Ann Reardon

Ultimate Blueberry Muffins

 

Easy

The easiest option is to buy blueberry muffins from the store. They look good, but tend to lack flavour. Try out the expert level muffin with crunchy topping and your tastebuds will thank you. Or if you’re up for a challenge make the insane deconstructed plated blueberry muffin with blueberry lace.

the best blueberry muffins

Expert – Blueberry Muffin Recipe

240g (8.47 ounces) or 1 1/2 cups flour
162g (5.71 ounces) or 3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder

2 cups frozen blueberries

1/3 cup or 85mL (2.87 fluid ounces) vegetable oil
1 egg
milk to make up 1 cup or 250mL (8.45 fluid ounces) total liquid

crunchy topping
100g (3.53 ounces) or 1/2 cup white sugar
50g (1.76 ounces) 1/3 cup flour
75g (2.65 ounces)t 1/4 cup butter
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
This makes more topping than you need, place any extra in a ziplock bag in the freezer until the next time you make muffins.

Place the flour, sugar and baking powder into a bowl and stir with a whisk. Add the frozen blueberries and mix through.
In a measuring jug measure out the oil, add an egg and then top up with milk to make 1 cup or 250mL (8.45 fluid ounces) of total liquid.

Pour into the dry mixture and stir until just combined.

Scoop into muffin cases.

To make the crunchy topping place all ingredients into a bowl and rub the butter into the flour using your finger tips. Sprinkle this mixture over the top of the muffins before baking.

Bake at 180C (356 degrees Fahrenheit) for approximately 15 minutes.

extreme blueberry muffins

Insane – Pastry Chef Recipe

Blueberry lace

150g (5.29 ounces) blueberry puree (puree blueberries in a blender and strain through a fine sieve to remove seeds)
50g (1.76 ounces) isomalt
20g (0.71 ounces) confectioners or icing sugar
10g (0.35 ounces) glucose syrup
20g (0.71 ounces) maltodextrin powder

This recipe by Loretta Fanella came with very little instructions, here is what I found worked best after many experiments.
Combine half the puree with the rest of the ingredients and stir over high heat for 5 minutes or until the isomalt is melted. Stir in the rest of the blue berry puree. Spray a silicone lace mold with cooking oil then use paper towel to get off as much oil as possible leaving only a thin coat.
Using a spatula spread the blueberry mixture over the mold making sure all the lace is filled with mixture. Place a little bit of mixture on the edge so you can use that to test the dryness of your lace. Place in a dehydrator at 70C (158 degrees Fahrenheit) for 4 hours. While hot and flexible carefully remove from the mold. Place on a sheet of non-stick baking paper and return to the dehydrator at 60C (140 degrees Fahrenheit) for 15 hours to make it crisp. Store in an airtight container or it will absorb moisture form the air and become soft.

White chocolate muffins recipe

2 eggs
100g (3.53 ounces) sugar
150g (5.29 ounces) white chocolate, melted
75g (2.65 ounces) butter, melted
80g (2.82 ounces) yoghurt
80g (2.82 ounces) cream
210g (7.41 ounces) flour
16g (0.56 ounces) baking powder
Whisk together the eggs and sugar. Add the chocolate, butter, yoghurt and cream and mix well. Sift in the flour and baking powder and mix until just combined.

Vanilla Cream

250g (8.82 ounces) milk
70g (2.47 ounces) sugar
2 eggs
35g (1.23 ounces) cornflour
1/2 vanilla bean
Combine all the ingredients and stir over heat until it thickens. Continue to heat for a minute and then leave to cool.

To serve you will need a fresh blueberry rolled in edible glitter and an edible purple flower.

My Cookbook

ann reardon crazy sweet creations cookbook
Stores that sell my book listed by country: http://bit.ly/ARcookbook
All recipe quantities in the book are in grams, ounces and cups.

21 Comments View Comments

  1. Rating: 5

    I made the recipe, with just a bit of editing. It seemed a bit dry so I upped the liquid a bit, I doubled the recipe, used 3 eggs (instead of 2 for a double batch) some vanilla extract and pumpkin pie spice blend. The crunchy topping is amazing, I’m going to put it on my pumpkin bread next time I make it. I didn’t have muffin tins so I used a small cake pan.

  2. Rating: 3

    The quantities and measurements in this recipe are incorrect, for example, 1 1/2 cups of flour is about 190g, but in the recipe it states 240g. This is the same problem I had with Crazy Sweet Creations cookbook. I really hope this problem gets resolved so that others can make these recipes successfully.

  3. Rating: 5

    It was really delicious! Best muffins I’ve tasted. The recipe made 12 muffins.

  4. Rating: 5

    Mine turned out amazing! I loved that the recipe makes sure blueberries were the star, no fancy schmancy extra flavours/extract. The flavour of the blueberries mixed with the sweet crunchy top in every bite was amazing! It was light (so light that it’s hard to stop yourself from having another) and so fresh in flavour. If you’re looking for something more complex flavour-wise, I can see why this recipe wouldn’t cut it. I did add a bit of vanilla but that’s just how I am when making muffins. The only issue I had was the extra cook time but that’s nothing a bit of observation and extra time couldn’t fix.

  5. Rating: 5

    Great Recipe!! Worked Fabulously and tasted great! I added 1 Tsp of vanilla extract to the Expert Recipe and it was great. 100% Recommend! Thank You Ann Reardon for being such a wonderful person, and for teaching us how to cook (even for the people that suck! hehe, not me…) And also for telling us that 5-Minute Crafts is fake garbage!! Thank you for being who you are!!

