Browned Butter Blueberry Muffins

July 22, 2009

Browned Butter Fresh 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

Browned Butter Fresh Blueberry Muffins

Browned Butter Fresh Blueberry Muffins

adapted from The Gourmet Cookbook

makes 12 glorious muffins

Print this Recipe!

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.

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{ 141 comments… read them below or add one }

Constance July 25, 2009 at 2:35 pm

I made these today and they are my new favorite. I usually do a streusel topping with brown sugar but this blond version is just perfect with the brown butter. I’m taking this recipe with me on vacation to make with huckleberries. Thank you, Joy!

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Geraldine July 25, 2009 at 3:01 pm

I have been on the hunt for BBM’s for months. Wasted alot of ingredients and finally stumbled to Joy’s website and I have been baking my toes off. These muffins are fabulous and so visually appealing too. I’m thrilled no more wasted ingredients.I was a little scared at the batter stage it looked too thick but I followed through and I have the most perfect moist blueberry filled delight. I love that lil crunch from the topping.Thanks Joy

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CookiePie July 25, 2009 at 3:45 pm

EVERYTHING is better with browned butter – these muffins look and sound so delish!!!

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Amy in OH July 26, 2009 at 12:36 pm

Joy, I made your muffins this morning and served them for lunch with Fresh Corn Chowder. We could really taste the browned butter. They were delicious and my lunch guests enjoyed them too. Thanks for the recipe and your wonderful and fun blog!

Amy

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jenn3250 July 26, 2009 at 7:08 pm

I made these this morning! They were perfect and quicker than I imagined. I did goof up though…2 cups of fresh blueberries is completely different than 2 cups/whole bag of frozen little blueberries. Let’s just say my muffins were…purplish.

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Nakiya July 27, 2009 at 5:54 am

Thank you SO much for the recipe! I made this for a party and they were a HIT! I’ve passed around your recipe to my friends- we all agreed this was our favorite blueberry muffin recipe by FAR!

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Julie July 27, 2009 at 8:58 am

These look SO delicious! Thank you!

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FusilliAmy July 27, 2009 at 10:19 am

I made these muffins on Sunday morning. These were a) my first experience making muffins from scratch (yeah I know, something IS wrong with me), b) my first experience with browned butter (OMG a dangerous discovery!!) and c) THE.BEST.MUFFINS.EVER!!!

The batter’s consistency scared me a little as it seemed thick and not what I thought it would look like, but I reread the instructions and trusted myself and whew! Soo good!

Thank you for sharing the recipe :)

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Sue July 27, 2009 at 11:18 am

Just made these this morning and they are divine!!!! I made a couple alterations out of necessity (buttermilk instead of whole milk and only a cup or so of blueberries). These are the BEST I’ve ever had. THANKS!

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Eridqua July 27, 2009 at 12:44 pm

I have been buying a TON of blueberries this year. It seems like they’ve been in the stores since February here in CA, and they’ve been super cheap too. Needless to say, I’ve been making lots and lots of blueberry muffins. I already have a favorite recipe, but decided to try this one out for a change, and I was really glad I did! I really enjoyed them, and will definitely use this recipe again. Also, I think I had a REALLY good batch of bluberries this time which made them just that much better. :)

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Christine July 27, 2009 at 2:51 pm

Yum! Going to the u-pick this week and now I know what to do with my buckets o’ blueberries. Mmm-hmmm.

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Avanika (Yumsilicious Bakes) July 29, 2009 at 8:16 am

These muffins look soo good! And I have the same problem during a pedicure! I’m super-ticklish

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Amy July 29, 2009 at 7:35 pm

Joy, I made these yesterday. FABULOUS. I only had 1 cup of blueberries on hand, but I had raspberries, so I combined them; a slight alteration.

I had to step away from the pan or I would have eaten all of them in one day.

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Annabeth July 30, 2009 at 11:53 am

Thanks for the delicious recipe! I made these this morning, and ate three immediately. I probably would have eaten more, but I had to share the dozen with 5 other family members….sigh.

They are YUMMY! I used frozen blueberries, and it made the batter really stiff because of the cold, but they still turned out marvelous!

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Nicole July 30, 2009 at 1:50 pm

Just made these babies this morning and after offering one to our landlady, piping hot from the oven, she gave us the four-star housekeeping award. Coincidence? I think not. TRULY amazing muffins. Thank you!

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Katie July 31, 2009 at 10:19 am

Joy, every recipe of yours I try has been absolutely fantastic and these muffins lived up to that standard. Amazingly moist & buttery. Thanks!!!

