Easy blueberry muffin tops with frozen blueberries or fresh with a crumble topping are fantastic! For breakfast or a fun dessert, the top is the best part anyway right? Add fruit or chocolate chips into the dough for a more delicious treat.
Ever wondered how to make blueberry muffin tops? I did when that is what I would order every time I visited my favorite coffee spot. Now we can make them at home ourselves! One of the best muffin recipes around. (affiliate links present)
How to Make Muffin Tops
If you’ve never tried these they are way easier than you might have thought. Let’s be honest, the top is the first thing you eat and the BEST part of this baked good anyway right?? You know it is.
So why not cut out the whole bottom piece and just make the best of the best already??? You can add your favorite berries or even chocolate chips to this basic recipe below, there are tons of variations.
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Now let’s talk a bit about my favorite things when it comes to muffins though shall we?
- You really should get a 24 cup muffin pan, or opt for a quicker baking time with mini muffins.
- I ALWAYS use muffin liners and you should too. They make cleanup easier and grab and go breakfasts a thang. 😉
- No pan, no problem! You can use stiffer or silicone self standing muffin cups instead!
Muffin Top Recipe
The biggest, and really only difference in making these is the pan. It’s pretty flat really. With small ridges to help the batter from spilling over you don’t need any papers, just a light non stick spray in the middle of each one.
Ingredients
- Muffin top pan
- All purpose flour + cake flour, the latter will make them lighter and fluffier. You can use this 1 cup flour substitution chart if you only have one.
- Butter
- Half and half
- Eggs
- Sugar
- Buttermilk
- 1/4 cup Honey
- Salt
- Baking powder and baking soda
- Fresh blueberries
You can mix 1/4 c. milk + lemon juice to create buttermilk if you don’t have any on hand. That is what I do if I know I am going to be baking jumbo blueberry muffins and these at the same time. Then you can add a crumb muffin topping if you want too. There is a link to that recipe in the printable recipe card at the bottom.
How do you substitute frozen blueberries for fresh blueberries?
If you only have frozen fruit and you want to add them to baked goods I suggest thawing them first. The reason for this is that when they thaw the juices will release a bit and if you don’t thaw at least halfway and drain that excess moisture the batter won’t be the right consistency to rise as you’d like.
Why are muffin tops better?
This is no different than making any other sort of easy muffin recipe you’ve done before, just the pan is not the same. We started doing this years ago after I made a batch and found a few bottoms in the trash can. Of course this didn’t make me happy but asked why. “The tops are the best part” was the answer….so we focused on those.
I think because the crumb topping is on it, and it stays a bit more moist than the underside. That part is hugged by a muffin paper which tends to dry it out just a bit, it gets more heat too touching the pan itself.
It’s pretty hard. The only real alternative is to roll up some tinfoil into a long strand.
Curve them so it forms into a circle and lay on top of a cookie sheet. Pour about 1/4 c. full of batter inside and bake.
If you didn’t have a shallow muffin pan like the one specially designed to make these you could use a sheet pan with round cookie cutters placed on top. Spray the insides and pan with non stick spray and pour in the batter just 1/3 of the way full. Bake as directed below, allow to cool, lift off and enjoy.
Get out a bowl and mix your dry ingredients well. Then in another incorporate your wet ingredients. Set your fruit aside for later. You always just want to fold those in gently at the end or they’ll disintegrate.
How to Make Lemon Blueberry Muffin Tops
If you wanted to add a summer twist with an additional bang of flavor you could add some lemon zest. I would add 1/2 tsp of zest inside the batter and then could add just a little shave on top before baking too. I like that better than just 1 tbsp juice a sit adds a bit of added texture and the flavor is just better but up to you.
How to Make Blueberry Muffin Tops
- Preheat oven to 350° F. Prep buttermilk by mixing milk and lemon juice. Set aside. Soften butter in a small dish. In a small bowl, sift together flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.
