Light, fluffy Blueberry Cream Cheese Muffins are packed with fresh blueberries and sweet cream cheese filling. Topped with a simple streusel crumble, these are perfect for a grab-and-go breakfast.
Table of Contents
- Blueberry Muffins with a Cream Cheese Swirl!
- Why You’ll Love This Blueberry Cream Cheese Muffins Recipe
- The Ingredients You’ll Need
- What Makes a Muffin Light and Fluffy?
- How to Make Blueberry Cream Cheese Muffins
- Baking Tips
- How to Store Blueberry Cream Cheese Muffins
- Can I Freeze These?
- More Easy Muffin Recipes
- Get the Recipe
Blueberry Muffins with a Cream Cheese Swirl!
Blueberry muffins are a classic, and you really can’t go wrong serving them for breakfast, brunch, snacks, or as a part of a fun school lunchbox. Like blueberry scones, they also make a great base for a slightly more decadent treat. These blueberry cream cheese muffins are made with wholesome, from-scratch muffin batter, a smooth cream cheese filling, and a light streusel topping. They have a little of everything and so, so good.
Why You’ll Love This Blueberry Cream Cheese Muffins Recipe
- Easy. Mix up a simple muffin batter, add your berries, then spoon into muffin liners and bake. That’s it! If you can mix ingredients in a bowl you can make this easy muffin recipe.
- Bursting with blueberry flavor. These muffins are loaded with blueberries in every bite.
- Moist & tender. With a delightful cream cheese topping baked into the muffins, every bite of these breakfast treats is moist, fluffy and tender.
- Quick breakfast perfection. These muffins are perfect for when you want to have a quick breakfast ready to go.
- Can be made in advance. You can even make them in advance (see the “Can I Freeze These?” section for tips).
If you love these Blueberry Cream Cheese Muffins, I bet you will love these Banana Cream Cheese Muffins and Pumpkin Cream Cheese Swirl Muffins as well!
The Ingredients You’ll Need
The ingredients list for this recipe looks long, but most of the items are basic pantry staples that you probably already have on hand. Here’s what you’ll need to make these irresistible blueberry cream cheese muffins:
Muffin Batter
- Blueberries: Rinsed, picked over, and de-stemmed.
- Flour: Unbleached all-purpose flour, divided. You’ll need some for the batter itself, and some to coat the blueberries before adding them to the recipe.
- Cornstarch: Adding cornstarch to the flour mixture gives it a lighter, silkier crumb when baked.
- Baking Powder: To make the muffins rise. Be sure to use baking powder, not baking soda, in this recipe.
- Cinnamon: This adds an extra sweetness and oomph to the flavor profile – don’t leave it out!
- Salt
- Vegetable Oil and Butter: You could just use one or the other, but I find that the butter gives a great flavor while the oil keeps things light.
- Sugar: Granulated sugar, or you could substitute raw sugar.
- Eggs: It’s helpful to have the eggs at room temperature before you mix them in the batter, but not essential.
- Milk: The milk should also be at room temperature. I use whole milk.
- Vanilla: Pure vanilla extract is my go-to, but feel free to substitute scraped vanilla bean or vanilla bean paste.
Cream Cheese Swirl
- Cream Cheese: Have the cream cheese at room temperature for easy mixing.
- Sugar: Granulated, or raw sugar. I would avoid overly large crystals of sugar since you want it to incorporate easily into the cream cheese.
- Egg Yolk: Separate the egg yolk, and set it out to come to room temperature. (Save the white for an omelet, meringue, etc.)
- Vanilla: Pure vanilla extract, scraped vanilla bean, or paste.
Streusel Crumble
- Flour: Unbleached all-purpose flour.
- Brown Sugar: Light or dark brown is fine. Make sure to pack it into your measuring cup for accurate measure.
- Butter: Cold, unsalted butter, cut into small pieces.
- Salt
Is It Better to Use Fresh or Frozen Blueberries for Muffins?
You can use either one – both are good! For times when blueberries aren’t really in season (or when you don’t feel like washing them, picking them over, and drying them), reach for a bag of frozen blueberries. Use them without thawing, and they’ll be great!
What Makes a Muffin Light and Fluffy?
There are quite a few techniques and ingredients involved in keeping these muffins fluffy. Ingredients-wise, using baking powder is essential – it makes the batter rise in the oven as it bakes.
Another important ingredient is vegetable oil, because it makes the muffins moist without weighing them down. But you also have to watch how you stir together the batter; over mixing can make a muffin heavy or crumbly instead of fluffy. Make sure to mix just until the flour mixture is well-incorporated into the wet ingredients. Finally, only filling every other muffin well gives the muffins a little more room to rise in the oven and get that nice domed top.
How to Make Blueberry Cream Cheese Muffins
Making blueberry cream cheese muffins is fun and easy. The easy, step-by-step photos and instructions below will show you exactly how to do it. (For the printable recipe card, scroll on down to the bottom of this post.)
- Prep Work: Before you get started, you’ll want to set your oven to preheat to 375°F. Line a standard muffin tin with liners, and set it aside. Finally, combine your clean blueberries with a tablespoon and a half of flour, and toss to coat. Sift out any extra flour, and set the blueberries aside.
- Combine the Dry Ingredients. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine the dry baking ingredients: flour, cornstarch, baking powder, ground cinnamon, and salt. Whisk these lightly to combine.
- Combine the Wet Ingredients. Next, in a large mixing bowl, combine the wet ingredients in stages. First, whisk together the vegetable oil, melted butter, and granulated sugar. Then add the eggs, and whisk until well combined. Last, add the milk and vanilla, and whisk again.
