The Best Blueberry Muffins (Secret Ingredient!!)

These are seriously the best blueberry muffins I have ever made. I learned this recipe from my mother in law who uses an unconventional ingredient to make these muffins so rich and delicious. That secret ingredient? Sour cream!

Actually the true secret ingredient is smetana, which is a type of high milkfat Eastern European sour cream. But you can use regular sour cream if that’s all you can find. If you don’t live in Central/Eastern Europe then use general sour cream, creme fraiche, or strained yoghurt. All are acceptable substitutions.

How To Make The Best Blueberry Muffins

These blueberry muffins have two tricks. One is to use the aforementioned ingredient. The second is the preparation method. I highly suggest using a stand or a hand mixer in this recipe as it really helps creating light and fluffy muffins – perfect for a breakfast side! This is my go to muffin base to use with a variety of fruits like raspberry or apple-cinnamon!

Ingredients

I’m going to list the ingredients in grams for the most part because like most baking recipes you should be quite specific. However I will also give estimations in case you do not have a kitchen scale.

• 240 grams Flour – this is about 2 cups of loosely packed flour. I suggest using AP flour as it works well here, but you can also use cake or pastry flour if you want.
• 200 grams Sugar – this is about 1 cup of regular white sugar.
• 100 grams Egg – two large eggs, room temperature. If your eggs are VERY small then you might have to use half of another one. In this case just beat a few eggs together and measure out 100 grams. If you are between 96 and 104 grams then you are fine.
• 5 grams Baking Powder – about 1 tsp
• 2 grams Baking Soda – about 1/3 of a tsp
• 120 ml Oil – I suggest using a neutral oil like vegetable, soybean, or sunflower oil. A stronger oil like Olive will impart a lot of flavor into the final muffin
• 3 grams Salt – half a teaspoon
• 250 grams Sour Cream – about 1 cup. If you can find actual smetana then definitely use it. If not then use the highest milkfat sour cream you can get your hands on.
• A handful of Blueberries – I would say about a cup, but if you go over that amount by volume it really isn’t a problem. You’ll just have a few extra berries in your muffins!

Making The Batter

In the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment add the eggs and sugar and salt and beat well until you have a pale yellow color. You can also use a hand mixer.

I find whisking on high using a stand mixer takes about 5 minutes to achieve the consistency I want. This is pumping a lot of air into the batter which makes the best blueberry muffins in the end!

Next add the sour cream / smetana and the oil. Whisk this in on low speed just until combined, about 30 seconds.

In another bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Add the dry ingredients a tablespoon at a time to the mixer. Keep it on the lowest setting and do not overmix; stop the machine as soon as the flour is incorporated. Reserve one tablespoon of flour.

Use the reserved tablespoon of flour to toss the blueberries in. This will prevent them from sinking straight to the bottom of the muffin as they bake in the oven.

Fold the blueberries into the sour cream muffin batter with a rubber spatula. You want to do this just enough to get them all coated in there, but do not overmix.

Fill the muffin cups 3/4 of the way with the batter. If you aren’t using paper cups then make sure to use a little bit of oil to crease the pan before adding the batter. I do find that the cups help with more even baking.

Bake in an oven at 175°C or 350°F on fan forced convection for 21 minutes. Remove and let cool for 10 minutes before eating.

What To Serve Alongside These Sour Cream Blueberry Muffins?

• Breakfast Potatoes
• Sunny Side Up Eggs
• NY Scramble
• Chicken Fried Steak
• Potato Pancakes