ve been so dang busy. Needless to say, your recipe looks great and he LOVES browned butter. I know what I’m doing this morning. ;)