- In a medium bowl, use an electric mixer or use your hand to mix together sugar, egg and vanilla. Whisk in half and half. Alternate stirring in flour mixture and buttermilk until batter is smooth. Then stir in honey.
- Whisk in room temperature or slightly melted butter.
- In a small bowl, gently toss some flour with your fresh blueberries. Gently fold the cake flour/blueberry combination into the muffin batter.
- if you wanted some lemon flavor add some zest into the mix + 1 tbsp juice
- or use our cake mix blueberry muffin batter for a faster blend
- Grease muffin pan. Spoon batter into muffin pan, filling to top. Press reserved 1 heaping tablespoon blueberries into top of each muffin. Gather ingredients for crumble topping if you want to add this. Top muffins with crumble topping.
- Place muffin top pan on a baking sheet to help the bottom cook evenly with the top. Bake for 20 minutes and check for doneness by inserting a toothpick or cake tester in the center of a muffin.
Remove from oven when done and allow muffins to cool for 5 minutes before placing on a wire rack to cool completely. Store in a covered container once completely cooled.
Easy Blueberry Muffin Tops with Frozen Blueberries
In the winter months if you have this as a craving you may only have frozen fruit to use, that is okay. The only real difference is the texture, they won’t be as plump and juicy but still pretty darn yummy. As I said, pour into a bowl, set into another bowl filled with cool water to thaw, drain in a colander, then toss gently in the small amount of flour as directed below so they don’t sink and take it from there.
If you want to make multiple batches and you only have one of these pans then gently remove each one when fully baked to sit and cool on a cooling rack or some parchment paper. You can add crumble to the top of all of them, none, or use half. You can alternatively use different toppings like we have used in the following:
Other easy muffins you’ll love
- Our donut muffins use a sprinkle of cinnamon and sugar on top.
- This is how to make blueberry muffins and pumpkin streusel muffins use a different type of streusel.
- Zucchini blueberry muffins opt for a bit of frosting instead, and some are left plain as well.
Any way you top ’em they are a great start to the morning or end for dessert time!
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Blueberry Muffin Tops
Equipment
- 2 bowls
Ingredients
- 3/4 c butter
- 1 c all purpose flour
- 1 c cake flour + 1 tbsp for tossing fruit
- 1 1/4 c blueberries fresh, or frozen defrosted and drained
- 3/4 c half and half
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 c sugar
- 1/4 c buttermilk or add 1 tsp lemon juice to 1/4 c milk to make buttermilk
- 1/4 c honey
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- crumb topping for muffins click on the link if you want to add this
Instructions
- Set oven to 350° F. Melt butter. In a small bowl, sift together both flours (reserving 1 Tbsp of cake flour on the side for later) + salt, baking powder, and baking soda.
- In a medium size bowl, mix together sugar and eggs. Whisk in half and half. Alternate stirring in flour mixture and buttermilk until batter is smooth. Stir in honey.
- Whisk in softened / slightly melted butter. In a small bowl, gently toss reserved 1 Tbsp cake flour with 1 cup of your fresh blueberries. Gently fold the cake flour/blueberry combination into the muffin batter.
- Grease muffin pan. Spoon batter into muffin pan, filling to top. Press reserved blueberries into top of muffins. Gather ingredients for crumble topping if you want to add this. Top muffins with crumble topping.
- Place muffin top pan on a baking sheet to help the bottom cook evenly with the top. Bake for 20 minutes and check for doneness by inserting a toothpick or cake tester in the center of a muffin.
- When done, allow muffins to cool for 5 minutes before placing on a wire rack to cool completely. Store in a covered container once completely cooled.
Amber
Sunday 13th of August 2023
I made these into bars instead of muffin tops (don’t have a muffin top pan), and they were delicious! Just extended bake time by 12 minutes.
Michele
Saturday 17th of February 2024
@Amber, you must get the muffin top pan. It is great for these and cookies
Candice
Tuesday 31st of January 2023
Is there a substitute for the honey? Thank you.
The Typical Mom
Tuesday 31st of January 2023
You could just leave it out or use agave nectar