These lemon blackberry muffins are fluffy and tender, filled with fresh lemon flavor and juicy summer blackberries. I added a crunchy streusel and lemon glaze for good measure. The combination of flavors and textures is too good!
If you’re looking for more spring and summer baking ideas, try these tender lemon raspberry muffins and my easy lemon bread, next.
The best thing about spring and summer baking is all the fresh produce that’s in season. Treats like my lemon raspberry muffins, tangy lemon bread, and zucchini muffins are worth switching on the oven for, as are today’s lemon blackberry muffins! These are soft buttermilk muffins bursting with juicy blackberries and fresh lemon zest. They’re quick and easy to make with big, tall domes and enough flavor to rival any bakery muffin I’ve tasted. I’ll show you how to make them with minimal ingredients and very little prep.
About These Zesty Blackberry Muffins
- Made extra moist with buttermilk. I love the tang of buttermilk in these blackberry muffins. It rounds out the fruity flavors, and combined with sour cream, it makes the muffins ultra-moist and tender.
- Fresh lemon. You can easily adapt classic blueberry muffins with blackberries instead (also delicious). But I can’t resist the contrast of juicy, tart blackberries baked into zesty, moist lemon muffins in this recipe.
- Big, bakery-style domes. I share my easy method for baking at a high temperature first, with helpful tips on how to fill the pan, for perfect, bakery-style muffins with high domes.
Ingredient Notes
You’ll find the complete ingredients list with amounts in the printable recipe card after the post.
- Fresh Blackberries – Rinsed and dried. Tossing the fresh berries in flour helps to prevent them from sinking to the bottom of the batter. You can also make this muffin recipe with different kinds of fresh or frozen berries, see the FAQ section later on.
- Oil – This should be a neutral-flavored vegetable oil, like canola oil. I still include melted butter in the recipe for the flavor it gives, but oil is the secret to super-tender, moist homemade muffins.
- Buttermilk – If you don’t have buttermilk in the fridge, make a homemade buttermilk substitute. Combine a scant cup of regular milk with 1 tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice. Let that stand for 5-10 minutes, then stir and use it in the recipe as directed.
- Sour Cream – You could also use plain Greek yogurt.
- Lemon – Freshly squeezed lemon juice and fresh lemon zest. See below for testing tips. For even more lemon flavor, consider adding 1 teaspoon of lemon extract to the batter.
- Sanding Sugar – For sprinkling over the muffin batter before baking for a crunchy, sparkly finish. Make sure to use Wilton sanding sugar or another coarse sugar (like turbinado sugar), and not granulated sugar, which melts into the batter.
Tips for Zesting a Lemon the Right Way
These lemon blackberry muffins turn out best with fresh lemon zest. I have a full tutorial on how to zest a lemon that you can refer to. In the meantime, keep these quick tips in mind:
- Wash and scrub the lemons. Make sure to rinse and scrub the lemons under cold water to remove and waxes and residue before you zest them.
- Use the right tools. A citrus zester comes in handy, but you can also use the small holes on a box grater or a fine cheese grater.
- Only zest the yellow part. Do your best to zest only the thin lemon skin and not the bitter, white pithy party underneath. The yellow part is where the oils are.
How to Make Lemon Blackberry Muffins
Similar to my blueberry bread and other quick bread recipes, muffins are very forgiving, and the batter is quick to make. This is an overview of the steps. Scroll down to the recipe card for the printable instructions.
- Mix the dry and wet ingredients separately. First, whisk together the flour, sugar, leavening, and salt. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs until they’re pale yellow, then mix in the oil, melted butter, lemon juice, buttermilk, sour cream, and lemon zest.
- Coat the berries. Next, in a new bowl, toss the blackberries with ¼ cup of flour to coat.
- Mix and rest the batter. Start by folding the dry ingredients into the wet batter a little at a time using a wooden spoon or spatula. Fold in the blackberries last, discarding the leftover flour. Be careful not to overmix. Afterward, cover the bowl with the muffin batter and leave it to rest at room temperature for 20-30 minutes.
- Prepare for baking. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 425ºF. When you’re ready to bake, line two 12-cup muffin tins with 6 liners in one and 4 liners in the other, leaving an empty well between each muffin.
- Fill the pan. Use a large cookie scoop to portion 2 scoops of batter per liner, or about 6 tablespoons of batter for each. If you don’t have a large cookie scoop, you can use 1/4 cup measuring cup and then add 2 tablespoons.
- Sprinkle and bake. Add a generous sprinkle of sanding sugar to each muffin. Finally, bake the muffins in the middle rack of the oven at 425ºF for 6 minutes, then lower the oven temperature to 350ºF. Continue to bake for another 12-17 minutes. Resist the urge to open the oven door until the muffins are done.
- Cool. Cool the muffins inside the baking pans for 10-15 minutes, then move them to a wire rack to finish cooling to room temperature.
For Bakery-Style Muffins, Try This
Muffins need room to expand while they bake. An easy trick to ensure that these muffins have plenty of space to rise is to fill every other cavity in the pan, leaving an open well in between. I picked up this handy tip from my friend Beth at The First Year Blog, and I’ve been using it ever since for big, bakery-style muffins. See the section below for more baking tips.
Julianne’s Tips for Success
- Don’t overmix. Use a wooden spoon to stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until everything is just combined. The batter will look thick, and that’s ok. Overmixing leads to tough, dense muffins.
