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.
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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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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Bakery Style High Altitude Blueberry Crumb Muffins
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
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.
Hello! Are your muffin pans the size of a standard cupcake pan or do you use the larger muffin specific pan? Thank you!
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.
Quick question re: Kosher salt. Do you use Morton’s or Diamond Crystal – different saltiness by = measure. Excited to try these today. Thank you.
I use the Kroger store brand. I hope that helps!
These are the best blueberry muffins I’ve ever made. Have grandkids here and everyone loves them. Will definitely be my go-to.
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.
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!
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!
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.
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!
Hello! Can I add a bit of lemon zest? Excited to make these!
Sure! If you’re adding lemon zest, I’d probably omit the almond extract.
These are delicious. Great recipe!
Can I substitute butter for oil? How many ml?
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.
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!
Yes, that will work!
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!!