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Jen K July 31, 2009 at 3:17 pm

I made these today and they were absolutely fabulous! I tried a browned butter cookie at christmas for my nephew who is allergic to nuts and loved that. I would love to see more recipes with this wonderful ingredient. Thank you for a wonderful recipe!

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Nicole aka Gidget August 1, 2009 at 7:50 pm

I think I’ve officially retired the boxed muffins in our home. Thanks, Joy! These were delicious!

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Alex August 3, 2009 at 9:31 am

I made this over the weekend with half blueberry, and half raspberry from my garden…

they were the BEST muffins I have ever made. I will be making more very soon!

I do wonder how an oatmeal crumble would be on top instead… maybe I will try that and report back.

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Anri August 5, 2009 at 8:46 pm

Thank you so much, I have been looking for a good blueberry muffin recipe forever, and have finally found one. I made these as well as your apricot blueberry cornmeal ones. I also adore the fact that your recipes make just the right amount of batter, that’s hard to do. Just one question, I find that I have to bake my muffins for about 7-10 minutes longer than specified times, have you gotten any other feedback like this? Do you use a convection oven, that could be why. In any case, thank you again for sharing your excellent recipes.

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Alex August 8, 2009 at 7:03 am

Hi Joy, I wanted to share a tip I stumbled on…. the first time I made them, I was running low on All-purpose flour, so I used about 1/2 cake flour for them… it made them so much fluffier.

When I made them the second time, with all-purpose and no cake flour, the first thing out of my husbands mouth… after he chewed was “what did you do differently? they were better last time.”

So I recommend about 1/2 cake flour!

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ginny August 17, 2009 at 2:15 pm

these were great! I used frozen berries as fresh are hard to come by in Seoul :) My 10 year old loved them and she is as picky as they come, thanks! Love all about your blog!

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Java Cupcake August 18, 2009 at 9:59 am

Good Morning!!

I made these cupcakes and then blogged them today!! :) DELISH!!

Check it out: http://www.javacupcake.com

Thanks Bakerella!

<3 Betsy

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Allie Z August 18, 2009 at 2:18 pm

YUM!!!! I just made these on Sunday morning for my house guests. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.

THANK YOU Joy the Baker for sharing the love!

Allie

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Trevor August 21, 2009 at 3:56 pm

Just a note to say that I made these and they were as fantastic as you said. These are in line to become a weekly tradition.

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allison August 21, 2009 at 7:10 pm

WOW! Just baked your blueberry muffins. I am a California girl unless it’s sumer time, when we live in Maine with our 5 kids. Nothing like bringing home blueberries fresh off the farm and doing a little baking. These were BY FAR the BEST BLUEBERRY MUFFINS we’ve ever had. Thank you so much for sharing your gift with others!!!
Happy Baking!!

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Jessica August 24, 2009 at 3:06 pm

Found this recipe (made the muffins and loved loved loved them), looked around and found about 162 recipes that I want to try (up next, the apple pie! yeah!), and you are now my go-to food blog. Keep it up!

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Lisa August 26, 2009 at 12:13 pm

Hi, I just wanted to say that these muffins taste amazing – sadly mine didn’t come out looking as beautiful as yours as they needed longer in my oven and they sunk a little when I opened the door. Despite them sinking, they tasted amazing, I really love the idea of using browned butter!

I will be trying more of your recipes. Thanks. :)

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Erin August 26, 2009 at 1:03 pm

Delicious. A fine use of my precious blueberries in this scant blueberry year… Maybe next year I can make even more.

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bakermee August 27, 2009 at 8:22 pm

Theese are amazing. I made with buttermilk in place of whole and as I usally double the vanilla I used 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 butter/vanilla bakery emulsion. Best muffins ever, I made again the next day with cherry halves.
Thanks for the recipie

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Suzie August 30, 2009 at 6:13 pm

I just made these. My son and I are going crazy over the smell. Can’t wait to eat them. I am so glad I found your blog. Thanks Joy!

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Melissa August 30, 2009 at 6:23 pm

We had some blueberries that we were planning on making pancakes with but the morning ran away from us. So I went directly to your website and found this recipe. These are delicious and taste like no other muffin I’ve ever had. Keep on baking!

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sunday August 30, 2009 at 7:26 pm

for those using frozen blueberries, they will take a decent amount longer to cook (i believe mine took about eight minutes extra, so dont be scared). i would also suggest using less than two cups, as frozen blueberries carry extra moisture and are more prone to bursting; mine ended up a little bit more like a buckle or cobbler than a typical muffin.
i was a little skeptical about the streusel not having brown sugar since i usually prefer it that way, and also of how much streusel it made– i did not use it all because it looked like my muffins were completely covered, but i really wish i had used it all! however, the amount that i did use browned well and looked quite nice.
i will be blogging about the full process tomorrow at http://www.sundaybaker.wordpress.com

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shely September 6, 2009 at 1:57 am

pls tell me if i can use frozen blue berries ?