  6. Rating: 1

    I tried to make this twice and it just did not work both times. The first time I followed it to the letter and the second time I tried baking at a higher temp. Both times the muffins barely rose, they did not brown or get any color, the texture was very dense and stodgy, and the “secret topping” did not melt at all but just stayed on the top in clumps. And this is after leaving them in the oven for over double the time called for in the recipe. At first I thought I was doing something wrong but after reading these comments my best guess is that maybe something is lost in translation between Australian and American quantities (and possibly ovens)? It’s a bummer because I really wanted her cookbook but now I’m worried that maybe those recipes will have similar issues. Ah well, I still love Ann, so I’m thinking maybe I’ll try a couple more recipes and hope this was just a fluke.

  7. Rating: 2

    I consider myself a pretty decent baker and I love Ann’s YouTube content so I had to try this recipe for myself. I made the “expert” recipe. It tastes terrible. I made it exactly per the recipe, yet somehow it tasted bland, and took 40 minutes to cook. I don’t think it was my fault because I see other comments echoing my thoughts.

    I was going to buy the new cookbook and now I’m re-considering if it’s even worth it 🙁

    • Rating: 2.5

      I had the same problem! I noticed there’s no salt or vanilla extract in the muffins, I think that’s a big problem. I cooked mine for about 30 minutes and they turned out fine.

    • I tried to make this twice and it just did not work both times. The first time I followed it to the letter and the second time I tried baking at a higher temp. Both times the muffins barely rose, they did not brown or get any color, the texture was very dense and stodgy, and the “secret topping” did not melt at all but just stayed on the top in clumps. At first I thought I was doing something wrong but after reading these comments my best guess is that maybe something is lost in translation between Australian and American quantities (and possibly ovens)? It’s a bummer because I really wanted her cookbook but now I’m worried that maybe those recipes will have similar issues. Ah well, I still love Ann, so I’m thinking maybe I’ll try a couple more recipes and hope this was just a fluke.

  8. Rating: 3

    This is a stellar blueberry muffin – but for me, too rich for breakfast! I was born in 1952 and muffins were a “quick bread” on which you could put a little butter and jam, because they were not rich or sweet. That all changed in the 80’s, when big chain supermarkets started to bake them. They pandered to the public, making them huge, sweet and rich… When you touched one, oil  came off on your fingers! I believe that is about the time obesity became widespread! ;-×
    What I found perfect in your recipe was the amount of blueberries, and that the batter kept them suspended. My problem was I was too generous with the crunchy topping – I ended up with a pool of butter under each muffin paper!  Luckily I had cut the amount of sugar in the batter in half because I know I don’t like things too sweet – and that balanced out the too sweet topping perfectly!  I also had blobs of candy on the muffin tin, which were delicious!  But messy… For inexperienced bakers, you might specify exactly how much to put on each muffin.
    Final notes: I weighed and then sifted the flour and it was more like 1 3/4 cups. It took 30 minutes to bake them, not 15. It would be helpful to know whether you use the oven fan or not. And, I doubled the baking powder, 1/2 tsp seemed too little. The texture was tender and not too airy… but only after letting them cool completely.
    I will continue to experiment… put the sugar back in and only SPRINKLE on the topping – as you specified! I will also make one batch with half the oil and an extra egg, to see if that pleases my palate better. Thank you for the inspiration!

  9. Rating: 4

    Dear Ann, do you mean plain flour, or self-raising flour? The recipe doesn’t state, but I’m guessing self-raising?
    Thanks!
    Carine.

    • Whoops – it must be plain flour because baking powder is added!

    • Although I can’t speak for Ann, I believe the flour is plain flour because it asks you to add baking powder later. When I make this recipe, I use self-raising flour and leave out the baking powder and they come out just fine.

  10. Rating: 5

    Hey Ann, thanks for yet another great recipe.

    I need some advice – I’ve tried making several of your recipes, but every time the things I baked weren’t done after the oven time. I’ve tried the blueberry muffins and the best chocolate cake and red velvet cupcakes from your book. It would suggest that something must be wrong with my oven, but I don’t tend to have issues following recipes usually. Do you have any advice what I could try? Everything I made was still delicious after a longer time in the oven by the way.

    Everything was still delicious by the way!

  11. Rating: 5

    Mm they are yummy. Can you please please please please do a chocolate video? Please please please please please please

  12. Rating: 5

    Hi Ann. Thank you foe this recipe, it was delicious. I had to tweak a few things, and I wanted to know how it affect the muffin because my family says it was the best muffin they have ever tasted, like ever. I only had a little milk but lots of buttermilk, so I used mostly buttermilk. Then added a 1/4 bicarb because of the buttermilk. And finally I added a bit of pineapple juice because I had some left over. And finally some strawberries in addition to the blueberries. The muffins came amazing. So did anything I did make the muffins better?

  13. Rating: 5

    I love to learn more in baking

  14. Rating: 3.5

    These were yummy! I really like the crunchy topping. The recipe makes 12 muffins, something that it oddly does not state. The only struggle I had was that they needed more time to cook, at least 20 minutes.

  15. Rating: 4

    Just trying this in America with my gas oven. 355F 15 minutes in the muffin is only 105F inside and goopy. I’m guessing the original recipe is with a fan on which US ovens rarely have. Or maybe it’s because of my silicone muffin liners.

    I had to cook until 28 minutes

  16. Rating: 5

    Thanks for the recipes! Glad they are on weight. I wonder though, is your tsp 5ml?

  17. Rating: 5

    I love this recipe! the crunchy topping is amazing, and there is a perfect amount of blueberries.

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