These Blueberry & Lavender Muffins are perfect for a mid-afternoon snack and great for a breakfast on the run. This is a traditional buttermilk muffin recipe with added lavender buds, that work amazingly well with the blueberries.
I’ve always loved lavender as a flavour – lavender cupcakes were always one of the most popular ones, when I was baking for a local tea room.
Dried lavender buds are also great in shortbread biscuits and I recently even had a delicious lavender latte!
Why make this recipe?
- Traditional blueberry muffins with an unusual flavour twist- lavender
- Perfect for snack or breakfast on the run
- Soft buttermilk muffins
- Easy to bake recipe
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Ingredients & Possible Substitutions
Blueberries
I prefer to use fresh blueberries over frozen blueberries. I find that fresh blueberries are less watery and stay nice and plump inside the muffin batter.
Buttermilk
Buttermilk reacts with the baking soda, which is what’s going to give these muffins an amazing rise.
If you don’t have buttermilk, use whole milk with 1-2 tablespoons of lemon juice (or vinegar). This will slightly curdle the milk and turn it into a sort of buttermilk. You can use any kind of vinegar to make buttermilk, I usually use any of the vinegars for pickling vegetables. You can also use whole milk or half cream and half water or milk or even watered down leftover evaporated milk if you have just opened a tin and don’t know what else to use it for.
Flour
I’ve used plain – cake (all purpose) flour as this will give the muffins the best light texture possible. I don’t tend to sieve my flour, but if you wanted to give the muffins extra lift, you can also do that (or if the flour is hard and compacted in the bag).
Sugar
Caster sugar is best for this recipe, as it’s light and easy to dissolve into the cake mixture. White caster sugar is also great for the flavour as it won’t overpower the subtle lavender taste. Saying that, you can also use slightly darker sugars such as light brown sugar, coconut sugar or some of the lighter sugar substitutions for coconut sugar, such as golden caster sugar.
Raising agents
We are using both baking powder and baking soda with this recipe, but if you don’t have baking soda, up the amount of baking powder, so overall you have 2 teaspoons of your chosen raising agent.
Salt
Don’t skip the salt! It’s as important as all the other ingredients if not more. Salt helps to bring all the flavours together and make these muffins taste amazing! I’ve tested this recipe with up to 1/4 teaspoon of salt, but if you think it’s too much, you are welcome to start with just a generous pinch and then decide for yourself if need to add more when you bake the next batch.
Butter
I like to keep things quite traditional with this recipe, so I’m using real butter, which adds amazing flavour and since it’s just a 70 grams it’s not a huge amount to worry about.
Egg
If you are thinking of making this recipe into a vegan version, use 1 table spoon of chia seeds soaked in 3 tablespoons of water. Leave it until the water thickens a bit (the chia seeds will turn it into a jelly like substance)
Lavender
It’s best to use culinary lavender, which is specially grown for its deep flavour and intensity. I prefer to use lavender buds, but you could also use lavender oil. Again make sure it’s a culinary lavender oil, that’s suitable for baking.
If you don’t have lavender, this recipe will work fine without it, but obviously you won’t get the lavender flavour!
Vanilla extract
I like to add vanilla extract in, because I think it ads a lovely flavour, but it can be left out if you don’t have one. Vanilla extract is becoming increasingly more and more expensive, so I treat it as a luxury.
How to make Blueberry & Lavender Muffins Recipe
Preheat your oven to 180C (350F) or Gas mark 3
Prepare muffin tin lined with large muffin cases or folded parchment paper.
Measure out all the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda) and add them to a large mixing bowl. Whisk with a handheld whisk or use a mixer.
In a another large bowl or a mixing jug, combine the buttermilk, egg and vanilla extract and whisk quickly with a fork.
Add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture and whisk on a very low until all the ingredients are incorporated.
Add the melted butter and carry on whisking on a slow speed, making sure that the muffin mixture is smooth.
Add the tablespoon of the lavender buds and whisk them in.
Carefully fold in the blueberries in with a wooden spoon.
Divide the muffin batter among 12 large paper lined muffin cups tray. Bake in 180C (Gas Mark 5), 350F oven for about 20-25 minutes or until golden and the tops are firm to the touch.
Let the tin cool on the rack for 5 minutes and then remove the muffins from the tin and let cool completely.
