An easy blueberry muffins recipe with the unique pairing of blueberries, cardamom, and lemon. A fresh take on blueberry muffins with streusel; this is a recipe to ease into your morning routine.
Cardamom blueberry muffins get grabbed up the moment I pull them from the oven. I had to bake them three times just to see if they would freeze. But somebody found my stash! Joyce Pinson, Friends Drift Inn
Cardamom Blueberry Muffins Recipe At-A-Glance
Prep Time 10 Minutes Bake Time 20 Minutes Total Time 30 Minutes
Makes 12 medium sized muffins
Ingredients All Purpose Flour- Baking Powder – Baking Soda – Salt – Pure Cane Sugar – Lemons – Eggs – Butter – Buttermilk – Friends Drift Inn Blueberry Cardamom Jam – Fresh Blueberries.
Equipment Mixing Bowls – Spoons – Measuring Utensils – 1/4 Cup Cookie Scoop is helpful- Muffin Tin – Paper Liners and Lemon Zester.
Tips to Make Cardamom Blueberry Muffins
This blueberry muffins recipe is embarrassingly easy! The mix comes together quickly. Sticking blueberries in the topping is fun; even the kids will think so!
Make this recipe a standard for your Sunday Brunch menu!
It is good to start with what the French call “mise en place.”
I’ve never been to culinary school, but one of the first things I learned when baking 4-H projects was assembling all ingredients before you start to bake. Get all mixing bowls, measuring utensils and any other tools laid out on the counter. That is “mise en place.”
Emma over at thekitchn.com says:
Mise en place literally means “set in place,” and it refers to having all your ingredients prepped and ready to go before you start cooking. Onions are diced, spices are measured, broth has been portioned. And it’s not a bad idea to have your pans and ladles laid out, too!
Starting out with all your equipment and ingredients in place always make the projects go smoother for all muffin recipes including strawberry jam muffins and our crusted-sugar blueberry jam muffins.
Here’s More Tips:
- For best results, let buttermilk warm to room temperature, or microwave it a few seconds. I like to let the butter soften to temperature, too.
- Take a minute to enjoy the smell of cardamom; so fresh and clean.
- With streusel, you get butter worked in enough that it is like coarsely ground cornmeal – loose and crumbly.
- To measure flour, whisk the flour right in the bag. That loosens it up. Then spoon out flour into a measuring cup.
- Pay attention! This oven thing is where the magic happens. You bake at a higher temperature for five minutes, then turn the oven temperature down.
- These are crumbly little muffins, be careful as you pull them from the tin. You don’t want to lose a single crumb of goodness!
Keeping Blueberry Muffins Fresh
The beauty of streusel is it is a dry topping on top of a moist muffin. To keep the topping from taking up moisture, I strongly suggest once cooled you store these in an airtight container (or wrap with plastic) and keep in the refrigerator.
If you are preparing blueberry muffins for Fourth of July or summer picnics, I recommend transporting in a muffin tin, with tightly wrapped plastic film. With a crumbly topping, stacking these muffins is not advisable.
If you let cool first, muffins will freeze just fine. Be aware, the topping is a bit fragile – you may lose a few crumbles.
Fresh or Frozen Blueberries?
I come from a long line of farmers market growers. Naturally fresh blueberries are my favorite option. Supporting local farmers is especially important here in Appalachia. Get thee to your farmers market.
Fresh blueberries are generally available from June to August.
That said you could of course use frozen blueberries. You won’t get that little blueberry burst you experience with fresh berries, but hey summer harvest only lasts so long!
If you use frozen blueberries, do not thaw them for this blueberry muffins because they go in the topping. (We usually suggest thawing berries if being used in batter) Rinse quickly. Stick them in the topping frozen. They will bleed less, keeping that weird tie-dyed effect to a minimum. With the baking, they will cook just fine.
If you freeze fresh berries for yourself, use the tray freeze method. The folks at Real Simple Magazine have a great article on how to freeze fresh blueberries.
Blueberry Muffins Recipe with Buttermilk
Here in Appalachia, we take buttermilk for granted. Everyone knows the best biscuits and corn breads have buttermilk in them!
Muffins too!
In a horrible pinch you could use buttermilk substitutes, but why would you
If you bake, you should have buttermilk!
Worried about calories? According to the California Dairy Association :
Although buttermilk’s rich-sounding name and creamy texture suggest a high fat content, buttermilk is surprisingly low in fat and calories.
The acid in buttermilk, when combined with baking soda, produces light baked goods and adds extra tenderness, moisture and flavor. This acid also acts as a tenderizer when combined with seasonings in marinades for meat and poultry. Buttermilk adds low-fat creaminess and flavor to soups, salad dressings and sauces and can be substituted for yogurt or mayonnaise in some recipes. Buttermilk is an essential ingredient for Southern favorites such as buttermilk biscuits, buttermilk pie and Southern cornbread.
Seriously, y’all if you are not cooking with buttermilk you are missing out!
Blueberry and Cardamom Spice – A Contemporary Flavor Pairing
At Friends Drift Inn, we love creating new flavor combinations. Cardamom is not a spice grandma or momma used.
