Blueberry Orange Muffins
No matter who spends the night at our house, I always treat our guests to some homemade treat for breakfast. These Blueberry Orange Muffins transformed my muffin-hating brother-in-law into a fan!
This Orange Muffin Recipe is tender, moist, and flavored with a double dose of orange, both juice, and zest. Plus it’s speckled with sweet, juicy blueberries!
Why You Must Bake Orange Muffins
- They’re sweet, tender, and flavorful!
- You can add any fresh berry or even dried cranberries or chocolate!
- They’re quick to make for a warm from the oven breakfast treat.
My brother-in-law was in town for a couple of days. As I pulled these blueberry orange muffins out of the oven, their sweet aroma had already tempted him.
When I offered him a warm sample, he eagerly bit into the tender cake. “I never thought I liked muffins,” he commented, “but these are delicious.” I hadn’t baked up a batch since these dreamy Sour Cream Blueberry Muffins recipe for my Tuesdays with Dorie group.
How to Make
That was the ultimate compliment, converting a hater into a lover! His experience with muffins was limited to box mixes and grocery store versions that typically are boosted with artificial flavorings. These beauties were flavored with blueberries, freshly squeezed orange juice and zest. These make a fabulous breakfast treat without causing the cook to break out into a sweat! Here’s how:
- Preheat the oven to 400º and line your muffin tin with paper muffin cups.
- Zest your orange before you juice it. Pour the orange juice into a glass measuring cup and add buttermilk to make a total of 1 cup.
- In a large bowl, rub the sugar and orange zest together to release the oils from the peel.
- Whisk in the dry ingredients.
- Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and gently mix with a rubber spatula.
- Carefully stir in the blueberries.
- Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups.
- Bake for 22 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- Cool for 5 minutes before removing to a cooling rack
Expert Tips
- This is a Dorie Greenspan recipe and included a technique I learned from her earlier this year. Massage together the sugar and orange zest till fragrant, which helped release the aromatic oils in the peel, and infused them directly into the sugar. The citrus flavor was perfect with the sweet berries.
- Like in my Strawberry Buttermilk Scones, the buttermilk in the recipe provides both moisture and tenderness.
- The combination of sugar and honey provides the necessary sweetness to enhance the juicy blueberries. These converted my brother-in-law (picky hubby’s brother!) to a muffin eater, so you know they taste darn good!
Frequently Asked Questions
Look for a recipe with buttermilk or sour cream. These both add moisture to a recipe. Plus the lactic acid helps curtail the formation of gluten bonds. Do not overbake. Also, once the liquid is added, do not overmix. It is OK if there are a few lumps.
This recipe contains a lot of simple carbohydrates. Flour, sugar, and honey will all raise blood sugar and generally aren’t good for those on a strict diabetic diet. It’s best to get advice from a registered dietician or medical doctor about what is best depending on the severity of diabetes.
Adding blueberries provides a pop of color. You can also make a simple icing with powdered sugar and orange juice to drizzle over the top of the cooled muffins.
Make sure to serve them with a slice or wedge of orange and some fresh blueberries.
You May Also Like
- Sour Cream Blueberry Muffins
- Sour Cream Pear Bread
- Cream Cheese Filled Carrot Cake Muffins
- More Breakfast Recipes
Blueberry Orange Muffins
Tender, citrus kissed and chock full of juicy blueberries
Ingredients
Recipe adapted from Dorie Greenspan
- Grated zest and juice of 1 orange
- About 3/4 cup buttermilk
- 2 large eggs
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter, melted and cooled
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 2 cups flour
- 2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder*
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup fresh blueberries (Driscoll's preferred)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400º. Line 12 cup muffin tin with paper muffin cups or grease well.
- Juice your orange and remove any seeds if necessary. Pour the orange juice into a large glass measuring cup or a bowl and pour in enough buttermilk to make 1 cup.
- Whisk in the eggs, honey, and melted butter.
- In a large bowl, rub the sugar and orange zest together with your fingertips until the sugar is moist.
