Blueberry Muffin Tops

When I was little, I loved the chocolate chip muffin tops from Panera Bread. I actually went through a phase where I would pick that over a bagel for Saturday breakfast—a pretty big deal for a girl from New Jersey! While it’s been quite some time since I’ve had one of those muffin tops, I crave the feeling of joy it brought me on those lazy Saturday mornings. This blueberry muffin top recipe is my ode to those days and gives me that same special feeling. 

Muffin tops are easy to mix up but can be hard to get right. They can easily become dry and flat, dense, or lack the subtle textural differences that make a muffin so wonderful. I’ve taken out all that guesswork to develop a muffin top recipe that encompasses all the best parts of a muffin: puffed, soft, tender, and light, yet ever-so-slightly crisp around the edges. 

These perfectly sweetened blueberry muffin tops are light and plush with a delicately crisp golden brown edge. They’re bursting with pockets of fresh, tangy blueberries and topped with crisp brown sugar and oat streusel for a crumb cake-esque moment. They’re ready in just under an hour, as easy to make as cookies, and a delicious breakfast or afternoon treat.

Muffin Tops Vs. Muffins

While there’s so much to love about the whole muffin, the top is arguably the best part. It’s still plush and soft in the center, but it has a little more texture along the edges where the batter tends to spill over and bake directly on the pan. 

If the top is your favorite part of the muffin, then skip the bottoms and make muffin tops. They are baked directly on a lined baking sheet which lends itself to all that wonderful nuance in texture, they brown and caramelize a bit more yielding better flavor, and you don’t need any special pans or paper cup liners.

Using Fresh Vs. Frozen Blueberries 

After testing both frozen and fresh fruit, I highly recommend using fresh blueberries in these muffin tops. They have the best flavor and work perfectly in the batter. 

However, if you need to use frozen blueberries, you can! Make these adjustments to the recipe:

1. Preheat the oven and line the pans first as the 30-minute resting period will be skipped.
2. Use the blueberries from frozen. Do not thaw them.
3. Toss the frozen blueberries in flour as instructed and gently, but quickly fold them into the batter. Note that the batter will stiffen from the cold blueberries. 
4. Do not overmix when folding the frozen berries in. Overmixing can encourage the blueberries to bleed and burst in the batter, leaving gray-blue streaks that end up looking a little funky when baked. 
5. Allow the batter to sit just as long as it takes to make the streusel topping, no more than 10 minutes. 
6. Muffin tops made with frozen berries may take an additional few minutes of baking time. 

Easy Variations 

• Add a pinch or two of spices like cinnamon, ground ginger, or nutmeg to the streusel and/or batter to give the muffin tops a warm, cozy flavor profile. 
• Add a bit of finely grated lemon zest to the batter to brighten and play on the tartness of the blueberries. 
• For a nutty bite, replace some or all of the oats in the streusel with slivered almonds.
• Drizzle the muffins with a tangy glaze, such as lemon, yogurt, or cream cheese.

Tips for the Best Muffin Tops

For the ultimate blueberry muffin tops, use these tips:

Don’t skip resting the batter. Letting the batter rest allows the flour to hydrate, resulting in a thicker batter that spreads less, rises more evenly, and holds its shape better. Additionally, ensure the blueberries are dry before tossing them in flour. The dry coating of flour keeps the blueberries from sinking right to the bottom. 

For the perfect streusel top: These muffin tops are so wonderful because of how light they are. Because of this, the streusel may sink in a bit or be swallowed up by the rising muffin tops, leaving the topping sparse in some areas. A light dusting of powdered sugar hides any imperfections, but you can take this easy extra step to get the streusel just right. 

Divide half of the streusel mixture among the scooped muffin tops before baking (about 1/2 tablespoon each). Halfway through baking, sprinkle with the remaining streusel, rotate the pans, and finish baking per the recipe. 

Blueberry Baking Recipes

• Blueberry Cheesecake
• Blueberry Icebox Pie
• Blueberry Slump
• Lemon Blueberry Scones
• Blueberry Shortcake