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Bakery Style High Altitude Blueberry Crumb Muffins

August 10, 2022 by Heather Smoke 18 Comments

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A recipe for the best high altitude blueberry crumb muffins is something I’ve been working on for years. Of all the muffins, blueberry is my favorite, and I’ve made dozens of batches of blueberry muffins to perfect my recipe. With big fluffy muffin tops, loads of buttery crumb topping and a tender and flavorful crumb that’s bursting with blueberries in every bite, these muffins win on every point and bake up perfectly at mountain altitudes.

Looking for more high altitude blueberry recipes? Don’t miss this blueberry lattice pie, brown butter blueberry crumb bars, and blueberry vanilla layer cake.

High altitude blueberry crumb muffins.

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Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Soft, Tender and Fluffy. With rich, flavorful ingredients like whole milk, sour cream and butter, these have the best texture that’s so moist, soft and tender with big fluffy muffin tops.

Easy to Make. You only need standard pantry ingredients, a bowl and a whisk to make this easy muffin recipe.

Perfected for High Altitude. I test all of my recipes at Denver’s altitude of 5,280 feet.

Blueberry crumb muffin split in half.
Blueberries.

See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.

Ingredients

Muffins

  • All-Purpose Flour. Adds structure to the batter.
  • Corn Starch. Tenderizes the crumb of the blueberry muffins.
  • Granulated Sugar. Adds sweetness and moisture.
  • Baking Powder. Leavens the batter so the muffins rise with big muffin tops.
  • Coarse Kosher Salt. Balances the sweetness.
  • Nutmeg. Freshly grated nutmeg beautifully complements the flavor of the blueberries. You could also use cinnamon, or just leave out the spices altogether.
  • Milk + Sour Cream. Whole milk and sour cream adds flavor, richness and acidity for a moist, tender, fluffy blueberry streusel muffin.
  • Eggs. Add structure and fat.
  • Vanilla + Almond Extracts. You could use just vanilla extract, but the almond extract really adds such wonderful flavor to complement the blueberries and nutmeg.
  • Unsalted Butter. Melted butter in the batter makes these blueberry muffins moist and flavorful.
  • Blueberries. Fresh blueberries are best for making muffins, and the juicy bursts of flavor throughout are irresistible.
Ingredients for making high altitude blueberry crumb muffins.

Crumb Topping

  • Unsalted Butter. Adds moisture to the topping and a rich, buttery flavor.
  • All-Purpose Flour. Thickens the crumb topping and gives it structure.
  • Sugar. A combination of light brown sugar and granulated sugar adds sweetness and a hint of molasses in the topping.
  • Coarse Kosher Salt. Balances the sweetness.
High altitude blueberry crumb muffins.

Instructions

Muffins

  • Preheat the oven to 400 F, and line a muffin pan with 12 paper liners. Lightly spray the liners and the top of the pan with non-stick baking spray.
  • In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, corn starch, baking powder, salt and cinnamon/nutmeg.
  • In a liquid measuring cup, use a fork to whisk together the milk, sour cream, eggs, vanilla extract and almond extract. Whisk in the melted butter.
  • Add the wet ingredients to the dry, and whisk together with a fork, just until combined, but some floury bits remain.
  • Switch to a spatula, and briefly fold in the blueberries. The batter will be very thick.
  • Divide the batter between the muffin cups. The cups will be very full, with the batter mounded over the top of the cups.
High altitude blueberry muffin batter in a pan.

Crumb Topping

  • In a small bowl, combine the flour, sugars, salt and melted butter until moist and crumbly.
Bowl of crumb topping for pumpkin muffins.
  • Pile the crumbs on top of the batter, pressing them slightly into the batter.
  • Crumb topping on blueberry muffin batter.
  • Crumb topping on blueberry muffin batter.

Bake

  • Put the muffins in the oven, and immediately turn the temperature down from 400 F to 375 F.
  • Bake the muffins for about 22-25 minutes, until a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean.
  • Cool the muffins in the pan for 5 minutes, then carefully lift them out to cool on a cooling rack for 10-15 minutes.
  • Serve the muffins warm, with softened butter.
Just baked high altitude blueberry crumb muffins.

Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common baking questions, so that you can be successful in your own baking!

Frequently Asked Questions

Should I use fresh or frozen blueberries?

Fresh blueberries are best for baking blueberry muffins. If you use frozen berries, the excess moisture from the ice crystals can turn the batter purple, or even a greenish-gray color, which looks very unappealing. If frozen blueberries are your only option, though, you should let them thaw, and then pat them dry with paper towels. Fold them into the batter gently and briefly so that they don’t streak or discolor the batter.

Can I use yogurt instead of the sour cream?

Sour cream is my favorite for baking, but in a pinch, you can use full-fat, plain Greek yogurt instead of sour cream.

Can I use vegetable oil instead of melted butter?

Yes, you can certainly use oil instead of butter, and the muffins will be just as moist. Butter has a much better flavor for these blueberry crumb muffins, though.

Can I make these muffins without the crumb topping?

Sure! These blueberry muffins are great with or without the crumb topping. If you omit the crumb topping, I suggest sprinkling the top of the batter with coarse Turbinado sugar before baking to give them a crunchy, golden brown top.

High altitude blueberry crumb muffins.

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Did you love today’s recipe? Please rate the recipe and let me know in the comments what you thought! Also, be sure to follow Curly Girl Kitchen on Instagram, and tag me when you try one of my recipes so I can see all your delicious creations!

High altitude blueberry crumb muffins.

Bakery Style High Altitude Blueberry Crumb Muffins

Heather Smoke
The best high altitude, bakery style blueberry crumb muffins with big fluffy muffin tops and loads of buttery streusel topping.

All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.

4.89 from 9 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 10 mins
Cook Time 25 mins
Total Time 35 mins
Course Breakfast
Cuisine American
Servings12 muffins

Equipment

  • Standard Muffin Pan with 12 Cups

Ingredients
 

Muffins

  • 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
  • ¾ cup granulated sugar
  • 1 tbsp corn starch
  • 2 ¼ tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
  • ⅛ tsp nutmeg or cinnamon, optional
  • ½ cup whole milk
  • ½ cup full fat sour cream
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp almond extract
  • ½ cup unsalted butter, melted
  • 6 oz fresh blueberries (about 1 1/3 cups)

Crumb Topping

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
  • ½ cup granulated sugar
  • ¼ cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
  • ¼ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
  • 6 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

Instructions
 

Muffins

  • Preheat the oven to 400 F, and line a muffin pan with 12 paper liners. Lightly spray the liners and the top of the pan with non-stick baking spray.
  • In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, corn starch, baking powder, salt and cinnamon/nutmeg.
  • In a liquid measuring cup, use a fork to whisk together the milk, sour cream, eggs, vanilla extract and almond extract. Whisk in the melted butter.
  • Add the wet ingredients to the dry, and whisk together with a fork, just until combined, but some floury bits remain.
  • Switch to a spatula, and briefly fold in the blueberries. The batter will be very thick.
  • Divide the batter between the muffin cups. The cups will be very full, with the batter mounded over the top of the cups.

Crumb Topping

  • In a small bowl, combine the flour, sugars, salt and melted butter until moist and crumbly.
  • Pile the crumbs on top of the batter, pressing them slightly into the batter.

Bake

  • Put the muffins in the oven, and immediately turn the temperature down from 400 F to 375 F.
  • Bake the muffins for about 22-25 minutes, until a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean.
  • Cool the muffins in the pan for 5 minutes, then carefully lift them out to cool on a cooling rack for 10-15 minutes.
  • Serve the muffins warm, with softened butter.

Notes

  • Leftovers will keep well for up to 3 days in an airtight container (cool completely first), or wrapped in plastic and frozen.
  • To reheat the muffins, warm them for 45 seconds at 50% power in the microwave.
Keyword Blueberry, Coffee Cake, Crumb Topping, High Altitude, Muffins
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
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Filed Under: Breads, Biscuits, Muffins and Doughnuts

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jessi

    March 12, 2022 at 7:45 pm

    Hello! Are your muffin pans the size of a standard cupcake pan or do you use the larger muffin specific pan? Thank you!

