Blueberry Muffins with Lavender
Everything you love about a classic blueberry muffin, but with a hint of lavender and buttery oat streusel tops people inevitably eat first.
Every baker has a blueberry muffin recipe, but not everyone has a version like this one. These muffins are stand-out for a couple reasons. A trace of lavender is blended into the sugar, just enough harmonize with the berry notes. And each muffin is crowned with a crumble, packed with buttery oats, as the topper. The kind you find on your favorite baked fruit crisp. These are berry-streaked wonders, naturally floral without being too strong or perfume-y. You. should. absolutely. bake. some.
Blueberry Muffin Ingredients
A few notes on some of the main player ingredients.
- Blueberries: Beyond summer berries, or berries I’ve frozen for later use, frozen wild blueberries are what I typically reach for when baking these. I like their size and concentration. But standard blueberries are a-ok as well.
- Yogurt: I use whatever full fat yogurt I have on hand for these because it’s typically what I keep around. If you have buttermilk instead, that’s a reasonable swap.
- Oats: Use standard oats here, skip the instant oats.
- Lavender Sugar: You’ll make a quick version by pulsing a bit of dried lavender with brown sugar in a food processor or high-speed blender. We grow some lavender here, so I dry my own (here's a post on how to dry herbs). There's also this post on working with edible flowers.
- Crumble Topping: Quick to make, this is simply a streusel crumble made from many of the same ingredients you’ll be using for the muffin batter component.
How To Make Blueberry Muffins with Lavender
It might be helpful for you to see what this process for making these muffins at various stages:
- Make the lavender sugar, it goes into both the crumble top, and the muffin batter.
- Make the quick dough for the crumble top and pop it into the freezer.
- Mix the dry ingredients. You mix the wet ingredients and then you'll combine them - as pictured below. Avoid over mixing to keep your muffins tender. Mix just enough that there are only a few dry streaks visible.
Fold in the berries: To avoid mixing a purple batter, keeping things pretty, you need to be careful at this stage. I've found that sprinkling the blueberries across the batter, then folding them under with just two or three swoops of your spoon or spatula strikes the right balance (pictured below). You get good berry distribution, groovy streaks, without staining all the batter.
Fill the muffin tins: Spoon the muffin batter into paper-lined muffin tins. Then top with the crumble. Finish with a few strategically placed blueberries on each muffin before moving them to a hot oven.
Bake and enjoy! Let them get nice and golden.
Blueberry Muffins: Variations
- Blueberry Citrus: In place of the lavender, load your muffin batter up with lots of citrus - Meyer lemon is a great call here. But I also love orange or a combination multiple citrus types.
- Blueberry Hibiscus: Steep a few tablespoons of hibiscus in hot water, chop well, then use in the batter along with some toasted coconut flakes (the large kind). Fold in with the blueberries.
- Blueberry Rose Vanilla: You can make a rose sugar in place of the lavender version. Adding a splash of vanilla to the wet ingredients is also welcome.
- Brown Butter Blueberry: Skip the lavender and do a version adding toasted walnuts or hazelnuts (chopped) to both the crumble top and the muffin batter. Use brown butter in place of the melted butter.
Storage
You have options!
- Store in airtight container for a couple days.
- Freeze in a well-sealed container for up to two months.
- To reheat, allow the muffins to thaw, then reheat in oven at 350F for a few minutes, until warmed through. Toaster ovens work great here as well.
More Muffin Recipes
- Seeded Pumpkin & Feta Muffins
- Bran Muffins
- Cottage Cheese Muffins
- Oatmeal Muffins
- Buttermilk Berry Muffins
- Baked Oatmeal Cups
- all muffin recipes
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Blueberry Muffins with Lavender
Frozen blueberries are fine to use here, although you might need to tack a minute or two onto baking time. Anytime you cook or bake with edible flowers, be sure they haven’t been sprayed, etc.
- 2 teaspoons dried lavender
- 1 cup / 5 ounces / 140g brown sugar
- 3/4 cup / 3 oz / 85g whole wheat pastry flour
- 1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1/2 cup / 70g lavender sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
- 1/3 cup / 2.5 oz / 70g unsalted butter, melted
- 1 cup / 3.5 oz / 100g old-fashioned rolled oats
- 3/4 cup / 3.5 oz / 100g unbleached all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup / 3.5 oz / 100g whole wheat pastry flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
- 7/8 cup / 7 oz / 200g unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup / 70g lavender sugar
- 1 1/2 cups / 12 oz / 350 ml plain yogurt
- 2 eggs, whisked
- 1 cup / 125g blueberries
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Preheat oven to 350°F / 180°C. Line two muffin pans with paper muffin liners. This recipe makes about 1 1/2 dozen standard sized muffins. Place oven racks in top third of oven.
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Make the lavender sugar by combining the dried lavender and brown sugar in a food processor or high-speed blender. Pulse to break down the lavender. It should be beautifully fragrant. Set aside.
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Make the crumble top by combining the flour, oats, 1/2 cup / 70g of the lavender sugar, and salt in a bowl. Stir in the melted butter. Divide the mixture into three portions, and use your hands to form into three flat-ish patties. Place the patties back in the bowl and into the freezer for about ten minutes.
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Now, onto the muffin batter. In a medium bowl combine the oats, flours, baking soda, salt, Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Remove from heat and stir in the remaining 1/2 cup / 70g lavender sugar. Whisk in the yogurt, until uniform in appearance, then add the eggs. Combine the wet and dry ingredients and stir until barely combined, there should be a couple dry streaks still evident. Sprinkle 2/3 of the blueberries across the batter, and do 2-3 more folds of the batter to distribute them a bit. Don’t go beyond that or you’ll end up with purple batter.
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Use a spoon to scoop the batter into the muffin tins, filling each cup 3/4 full. Pull the crumble from the freezer and break it up into small and medium pieces. Sprinkle the top of each muffin with crumble, and place a few of the remaining berries on each top as well.
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Bake the muffins for 30-35 minutes or until tops are golden and a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool just a minute or so, then transfer muffins to a cooling rack.
Makes 1 1/2 dozen blueberry muffins.
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