My top tips for making Blueberry & Lavender Muffins Recipe
- Start with room temperature ingredients.
- Mix the dry and wet ingredients separately before combining them.
- Do not overmix the batter, as it can result in tough muffins.
- Use a cookie scoop or ice cream scoop to portion out the batter evenly.
- Fill the muffin cups about two-thirds full to allow room for the muffins to rise.
- Use a toothpick or cake tester to check if the muffins are done.
- Let the muffins cool in the pan for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
How to make sure that your blueberries don’t sink to the bottom of the muffin batter
To prevent blueberries from sinking to the bottom of muffin batter when baking, you can try the following methods:
- Toss the blueberries in a small amount of flour or cornstarch before adding them to the batter. This helps to absorb some of the moisture from the berries and coat them, preventing them from sinking to the bottom
- Fold the blueberries into the batter gently, being careful not to overmix the batter. Overmixing can cause the berries to break and release their juices, which can weigh down the batter and cause the berries to sink
- Use frozen blueberries instead of fresh. Frozen blueberries are firmer and less likely to sink to the bottom of the batter. However, be sure to thaw the berries and drain off any excess liquid before using them in the batter.
Batch size
This Blueberry & Lavender Muffin Recipe will give you 12 large size muffins or 16-20 small-medium size muffins.
How to store muffins
Muffins are best stored in an airtight container or plastic bag. The best way to store muffins is to let them cool completely at room temperature and then place them in an airtight container or resealable plastic bag.
You can also wrap them individually in plastic wrap or aluminum foil before storing them. Avoid storing them in the refrigerator, as this can dry them out. Instead, store them at room temperature for up to three days or in the freezer for up to three months.
If you can’t eat them within 2-3 days, I’d suggest to freeze them. They will be fine in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Can I scale up or down this recipe?
This batch is already fairly large as it makes the American size muffins (large over the top muffins), rather than the English version, which are smaller.
If you fancy making more just double up the recipe, but make sure you have enough muffin trays and space in the oven as your muffins will need to be baked all at the same time.
You can also half the recipe ingredients if you wish to make a small batch of 6 large muffins or 8-10 medium (smaller) size muffins (like an English sized muffins).
The oven temperature and the length of baking doesn’t change regardless if you half the recipe or double or triple the recipe.
Can you freeze blueberry muffins?
Yes, you can freeze muffins to extend their shelf life. Here’s how to freeze blueberry muffins:
- Allow the Blueberry & Lavender muffins to cool completely at room temperature.
- Wrap each muffin tightly in plastic wrap or aluminum foil to prevent freezer burn and moisture loss.
- Place the wrapped blueberry muffins in a freezer-safe container or freezer bag, squeezing out as much air as possible before sealing.
- Label the container or bag with the date and type of muffin.
- Freeze the muffins for up to three months.
- To thaw the muffins, remove them from the freezer and let them sit at room temperature for 1-2 hours or microwave them for 20-30 seconds on defrost mode
Blueberry & Lavender Muffins
Ingredients
- 350 grams plain flour all purpose
- 350 grams caster sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon dried lavender buds cored & chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 350 ml buttermilk
- 70 grams unsalted butter melted
- 1 egg
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180C (350F) or Gas mark 3
- Prepare muffin tin lined with large muffin cases or folded parchment paper.
- Measure out all the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda) and add them to a large mixing bowl. Whisk with a handheld whisk or use a mixer.
- In a another large bowl or a mixing jug, combine the buttermilk, egg and vanilla extract and whisk quickly with a fork.
- Add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture and whisk on a very low until all the ingredients are incorporated.
- Add the melted butter and carry on whisking on a slow speed, making sure that the muffin mixture is smooth.
- Add the tablespoon of the lavender buds and whisk them in.
- Carefully fold in the blueberries in with a wooden spoon.
- Divide the muffin batter among 12 large paper lined muffin cups tray. Bake in 180C (Gas Mark 5), 350F oven for about 20-25 minutes or until golden and the tops are firm to the touch.
- Let the tin cool on the rack for 5 minutes and then remove the muffins from the tin and let cool completely.
Nutrition
This blog post was originally written on 14 June 2021 and last tested and updated on 3 August 2023
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