What Makes This Blueberry Muffin Recipe So Special?

This small batch blueberry muffin recipe is a scaled down version of one of the most popular recipes on my blog to date, a copycat version of Levain Bakery’s Blueberry Muffin recipe. The original recipe makes 9 muffins, but I’ve adapted this recipe to make a small batch of just 4 muffins.

Each blueberry muffin has a super tall, domed, and crispy muffin top. These distinct muffin tops are a result of a generous sprinkling of sugar over each muffin. You can read more about how I reverse-engineered the recipe from famed Levain Bakery in my original blog post.

And in addition to looking beautiful, the muffins TASTE delicious too. The muffin tops are extra crispy and wide from all that extra sugar. I also don’t skimp on the blueberries in the recipe—each blueberry muffin is studded with a generous amount of fruit!

For more delicious small batch recipes on Hummingbird High, check out the site’s Small Batch recipe archive! Popular recipes include these Small Batch Pumpkin Muffins (which also makes 4 muffins) and this Texas Sheet Cake Recipe for 9 x 13 Inch Pan.

small batch blueberry muffin recipe

What You Need

Ingredient Sources, Recommendations, and Substitutions

  • Nonstick Cooking Spray. These muffins work best with a neutral oil cooking spray like canola or vegetable oil. I have no idea why, but the muffins have a tendency to get stuck to the pan with coconut oil and avocado oil sprays. Trust me—I’ve tried both! I also recommend using a flour-based spray like Baker’s Joy or Pam. These are neutral oil cooking sprays with flour to make baked goods release from pans even easier.

  • All-Purpose Flour: You can use a 1-1 gluten free all purpose flour replacer to make the recipe gluten free. I like Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1 to 1 Baking Flour or King Arthur Flour Gluten Free All Purpose Flour.

  • Kosher Salt: Kosher salt is the best salt for baking recipes. But you can replace the kosher salt in the recipe with table salt. Just use half the amount listed in the recipe when you do!

  • Whole Milk. You can replace the whole milk with low fat or skim milk, but these milks will lead to less flavorful baked goods. You can also replace the whole milk in this recipe with the same amount of plant-based milk of your choice. However, be mindful that using an alternative milk with “strong” flavors (like coconut or oat milk) will impart their flavors into the blueberry muffin, too.

Can I use frozen blueberries instead of fresh blueberries for this blueberry muffin recipe?

Yes, but with reservations. Per the baker’s tips below in the yellow box, the secret to super tall and domed muffin tops starts with your ingredients. If any of them are colder than room temperature, your muffins won’t rise and dome as well as mine did. Furthermore, using frozen blueberries straight from the freezer has a tendency to make these muffins stick to the pan.

That being said, you can use frozen blueberries in this recipe. However, you’ll need to prep them by thawing them and making sure they’re completely at room temperature before using them in this recipe. As the blueberries thaw, they’ll release liquid. Dump most of that liquid out before using it in the recipe.

Can I use butter instead of cooking spray?

No, please don’t. While I am not usually opposed to greasing your pans with butter, that method doesn’t work well with this small batch blueberry muffin recipe. The muffins have a tendency to get stuck to the pan.

small batch blueberry muffins
small batch blueberry muffins

Recipe Troubleshooting and FAQ

Can I use muffin liners for this small batch blueberry muffin recipe?

Yes, but with reservations. You’ll still need to spray the outer rims of each cavity with cooking spray to prevent the muffins from sticking to the pan. The bottom of your muffins will also have a slightly different texture than mine—they’ll be softer.

Why do I need to rest the muffin batter for an hour?

This small batch blueberry muffin recipe instructs you to rest the batter after making for one hour at room temperature. Technically, this step is optional. You can bake the batter immediately after making and end up with some pretty damn good muffins. But if you want super domed muffins with seriously tall tops, rest the batter for an hour! This will allow the flour to hydrate and absorb the liquids in the batter more fully, leading to taller domes. During the resting process, the gluten strands in the batter relax, leading to more tender and fluffy baked goods. You can read more about the science in this Kitchn article.