    Reply
    • Heather Smoke

      March 12, 2022 at 9:30 pm

      I have a standard/sized muffin pan that I also use for cupcakes, as well as a “jumbo” muffin pan. In this recipe I used the standard sized pan.

      Reply
  2. Anita

    March 22, 2022 at 7:17 am

    Quick question re: Kosher salt. Do you use Morton’s or Diamond Crystal – different saltiness by = measure. Excited to try these today. Thank you.

    Reply
    • Heather Smoke

      March 22, 2022 at 4:27 pm

      I use the Kroger store brand. I hope that helps!

      Reply
  3. Ano

    March 30, 2022 at 7:14 am

    5 stars
    These are the best blueberry muffins I’ve ever made. Have grandkids here and everyone loves them. Will definitely be my go-to.

    Reply
  4. Claire

    April 15, 2022 at 1:56 pm

    4 stars
    I found these to be bready — scone and biscuit like. The flavor profile was nice, but they could have used less flour, in my experience. I live at 7,500ft.

    Reply
    • Heather Smoke

      April 15, 2022 at 5:28 pm

      Claire, do you measure your flour correctly? If you use the measuring cup to scoop up the flour, it packs it in, resulting in dense, bready baked goods. Be sure that you are lightly spooning flour into the measuring cup and sweeping it off the top to level it. These definitely don’t have a dense or bready texture when made correctly. I hope that helps!

      Reply
      • Kara

        August 9, 2022 at 11:29 pm

        I’ve started weighing my flour (and sugar and most of my baking ingredients that call for cups). 1 cup of a-p flour = 120 grams (so 2.5 cups = 300 grams. You can definitely play math games with your kids when you bake with them!). The King Arthur website has a good cups to grams conversion table, and it has improved my baking greatly!

        Reply
  5. Antoinette Jordan

    May 2, 2022 at 11:00 am

    5 stars
    I also live in Denver. I just made these muffins and they were superb! I halved the recipe because I knew I would eat the whole batch by myself! I will be back to try more of your altitude-adjusted recipes.

    Reply
  6. Linda K

    May 3, 2022 at 3:51 pm

    5 stars
    I just made these today and they are delicious! I am at 8056’ and I love finding recipes that don’t flop on me . Thank you so much!

    Reply
  7. Larie

    May 26, 2022 at 10:50 am

    Hello! Can I add a bit of lemon zest? Excited to make these!

    Reply
    • Heather Smoke

      May 26, 2022 at 3:47 pm

      Sure! If you’re adding lemon zest, I’d probably omit the almond extract.

      Reply
  8. Jennifer

    June 19, 2022 at 11:25 am

    5 stars
    These are delicious. Great recipe!

    Reply
  9. Vukosi

    September 22, 2022 at 4:21 am

    Can I substitute butter for oil? How many ml?

    Reply
    • Heather Smoke

      September 22, 2022 at 3:50 pm

      Yes, in the muffin batter (not in the crumb topping), you can replace the 1/2 cup of melted butter with the same amount of vegetable oil.

      Reply
  10. Abee Bittle

    October 31, 2022 at 11:12 am

    Hi! Could I use buttermilk instead of whole milk + sour cream? I have some buttermilk that I’d like to use up, but these muffins sound wonderful!

    Reply
    • Heather Smoke

      October 31, 2022 at 11:17 am

      Yes, that will work!

      Reply
  11. LM

    February 2, 2023 at 4:30 pm

    5 stars
    Oh my goodness, these are amazing. I bake with Gluten Free flour (Namaste is my current stock), and these turned out *fantastic*. I also only had 1 stick of butter, so I used half in each part of the recipe and added 2 Tbsp vegetable oil to each with great results. I’m outside of Denver at 5665 ft.
    I’m so excited to try more of your recipes!!

    Reply

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I'm Heather, and welcome to my Colorado kitchen, where you will find high-altitude tested recipes for beautifully photographed cakes, baked goods and sweets. I believe that the kitchen is the heart of a home, and everyone is welcome in mine. So stay a while, sip a cup of coffee, and bake something delicious with me!

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