Slightly spiced with cardamom and dotted with fresh or frozen blueberries, these Blueberry Cardamom Muffins are light, delicate, and unique!
Blueberry muffin possibilities are truly endless! Blueberries are such versatile ingredients that combine wonderfully with numerous ingredients and flavors. And these Blueberry Cardamom Muffins are proof of that!
Slightly spiced with the addition of cardamom and a dash of cinnamon, loaded with blueberries, and topped with a crunchy simple streusel, these blueberry and cardamom muffins are full of fragrance and flavor.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Slightly spicy, super fragant and deliciously combined with blueberries to create a truly unique muffin flavor!
- The batter is super simple to do, and can be made ahead and refrigerated overnight.
- These muffins are eggless, and are perfect for those who want to cut down some calories and those with egg intolerance.
- They come with an optional simple homemade streusel topping for an added crunch!
- They are super soft thanks to Greek yogurt and loaded with juicy blueberries!
Ingredients And Variations
Flour - All-purpose or cake flour. For best results, always weigh your ingredients using a digital kitchen scale for accuracy.
Baking Powder - Leavening Agent.
Salt - Flavor enhancer.
Cardamom - Use ground cardamom for this recipe. A teaspoon is enough for a slightly spicy kick but feel free to add more as desired.
Cinnamon - This is optional but adding a small amount of ground cinnamon really pairs up beautifully with cardamom and blueberry flavors.
Vegetable Oil - Use a neutral flavored oil such as canola oil.
Orange Juice - This is optional but gives the muffins a citrusy kick. You can substitute with lemon juice, lemon zest, or orange zest (or a mixture of both), or leave out all together.
Milk - I used semi-skimmed milk. You can also use whole milk or plant-based milk (such as almond milk, soy milk, or oat milk).
Sugar - You can use light brown cane sugar or granulated sugar, whichever you prefer. For this recipe, I used a 1:1 ratio of light brown to granulated sugar. You can also reduce the amount of sugar to ¾ cup if you wish.
Yogurt- For this recipe, I used low-fat, plain Greek Yogurt but you can use any plain low-fat yogurt you have available (or Skyr). You can also replace this with sour cream.
Blueberries- Use fresh or frozen blueberries; I tried this recipe with both fresh and frozen blueberries and both of these work equally well. If using frozen blueberries, add to batter straight out of the freezer.
For the optional streusel topping, you will need unsalted butter, all-purpose flour, brown sugar and granulated sugar.
How To Make Blueberry Cardamom Muffins
- Preheat the oven to 220°C (428F) and line a muffin pan with muffin liners.
- Sift and mix dry ingredients, including spices.
- Mix oil and sugar in a stand mixer. Add Greek Yogurt and orange/lemon juice/zest and mix well.
- Add dry ingredients alternating with milk and mix until just combined.
- Fold in blueberries.
- At this point, you can cover and chill batter up to overnight (if making ahead) or move to the next step.
- Prepare the streusel topping: melt butter, add flour and sugars and stir until a crumble forms.
- Fill muffin liners all the way to the top (or ¾ full for a smaller muffin) and top with 1-2 tsp. of streusel.
- Bake at 220°C (428F) for 7-8 minutes. Without opening the oven, decrease the temperature to 175°C (350F) and bake for another 8-12 minutes.
- Cool for 10 minutes in muffin pan, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely!
FAQs
How Long Do These Muffins Keep For? Can They Be Made Ahead?
You can store these cardamom muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
You can also freeze these muffins for up to 2 months. Before serving, bring out the muffins from the freezer and let them thaw at room temperature for 5-8 hours.
You can also prepare the batter one day ahead and refrigerate overnight before baking.
Why Are My Muffins Falling Apart?
Make sure to weigh your ingredients using digital kitchen scales for accuracy.
Allow the muffins to cool for at least 10 minutes in the muffin pan before transferring to a wire rack. If you move the muffins whilst still hot, they may fall apart.
Results for this recipe highly depend on using the right amount of ingredients and may vary depending on different oven models, temperatures, and amount of batter used for each muffin.
How Do I Get Bakery-Style Muffins?
The following are some tips to achieve bakery-style muffins with a high rise:
- Mix your dry ingredients well before adding to the batter to ensure that baking powder is distributed evenly.
- Fill muffin liners all the way to the top
- Start baking in a hot oven at a temperature of 220°C (428F) and then, without opening the oven door, decrease the temperature to 175°C (350F) and bake until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Oven temperature (particularly starting to bake at a very hot temperature) is the most important factor in achieving a domed look!
- For even better results, cover and chill the batter for at least half an hour up to overnight before baking.
Can I Make These Blueberry and Cardamom Muffins Vegan?
Yes! Simply switch the ¾ cup Greek yogurt with a plant-based milk of your choice and eliminate the ¼ cup milk (so that you will have a total of ¾ cup milk in the batter). For the streusel topping, switch butter to vegan butter (or eliminate streusel topping completely).
You Might Also Like:
Vegan Blueberry Lemon Muffins
Blueberry Earl-Grey Muffins
Earl Grey Cupcakes
Blueberry Cardamom Muffins
Ingredients
Blueberry Cardamom Muffins
- 250 g flour all-purpose or cake
- 2½ tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. ground cardamom
- ½ tsp. ground cinnamon optional
- ¼ tsp. salt
- 100 g light brown sugar ½ cup
- 100 g granulated sugar ½ cup
- 60 mL vegetable oil e.g., canola oil
- 2 tbsp. orange juice or lemon juice (optional)
- 180 g low-fat plain Greek yogurt or any plain, low-fat yogurt or skyr (¾ cup) see notes for vegan
- 80 mL milk semi-skimmed, whole, or plant-based
- 190 g blueberries fresh or frozen (1 cup) + extra as desired
Streusel Topping
- 2 tbsp. unsalted butter melted
- 20 g flour all-purpose
- 1 tbsp. granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp. brown sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 220°C (428F) and line a muffin tin with muffin liners (or lightly spray with oil).
- Sift and mix flour, baking powder, cinnamon, cardamom, and salt in a medium-sized bowl and set aside.
- Place vegetable oil and sugar in a large mixing bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or use a handheld mixer). Mix on medium speed until combined. Add Greek yogurt and mix for 1-2 minutes until well-combined.
- Slowly add dry ingredients in two parts, alternating with milk and mix until just combined. Do not over mix.
- Fold in blueberries using a spatula. Batter will be slightly thick.
- Prepare streusel topping: Melt butter in a microwave-safe bowl. Add sifted flour, granulated and brown sugar and whisk to combine until streusel crumbs form.
- Divide batter between muffin pan, filling all the way to the top for a large muffin or ¾ full for a smaller muffin (you should have 10-12 muffins). Top each muffin with 1-2 tsp. of streusel topping.
- Bake for 8 minutes at 220°C (428F). Without opening the oven, decrease the temperature to 175°C (350F) and bake for another 8-12 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Baking time depends on muffin size and oven.
- Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes in muffin pan, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
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