When resting your muffin batter, don’t stick the batter in the fridge. Chilled batter will cause the muffins to stick in their cavities. In fact, make sure ALL your ingredients are at room temperature before using in the recipe. Again, this is one of the secrets to super tall blueberry muffin tops! Don’t miss the baker’s notes section below for more information.

Can I fill ALL the cavities in the muffin pan with batter? Why do you only fill every other one?

It’s best if you follow the recipe instructions exactly as they are written, especially when it comes to filling the muffin pan. Why? The tops of the muffins spread so much that if you fill each single cavity, they’ll spread into one another and get stuck, creating one giant muffin top mass. The empty cavity in between each muffin prevents that from happening.

Help! My blueberry muffins didn’t spread as much as yours. What did I do wrong?

The small batch blueberry muffin recipe instructs you to sprinkle 1 teaspoon of granulated sugar over each muffin before baking. Did you skimp or skip the sugar? The sugar is what causes the muffin tops to spread—using an amount less than what’s listed in the recipe would lead to the same results. Similarly, did you use a different type of other sugar other than granulated sugar? Other sugars like brown sugar, coconut sugar, demerara sugar, and sanding sugar don’t enable the muffin tops to spread as well as granulated sugar.

Help! My blueberry muffins got stuck in the pan—only the tops came off. What did I do wrong?

This small batch blueberry muffin recipe instructs you to wait until the muffins have cooled to room temperature before attempting to unstick them from the pan. Did you try and turn out the muffins while they were still warm? Because these muffins are so top-heavy, you’ll run the risk of accidentally pulling the tops and bottoms apart if the cake is still warm! Wait until they are cooled completely before turning them out of the pan.

Once they’ve cooled, don’t just pull them out of the pan by their tops. The best way to unstick them is to use a metal offset spatula. Run the spatula underneath the entirety of each muffin top to unstick each one completely. Then, working one muffin at a time, use the offset spatula to tilt the muffin slightly on its side with the muffin top to enable you to wiggle your fingers underneath the muffin and lift it from the bottom.

The recipe below has more detailed instructions on how to turn out the muffins properly. However, if you need a visual representation, I encourage you to check out the video tutorial on my Instagram profile. Underneath my bio, you’ll see circles with photos of food in them. Scroll right or left until you see a circle with a photo of this blueberry muffin. Click on that circle to play the tutorial.

Can you freeze the baked blueberry muffins?

Yes, but with reservations. You can freeze any leftover muffins by wrapping them individually in plastic wrap and freezing for up to 3 months. To thaw, transfer to the refrigerator the night before you’re planning on eating the muffin. Rewarm in the microwave or the oven before serving.

However, in general I don’t recommend freezing the muffins. Once frozen and thawed, the muffins will no longer have their crispy tops.

My Best Tips For Baking The Recipe

Ingredient Tip

  • Pay attention to the temperatures of the ingredients as they are listed in the recipe (please don’t miss this—they’re even written bold). The secret to super tall and domed muffin tops starts with your ingredients. If any of them are colder than room temperature, your muffins won’t rise and dome as well as mine did.

Equipment Tip

  • For this recipe, tools are important. You’ll need two muffin tins, a 1-tablespoon OR a 3-tablespoon cookie dough scoop, and an offset spatula (preferably with a short, metal blade). The cookie dough scoops are for filling each cavity with muffin batter—to get tall domes, you’ll need to fill each one with SIX tablespoons of batter. It works best if you’re precise. Anything more will cause the muffins to overflow, and anything less will result in squat muffins. You’ll then need the offset spatula to “unstick” the wide muffin tops from the pan.

Baking Tip

  • If you have a convection oven, now is the time to use it! When I was researching muffin recipes for #weeknightbakingbook, I discovered that muffins dome really well when first baked at a high temperature like 425°F. Doing so encourages the baking powder in the batter to react faster, causing the muffins to rise more quickly in the oven. These recipes then instruct you to lower the oven temperature to 350°F to prevent the muffins from burning and drying out. It’s a lot to keep track of, and I found it hard to imagine that the pros at Levain Bakery doing that sort of fussy tinkering in a busy setting. So instead, I baked the muffins at 400°F and found that it worked just as well, but found that it worked even better on the convection setting (as the convection fan was more effective in getting heat evenly and consistently between the muffin tin cavities).