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Emma Wright September 6, 2009 at 3:21 pm

So good, made them for a housewarming brunch today and they were a hit.

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Angie September 15, 2009 at 1:39 pm

You’re right.
These are absolutely perfect.
You’ve spoiled me for life – I won’t be able to eat another muffin now.
Well…maybe I will. But I’ll compare it to these.

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Jamieanne September 22, 2009 at 11:28 am

I just made these muffins today – I agree, they are perfect! I had to make some changes though since I am out of sugar. I substituted 1/2 cup of honey for the sugar, reduced the milk to 3 tablespoons and added a pinch of baking soda. I also used frozen mixed berries (blueberries, blackberries and raspberries) instead of fresh blueberries. They came out so moist and flavorful! I just love recipes with browned butter! Thanks for sharing, Joy! :)

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megan December 16, 2009 at 11:33 am

I just made these the other night and I love them! My husband says they’re the best blueberry muffins he’s ever had. Well, I made them with black raspberries, because that’s what I had in my freezer. They’re great!

I posted about them on my blog as well. :)

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Mahvish January 5, 2010 at 2:53 pm

very moist best tasting muffins!

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Katie Greenlaw February 22, 2010 at 7:23 am

Joy, these were amazing! I have can’t get enough of brown butter recipes, and I have no clue how I missed these on your site until now. I sent my husband on a business trip this morning, and made him these before he left. He said it was his favorite pre-business trip breakfast thus far! It’s a keeper! :)

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Bethany March 26, 2010 at 1:17 pm

omg! I love these muffins. I made them a few weeks ago and thought they were awesome. I made them again this morning using my new kitchen scale and buttermilk and they were super awesome. the scale helps a ton. Thanks!

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sloeginfizz April 12, 2010 at 1:08 pm

I’ll be baking these AGAIN tomorrow for the boy’s 40th birthday: They are the ONLY thing he has requested. They are that good.

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joythebaker April 12, 2010 at 5:19 pm

Love this! Happy Birthday to your boy!

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erinm May 6, 2010 at 9:57 am

These are friggin amazing, yet so simple. put a some icing with a hit of lemon and call it a cupcake, the hubby loves em!

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Therese June 1, 2010 at 6:18 pm

hi I was wondering what would be a good trick to use if you only have frozen blueberries

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joythebaker June 1, 2010 at 6:30 pm

for frozen blueberries, just thaw them in the fridge overnight and drain the juices off before adding them to the batter!

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Season July 1, 2010 at 2:11 pm

I just made these, and they are indeed perfect. I’m new to browning butter and wasn’t sure if I was supposed to put the browned bits in for fear that it would make it taste burnt or something. But I added them and it was fine. I just ate 2 of them and wouldn’t change a thing about them. Thanks for sharing! I knew you wouldn’t let me down, that’s why I bet 2 cups of blueberries on it. :)

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wewe July 17, 2010 at 12:02 pm

I just linked you recipe to my blog and copied the recipe into my blog with slight modification. I hope you don’t mind. If that is not ok, I will take it out from my blog. Anyway, that is such a great recipe and I enjoyed the muffin so much!

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Kayla July 20, 2010 at 9:50 pm

Just made a batch of these muffins this morning and just now got to sit down and ENJOY it! Yum!!! These are SO good and the topping just makes them perfect! I have been in a constant search of the perfect recipe…and I found it! Now, I think I’ll be living on these, as I have 10 frozen bags of blueberries in my freezer (and this is a much better use of them than smoothies) :) Thanks!

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Jordan July 26, 2010 at 1:25 pm

I made these for Saturday morning breakfast/brunch, and they were sooo good. I’ve always loved the from the box muffins with the crumbles, but I’m a made from scratch kind of girl at heart–these were perfect! Just the smell of the butter as it browned was ridiculously good, and the muffins were even better!

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Mindie July 26, 2010 at 9:04 pm

I just discovered your blog today, and I just HAD to make these muffins. Wow wow WOW!! Best blueberry muffin I’ve ever tasted without a doubt! Thank you so much for posting this! (Albeit a while ago, but good recipes never go old, right?)

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Piret July 29, 2010 at 3:10 am

Just made them and they came out super delicious. Even my dad said more than once that they are really good, even perfect =)

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