Blackberry Muffins With Cinnamon Streusel

These easy blackberry muffins are super moist and fluffy. Dotted with juicy blackberries and topped with buttery cinnamon streusel.

Blackberries in muffins

They are bakery-style muffins, full of flavor and texture, and make an easy breakfast or snack. You can use fresh or frozen berries or switch the blackberries up for a different berry altogether! (Try these blueberry buttermilk muffins.)

Juicy blackberries make perfect surprises in muffins. Biting into sweet blackberries is the perfect complement to the fluffy muffin texture and brings extra moisture.

The fresh berries are folded through the batter right at the end to avoid the plump blackberries being broken up by being mixed too much.

Frozen blackberries are prone to breaking up in the batter and releasing a lot of their juices. This can color the batter too much. To avoid the frozen juicy berries from bleeding into the batter, add them to each individual muffin once the batter has been made and scooped into the muffin tin.

The streusel

The crispy streusel topping is one of the best parts of these homemade blackberry muffins. It’s like bites of cinnamon shortbread, giving another texture element to the soft muffins. There’s quite a bit of crumb, and it might look like there is too much.

Just pile it on top of the muffins really generously and as it bakes some of the crumbs sink into the batter and some of it becomes golden and crispy.

Ingredients

Equipment

You will need a standard 12-hole muffin pan

Method

Preheat the oven to 425°F / 220°C. Line a muffin pan with paper liners.

Streusel

In a small bowl combine melted butter, granulated sugar, cinnamon, salt, and all-purpose flour. Use a fork to combine it into a coarse crumb, then set it aside.

The muffins

Fold in the flour mixture, alternating with the buttermilk until nearly all is combined.

If using fresh blackberries, toss them in a tablespoon of flour, then carefully fold them into the batter in the bowl. This helps to stop them from sinking. If using frozen blackberries, wait to add them until the muffin batter has been scooped into the muffin cups.

Divide the batter evenly over the prepared muffin liners. An ice cream scoop is easy to use for this job.

Baking

Bake the muffins in the preheated oven at 220°C/425°F for 5 minutes, then turn the oven down to 350°F / 175°C and continue baking for another 15-18 minutes until the tops of the muffins are golden brown and spring back when lightly pressed in the center.

The baking time will depend on your oven.

Remove them from the oven and let the muffins cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing and placing them on a wire rack to cool to further.

The warm muffins can be enjoyed right away.

Storing

Store leftover muffins at room temperature, covered for up to 3 days. Freeze the baked muffins for up to 3 months (helpful if you make a double batch!) Let them cool completely, and place each muffin in a freezer-safe container or bag. 

Thaw in the fridge or on the bench. Warm them in the microwave or oven for 5 minutes at around 300°F/150°C for a fresh-baked muffin texture.

Buttermilk substitute

Buttermilk is an excellent addition to baked goods and especially so in muffins. It’s an acidic product that helps to halt gluten development in wheat flour, resulting in a lovely and tender crumb.

You can buy buttermilk from the store, make your own buttermilk from scratch, or use a buttermilk substitute.

A buttermilk substitute won’t give the same tang and taste as real buttermilk, but it will still help to create tender muffins.

Mix whole milk along with an acid such as lemon juice or vinegar. (White vinegar or apple cider vinegar works well.)

More muffin recipes

For more homemade muffins, check out these recipes

• Strawberry White Chocolate Muffins
• Blueberry Streusel Muffins
• Lemon Poppyseed Muffins

Or try some blackberry crumble bars!

Measurements

This recipe is written using grams as the main measurement.

If you don’t have a scale US measuring cup equivalents are also included, however, using a kitchen scale to measure grams will give the best and most consistent results .*US cup sizes are smaller than metric cup sizes.