- Whisk in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and gently but quickly stir to blend with a rubber spatula.
- Do not overmix; a few lumps are OK. Carefully stir in the blueberries. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups.
- Bake for 22 to 25 minutes till browned and a toothpick inserted in muffin comes out clean.
- Place pan on a cooling rack and cool for 5 minutes before carefully removing muffins.
Notes
Recipe adapted from Dorie Greenspan.
* Make sure your baking powder has not expired. Check the date on the container as it often loses its potency before you use it all. To test, put a spoonful into some hot water. It will bubble vigorously if it's still active.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
12Serving Size:
1 muffinAmount Per Serving: Calories: 155Total Fat: 1gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 32mgSodium: 205mgCarbohydrates: 33gFiber: 1gSugar: 15gProtein: 4g
28 Comments on “Blueberry Orange Muffins”
Just looking at these muffins is making me happy! I find that people like a lot of the things I make even if they think they won’t because they are real, homemade treats. I bet this muffin tastes a whole lot better than one from a grocery store or the like!
Just made these. They are incredible!!
That’s an awesome flavor combo for blueberry muffins! Sorry, Liz, been super, ridiculously busy of late!
I want these muffins for afternoon tea they look gorgeous and soft 🙂
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
These muffins look amazing! I have actually never tried blueberry and orange together!
These muffins look beautiful, moist, fluffy ‘n perfect enough to convert any hater, Liz! Ever since I learned that technique of rubbing zest with sugar from Dorie, it’s what I do with every recipe calling for zest. Orange and blueberry is a fantastic flavour combo. I love these!
Blueberry and lemon, yes but blueberry and orange? Never tried it. I LOVE the idea!
I’m in for the muffin madness! So…can I have one then??? 🙂 ela
Love these simple seasonal muffins! The pairing of oranges and blueberry sounds fantastic.
Orange muffins sound wonderful and blueberries a wonderful pairing.
These muffins sound amazing! I am already a big fan of blueberry muffins, and the orange sounds like a great addition! Citrus for me in muffins is so good. Thanks for sharing Liz!
Love blueberry-orange combination! What a treat! Beautiful muffins!
The way you described them, I can already taste it. Funny, I actually have blueberries in my fridge right now! And Driscoll is probably my favorite. The berries always remain the freshest longer than any other brand I know. Kudos for converting your brother-in-law into a lover of muffins. That’s always the best feeling.
Love these muffins Dear Lizzy! look wonderful:))
What a lovely combination of flavours! These sound super!
A sugar and zest massage, how interesting! !
I made muffins this week on Monday too. The first time in a long time. Muffins are a favorite in my house. This look lovely. And I can almost taste the orange with your sugar description.
S and blueberries. These sound like muffins I have to try. Thanks for sharing.
Your blueberry and orange muffin looks really soft and moist. Love the picture. 🙂
They do look and sound incredible Liz and I’m definitely ‘stealing’ the massaging technique, LOVE IT!!! (thank you!). How nice that you converted your BIL, but it’s not at all surprising, I suspect the aromas coming from your kitchen are quite irresistible.
What a lovely looking muffin and looking at these wonderful pictures itself anyone would love to have it than resist it! Great combination and a new technique to learn to massage sugar and orange zest..
Thank you for the tip..
Ohh Lizi adoro estos panecillos lucen de lujo,abrazos.
Lizzy, I love the pairing of blueberries and oranges. Your muffins are incredibly moist, and delicious!xoxo
Lizzie
Liz, blueberry and orange is one of my favorite combinations, and these look wonderful! Gorgeous photos!
I can totally understand why it’s called muffins madness! I would be the first to snatch it if I were there too. Lol!
These muffins look incredible Liz and that is definitely the ultimate compliment to turn a hater to a lover – so glad your brother-in-law loved these 🙂
Buttermilk and citrus zest does seem to bring a bit of zing to many baked goods. Thank you for sharing the magical recipe that switched your brother in-law to a believer =)
Beautiful muffins, Liz. Love the blueberry-orange pairing!