Video Tutorial For The Recipe

Use the video player below to watch my Instagram Story tutorial on how to make this small batch blueberry muffin recipe! Clicking the left and right sides of the frame will allow you to skip through the different recipe steps.

small batch blueberry muffin recipe
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Get the Recipe: Small Batch Blueberry Muffin Recipe

Prep: 5 minutes
Cook: 15 minutes
Bake Time: 22 minutes
Total: 42 minutes
Servings: 4 muffins
Author: Michelle Lopez
This small batch blueberry muffin recipe only makes 4 muffins! Each blueberry muffin has a super tall, wide, and crispy muffin top.
(4.93 stars) 110 reviews
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Ingredients

For the Small Batch Blueberry Muffins

  • 1 ¼ cups (5.65 ounces or 160 grams) all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
  • ¼ cup (2 ounces or 57 grams) whole milk, at room temperature
  • ¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • ½ cup (3.5 ounces or 99 grams) granulated sugar
  • 4 Tablespoons (2 ounces or 57 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1 large egg, at room temperature
  • 1 ¼ cups (6.5 ounces or 184 grams) fresh blueberries, at room temperature

Assembly

  • canola or vegetable oil cooking spray
  • 4 teaspoons granulated white sugar

Instructions
 

For the Small Batch Blueberry Muffins

  • Make the muffin batter. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. In a small liquid measuring cup, whisk together the milk and the vanilla.
  • In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the sugar and butter. Beat on medium-high until light, fluffy, and doubled in volume, 2 to 3 minutes, using a rubber spatula to scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl as necessary. Reduce the mixer to low and add the egg.
  • With the mixer still on low, add the the dry ingredients in three equal parts, alternating with the wet ingredients in two parts. Beat until just combined, then scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl once more, then beat on low for an additional 30 seconds. Take half of the blueberries and crush them with your hands so they are juicy; add to the batter and increase the mixer speed to high for 5 to 10 seconds to encourage the berries to release their juices even more. Immediately reduce the mixer to low and add the rest of the berries, mixing until incorporated evenly throughout the batter, another 30 seconds.
  • Rest the muffin batter. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the batter rest at room temperature for 1 hour.
  • Prep your oven and pans. While the batter rests, position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 400°F using the convect setting (if possible). Prepare a muffin tin by spraying the inside and border of every other cavity in the muffin tin generously with cooking spray. But note that you’ll only need to prep 4 cavities total—there’s no need to spray the other ones! If you’re using a standard muffin tin, position the pan so that its short side faces you and prep the center cavity of the top row, the outer two cavities of the second row, and the center cavity of the third row.
  • Use a 1-tablespoon or 3-tablespoon cookie dough scoop to fill each sprayed cavity with 6 tablespoons of the batter. Sprinkle the top of each cavity, aiming for the batter and avoiding the pan, with 1 teaspoon of granulated sugar each. Pour warm water into the outer cavities of the muffin tin’s final row, filling them at least ⅔-rds of the way up.
  • Bake the muffins. Bake for 22 to 24 minutes, or until the muffins are domed and golden brown around the edges. A skewer inserted into the center of a muffin should come out with a few crumbs attached. Cool the muffins in their muffin tin on a wire rack for 15 minutes, then use an offset spatula to run underneath the edges of the blueberry muffin tops to prevent them from sticking in the pan. Be careful to just run the offset spatula under the edges—you don't want to accidentally cut into the muffin bottom and decapitate the muffin from its top!
  • After unsticking the muffin tops, keep cooling the muffins in the tins completely to room temperature. DO NOT TRY AND TURN THE MUFFINS OUT WHILE THEY ARE STILL WARM. Because these muffins are so top-heavy, you’ll run the risk of accidentally pulling the tops and bottoms apart if the cake is still warm! Wait until they are cooled completely before turning them out of the pan. Run the offset spatula underneath each muffin top once more and gently tilt the muffin upwards to turn it out of the pan, lifting each one from its base.
  • Serve and store. Serve warm, or at room temperature. The muffins are best on the day that they’re made, but can be individually wrapped in plastic and stored at room temperature for up to 2 days.
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