- When possible, bake both pans at the same time. If there’s space in your oven to bake 2 trays at a time, bake them on the top rack of the oven, side by side. Otherwise, I suggest to bake only one pan at a time. Note that in this case, the additional resting time for the second batch may produce muffins that are a little misshaped due to the extended rest. They’ll still taste great!
- Bake high, then low. The key to big, tall domes is starting muffins at a high temperature (425ºF) for the first few minutes of baking. The muffins puff up quickly in the high heat and then continue to bake after you’ve reduced the oven temperature (350ºF).
- Don’t open the oven door too early. The best way to check muffins for doneness is to stick a toothpick into the center of a muffin. If it comes out clean, they’re done. However, resist checking the muffins or opening the oven door for at least 15 minutes once the muffins are inside. Sudden changes in temperature can cause the muffins to deflate.
- Loosen sticky muffins. If you find that the muffins are sticking to the pan when you go to remove them, run a knife gently around the edges to help loosen them.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I Use Different Berries?
Yes! You’re welcome to substitute blackberries with fresh or frozen raspberries or blueberries. Again, if you’re using frozen berries, there’s no need to coat them with flour. You can fold the berries into the batter right from frozen. Note that since frozen berries hold more moisture than fresh berries, they may not hold their shape as nicely when baked.
Can I Add a Streusel?
Absolutely! Instead of sanding sugar, sprinkle the top of these lemon blackberry muffins with crunchy streusel before they go into the oven, like my peach macadamia nut muffins. You could also add a vanilla glaze similar to the one you’d add to cinnamon rolls.
How to Store
- At room temperature. Let the blackberry muffins cool completely before you store them airtight. Line the container with a paper towel to further absorb any excess moisture, and enjoy these muffins within 2-3 days for best freshness.
- Freeze. Freeze the lemon blackberry muffins in a freezer bag or container in a single layer. Keep them frozen for up to 2 months, and thaw the muffins at room temperature before serving.
More Easy Muffin Recipes
Lemon Blackberry Muffins
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Rest time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 18 minutes
- Total Time: 58 minutes
- Yield: 12 muffins
- Category: Muffins
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
Description
These moist lemon blackberry muffins are an easy summer treat bursting with fresh citrus and tart, juicy blackberries beneath a crunchy sugar topping.
Ingredients
- 3 cups (360g) all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (190g) granulated sugar
- 3 teaspoons (10g) baking powder
- ½ teaspoon (3g) baking soda
- ½ teaspoon (4g) salt
- 2 large eggs (100g), at room temperature
- ¼ cup (59ml) vegetable oil
- 3 tablespoons (42g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 1 cup (236ml) buttermilk, at room temperature
- ⅓ cup (64g) sour cream, at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons (10g) fresh lemon zest (about 3 large lemons)
- 3 tablespoons (44ml) lemon juice
- 12 ounces fresh blackberries, rinsed and slightly dried
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- Sanding Sugar
Instructions
- Combine the flour 3 cups), sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt to a medium or large bowl, and whisk together until they are thoroughly combined.
- Add the eggs to a separate large bowl and beat with a whisk until pale yellow. Pour in the vegetable oil, melted butter, lemon juice, buttermilk, sour cream, and lemon zest.
- Combined the blackberries with ¼ cup flour and coat the berries.
- Fold about ⅓ of the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients with a wooden spoon or silicone spatula. Continue adding the dry ingredients until it is all incorporated, add the blackberries (discarding any leftover flour) and mix just until combined, try not to overmix. The batter will be thick and wet.
- Cover the batter with plastic wrap, and let it rest at room temperature for 20-30 minutes. While the batter is resting, preheat the oven to 425°F.
- Line 2 (12-cup) muffin tins with 6 liners in one and 4 liners in the other, one in every other cup. Use a large cookie scoop, add 2 scoops of batter to each liner (6 tablespoons of batter each). Sprinkle the tops with plenty of sanding sugar.
- Bake the muffins on the middle rack of the oven for 6 minutes at 425°F. Then, without opening the oven, lower the temperature to 350°F, and bake for another 12-17 minutes or until the muffins are tall and a toothpick inserted in the middle of the center muffins comes out clean.
- Let the muffins rest in the pan for 10-15 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack and let them cool to room temperature. If you find they are sticking to the pan, gently run a knife around the bottom of the pan. Store in an airtight container on the counter for up to 3 days.
Notes
- How to fill the pan: For consistency, either use a large (3tbsp size) cookie scoop or I suggest measuring out ¼ cup of batter in 12 liners and then 2 tbsp for each muffin.
- Fill every other liner: To allow the muffins enough room to expand, only fill 6 cavities on the muffin pan, leaving an empty space in between (refer to the photos in the blog post)
Storage
- At room temperature. Let the blackberry muffins cool completely before you store them airtight. Line the container with a paper towel to further absorb any excess moisture, and enjoy these muffins within 2-3 days for best freshness.
- Freeze. Freeze the lemon blackberry muffins in a freezer bag or container in a single layer. Keep them frozen for up to 2 months, and thaw the muffins at room temperature before serving.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Muffin
- Calories: 304
- Sugar: 19.3 g
- Sodium: 190.9 mg
- Fat: 10.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 48.3 g
- Fiber: 2.6 g
- Protein: 6.1 g
- Cholesterol: 43.1 mg
Filed Under:
Reviews prior to 2025 are based on an older, original recipe which was updated 6/29/25
I made 6 jumbo size muffins with this recipe. It was super easy to make. The muffins came out super moist, not very sweet which I like and very moist. I enjoyed it and will make a lemon blueberry bundt cake next time.