These blueberry muffin tops are heavenly. Forget the bulky muffin itself and try these muffin tops, all the good without the excess.
We have updated this original recipe from December, 2016 with new pictures, some ingredient substitutions and more detailed instructions.
No special pan needed for these blueberry muffin tops since it’s a thicker batter than most muffins. The muffin tops will hold their shape…for the most part. Our blueberry muffin top recipe is a cross between a muffin and a scone.
What Makes These Blueberry Muffins Special?
We adapted this “blueberry muffins, tops only” recipe from The Biscone, a cross between the classic southern buttermilk biscuit and a buttery blueberry scone. The name and inspiration originated at the Back In The Day Bakery in Savannah, Ga run by the self-taught baking geniuses Cheryl and Griffith Day. Cheryl and Griffith were semi-finalists for the 2015 James Beard Foundation Award for Outstanding Baker. We may not all be James Beard semi-finalists, but we can follow the Day’s guidance for these special blueberry treats.
We live in the South where freshly made biscuits are readily available. Big fluffy blueberry muffins may not be great for the waistline but they sure are good for the taste buds! Cheryl and Griffith have made the chore of making homemade biscuits and scones much easier with their one bowl, no roll method. This technique requires a lot less effort than typical pastry baking. It’s a lot like drop biscuits and the method works wonders on these blueberry muffin tops.
How To Make Blueberry Muffin Tops, Tips & Techniques
I’ve simplified the process from Back In The Day Bakery even further by leaving out what I consider unnecessary steps and switched out some ingredients for more readily available every day ingredients. As all of you know, if a step or ingredient can be skipped without losing much integrity then I’ll skip it.
Keep slicing with both knives into the butter cubes until you have small pea size chunks of flour/butter.
Mix the dry ingredients together, then add cubed butter and cut in with two knives or a pastry blender. Make sure the knives are cutting through the cubes of butter, keep going until there are pea size chunks in the dough. Now add the blueberries before you add the liquid. I know, sounds a little backwards but I find it’s easier to disburse the berries this way. Add the liquids and gently stir with a spoon, wooden spoon or rubber spatula. You want to be gentle so that the blueberries don’t burst and color the batter.
To cube the butter, open the paper wrapper around the butter and slice horizontally two times. Turn the butter stick on it’s side and slice two more horizontal lines. Now cut cross wise across the stick of butter and you will end up with about 1/2″ cubes.
Place about a 1/4″ cup of batter onto parchment lined baking tray, keeping muffins an inch apart, and bake until golden on top.
While the muffins are baking, make the lemon glaze. Top warm blueberry muffin tops with glaze and enjoy. MMMM, so good!
How To Make Lemon Glaze
Zest and juice a medium size lemon. Mix with the powdered sugar until smooth. Pour over warm blueberry muffins if you are eating right away. Otherwise let the muffins cool completely before adding the glaze. That way the glaze will be thicker and sit on top of the blueberry muffins as opposed to seeping into them. See our post How To Make Lemon Glaze if you would like more detailed information.
If you have a guest that doesn’t like the strong taste of lemon, then mix 3/4 cup powdered sugar with 2 Tablespoons milk, stir until smooth.
Use Fresh Or Frozen Blueberries For Muffin Tops?
You can use fresh or frozen blueberries. If using frozen berries there are a few tricks that will help you keep the blueberry muffin tops from becoming a bluish green color. Take the frozen blueberries straight from the freezer, rinse a few times under cold water then dry between paper towels. This will give you a perfectly golden muffin and keep the blue color where it belongs…in the berries, not in the muffin mix. An extra tip to keep the blueberries from sinking in the batter is to scatter a little flour over the berries so that they are lightly covered, this keeps the berries dispersed in the blueberry muffin tops batter well.
Don’t Have Buttermilk? Make Homemade Buttermilk In 10 Minutes!
I often don’t have buttermilk on hand for baking. BUT, I do usually have milk and a lemon OR white vinegar (or cider vinegar) around. If you have these ingredients in your house then you are set anytime you need buttermilk. The homemade buttermilk adds a nice tang to the blueberry muffin tops.
Pour 1 cup milk into a measuring cup and add the juice of half a medium size lemon. Or instead of the lemon juice you can add a Tablespoon of white vinegar. For this blueberry muffin tops recipe we call for 1 1/2 cups milk so I went ahead and squeezed the whole lemon. For buttermilk it really isn’t necessary to be overly perfect with the amounts, meaning I don’t actually measure the lemon juice. Just use roughly a half lemon per cup of milk.
Let the mixture set for about 10-15 minutes, you’ll see a little curdling starting to happen on the top of the milk. Stir and use for your baking recipe. See our post How To Make Homemade Buttermilk if you have any further questions.
Blueberry Muffin Tops
Our blueberry muffin tops recipe is an adaptation of The Biscone, a cross between the classic southern buttermilk biscuit and a buttery English scone. Super easy, super delicious!
Ingredients
- 3 Cups Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
- 1/4 Cup Granulated Sugar
- 2 Tablespoons Baking Powder
- 3/4 teaspoon Table Salt
- 2 Sticks Unsalted Butter Cold and cut into 1/2" pieces
- 2 Cups Blueberries Fresh or Frozen, about 1 pint
- 1 1/2 Cups Buttermilk or make easy homemade buttermilk
- 1 Large Egg
- 3/4 Cup Confectioner's Sugar
- 1 Medium Lemon zested and juiced
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
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Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder and 3/4 teaspoon salt until combined. Cut the butter into 1/2" pieces, then cut into the flour mixture using a pastry cutter or two knives. If using the two knives, cut across the pieces of butter in opposite directions until it resembles a coarse meal, about pea size chunks. Gently stir in the blueberries.
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Slowly pour in most of the buttermilk, gently folding the mixture until there are no more bits of flour remaining in the bottom of the bowl. You want the dough to be moist and slightly sticky, if the dough is dry then add the remaining buttermilk, a couple of tablespoons at a time. Just don't overdo it or you will have a gloppy mess!
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Using a large spoon, or even better a 1/4" cup ice scream scoop, scoop mounds of dough onto the parchment lined baking sheets, placing the Biscones about an inch apart.
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Now to add the golden touch, lightly beat an egg with a Tablespoon of water. Brush the tops of the Muffins liberally with the egg wash. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the Muffin Tops are golden and fully baked. Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes.
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While Muffin Tops are baking, stir the confectioners' sugar with the grated lemon zest and juice until smooth and creamy. Drizzle over the muffins and serve immediately.
If eating later wait until the muffins are completely cool before adding the glaze.
Recipe Notes
Freezing Directions:
Bake the Biscones (leaving the glaze off), let cool completely. Label and seal a resealable plastic baggie and freeze the Biscones.
Homemade Buttermilk: Stir 1 1/2 cups milk with the juice of one large lemon. Let sit for about 10-15 minutes. Bam, you now have buttermilk! See post for homemade buttermilk for more detailed directions.
This is a very thick dough. You shouldn't be able to pour it like regular muffin batter. It's more like a drop biscuit or dumpling dough density.
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