- Combine the Dry and Wet Ingredients in One Bowl. Carefully add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, and whisk together until only a small amount of flour remains.
- Add the Blueberries. Add the flour-coated blueberries to the batter and gently fold in the blueberries until combined and no dry flour remains. Be careful not to over-mix, and use a spatula instead of a whisk so you don’t crush the berries.
- Make the Cream Cheese Filling. To make the cream cheese filling, combine the cream cheese, granulated sugar, egg yolk, and vanilla extract in a medium bowl. Vigorously whisk these ingredients until you have a smooth filling mixture.
- Make the Streusel. Combine the flour, brown sugar, cold butter, and pinch of salt in a medium bowl. Using your hands, the rounded side of a spoon, or a pastry cutter, combine these ingredients together until you have a crumbly topping mixture.
- Assemble the Muffins. Using a scoop, fill the muffin liners with blueberry muffin batter until they are approximately 2/3 of the way full. Add about half a tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture to the top of the muffin batter, and swirl with a toothpick (if desired). Spread streusel crumble evenly over each muffin top.
- Bake. Bake the muffins for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow the muffins to cool for at least 15 minutes before serving.
- Enjoy!
Baking Tips
Every recipe has its little tips and tricks that are handy to know, so keep reading for my best advice on making the perfect blueberry cream cheese muffins. You are going to love them!
- Mixer: I love my stand mixer as much as the next home baker, but it’s also nice to have a recipe where there’s no mixer required! This is one of those – so easy.
- Milk and Egg Temperature: For best results, allow the milk and eggs to sit and warm to room temperature for about 15 minutes beforehand. This will allow for better incorporation into the batter.
- Flouring the Berries: The extra flour helps the blueberries stay suspended in the batter, and not sink to the bottom of the muffins.
- Cream Cheese: The cream cheese in the step-by-step photos looks like more of a topping than a swirl, because the blueberries were very big and didn’t give much room to swirl things around! You can do it this way, swirl it, or even split the batter and put the cream cheese in the center.
- Topping: Streusel topping can be optional, but it adds a nice color and a tiny bit of a crunch to the muffins.
- Extra Berries: For a pretty presentation, you can add a few extra blueberries to the top of each muffin.
How to Store Blueberry Cream Cheese Muffins
These muffins are easy to store. Just keep them in an airtight container to prevent them from going stale, and store them in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Can I Freeze These?
Yes, you can freeze blueberry cream cheese muffins for longer storage. I recommend wrapping each one individually in plastic wrap, and then popping all of the wrapped muffins in a freezer bag or storage container. Freeze for up to one month, and thaw in the fridge before serving.
More Easy Muffin Recipes
- Mini Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Banana Cream Cheese Muffins
- Glazed Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
- Nutella Banana Muffins
- Best Pumpkin Muffins
- Apple Cinnamon Muffins
- Baked French Toast Muffins
Blueberry Cream Cheese Muffins
Ingredients
Blueberry Muffin Batter
- 1 ½ cups fresh blueberries, rinsed and de-stemmed
- 1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour, plus 1 1/2 tablespoons, divided*
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- ½ cup whole milk
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Cream Cheese Swirl
- 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg yolk, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Streusel Crumble
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup brown sugar, packed
- 2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Prepare a standard muffin tin with liners. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, add 1 1/2 tablespoons of flour and the clean blueberries. Toss to coat with flour. Sift out any extra flour and set aside.
- În a medium bowl, combine 1 3/4 cup flour, cornstarch, baking powder, ground cinnamon, and salt. Whisk until combined.
- In a large mixing bowl, add vegetable oil, melted butter, and granulated sugar. Whisk until thoroughly incorporated. Add eggs and whisk until well combined. Then, add milk and vanilla extract and whisk again.
- Carefully add the dry ingredients and incorporate them together until a small amount of flour remains.
- Add flour-coated blueberries to the batter and gently fold in the blueberries until combined and no dry flour remains. Careful not to over-mix.
- In a medium bowl, add cream cheese, granulated sugar, egg yolk, and vanilla extract. Vigorously whisk until well combined.
- In a medium bowl, add flour, brown sugar, cold butter, and pinch of salt. Using your hands, a rounded side of a spoon, or a pastry cutter, combine the ingredients together until crumbly.
- Using a scoop, fill liners with blueberry muffin batter until approximately 2/3 of the way full. Add roughly 1/2 tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture to the top of the muffin batter, swirling with a toothpick if desired. Spread streusel crumble evenly over each muffin top.
- Bake for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow muffins to cool for at least 15 minutes before serving.
Notes
- Storage: Store muffins in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 1 month.
- Mixer: I love my stand mixer as much as the next home baker, but it’s also nice to have a recipe where there’s no mixer required! This is one of those – so easy.
- Milk and Egg Temperature: For best results, allow the milk and eggs to sit and warm to room temperature for about 15 minutes beforehand. This will allow for better incorporation into the batter.
- Flouring the Berries: The extra flour helps the blueberries stay suspended in the batter, and not sink to the bottom of the muffins.
- Cream Cheese: The cream cheese in the step-by-step photos looks like more of a topping than a swirl, because the blueberries were very big and didn’t give much room to swirl things around! You can do it this way, swirl it, or even split the batter and put the cream cheese in the center.
- Topping: Streusel topping can be optional, but it adds a nice color and tiny bit of a crunch to the muffins.
Nutrition
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