But traditions must start somewhere so this one starts with me! Point me to the blueberry jam! Giggles
We started growing blueberries a few years back. Not enough for making lots of jam, but enough for the family. Fresh from the blueberry bush, the summer berries taste sort of like a red grape, slightly acidic.
I love when you bite into the dark blackish purple berries. There is that little burst of flesh and juice as you break through the outer skin. Sha-zam!
The taste of blueberries and blueberry jam seems like the taste of that moment when spring gives away to the promise of summer’s glory. Pair that with cardamom’s mysterious flavors and you have a winner!
What is Cardamom Anyway?
Dabney Gough and the experts at Fine Cooking have this to say about cardamom:
Intensely aromatic, sweet, complex, spicy, beguiling, heady—these all describe cardamom, a spice that appears throughout classical Indian cuisine in everything from garam masala to marsala tea (spiced tea) to kheer (a sweet rice dessert). Cardamom is also used extensively in the Middle East to flavor coffee, and thanks to the Vikings’ 11th century presence in Constantinople, it often appears in Scandinavian breads, cookies, and other baked goods.
“Heady” is a great term to describe cardamom. When we add cardamom to Friends Drift Inn blueberry jam the kitchen instantly smells fresher. It is like the first time you throw the windows open in spring!
I have enjoyed cardamom added to flavor coffee. A European bakery near where I grew up often featured breads from Scandinavia and at Christmas cardamom flavored Speculaas cookies was a special treat.
What is your experience with cardamom?
Combining blueberries and cardamom gives your palate something new to study on. Trying new things is good for the grey matter.
Friends Drift Inn Blueberry Cardamom Jam
Our blueberry jam is a thick set with chunks of berries. You taste the fruit first. It you slurp, the cardamom gives a cooling sensation. (The experts say warming – but I vehemently disagree!)
Friends Drift Inn Blueberry Cardamom jam is a combination we are so proud of! Rich in flavor with no preservatives or added food colorings, our jam is complex but so simple. Oh! We do not use high fructose corn syrup either; just in case you were wondering.
You will taste the difference!
Serving Suggestions
Cardamom blueberry muffins have a very clean taste. We love them paired with a fruit salad, especially honeydew, mint, and peaches. They make breakfast elegant and light.
If you like to drag your muffin through a drizzle, honey with a sprinkle of crushed pecans is a fun diversion.
Blueberries and Cardamom both pairs well with citrus. A fresh tangerine or orange comes to mind.
We talk about coffee break snacks and teatime a lot here at Friends Drift Inn. Try a lighter bodied coffee with these muffins. For tea, consider a chai tea.
If it is an especially hot morning when the blueberries are in season, I love these paired with iced lemon water and a couple of fresh blueberries for garnish. During the season, we freeze blueberries in ice cubes for a little visual pop.
Choose Your Assortment
Cardamom Blueberry Muffins Recipe with Lemon Zest
- Prep Time: 10 Minutes
- Cook Time: 20 Minutes
- Total Time: 30 Minutes
- Yield: 12 1x
- Category: Quick Breads
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Cardamom, blueberries and lemon combined with a buttermilk batter makes this blueberry muffins recipe stand-out from the crowd. Contemporary flavors for modern day folks on the go.
Ingredients
Streusel Topping
- 1 cup All-Purpose Flour, whisked + 1 tablespoon for blueberries
- ½ teaspoon of Ground Cardamom
- 6 tablespoons of organic Unsalted Butter, room temperature
- ½ cup of Blueberries, fresh preferred but frozen will work
Muffin Base
- 1 ½ cups of All-Purpose Flour, whisked and spooned into measuring cup
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- ½ teaspoon Baking Soda
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- 2/3 cup of Pure Cane Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Lemon zest
- 2 large Eggs, organic preferred
- 1 ¼ cups Buttermilk, shaken
- 1 teaspoon Lemon Juice
- 12 teaspoons Friend Drift Inn Blueberry Cardamom Jam (1/4 cup)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400. Line muffin tin with baking cups.
- For streusel topping, whisk one cup of flour and cardamom. Cut in butter, using two butter knives or a pastry cutter, until the mixture is loose, coarse, and crumbly. Cover and place in refrigerator.
- In small bowl, add 1 tablespoon of flour and roll the blueberries in it. Set aside.
- For muffin base, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- Add sugar and lemon zest.
- In a small bowl, whisk eggs, buttermilk and lemon juice together.
- Make a well in the dry ingredients, and pour the wet ingredients in. Mix just to moisten. Do not overwork.
- Walk away for about two minutes; let the leavening agents do their thing.
- For even sized muffins, use a ¼ cup sized cookie scoop to place batter in liners.
- Spoon one teaspoon of Friends Drift Inn Blueberry Cardamom jam into the center.
- Top with the crumble mix. Be generous! There is plenty to go around.
- Jab blueberries in the topping.
- I usually pick up the tin about three inches off the surface, and gently drop it back on the table. This helps level the batter and makes the layers meld.
- Bake 5 minutes at 400, then turn the temperature down to 375 and bake another 12 to 15 minutes. A toothpick inserted should come out clean. The muffins will be just barely browned.
- Remove from oven and place on cooling rack.
Serving Suggestions
Pair with light flavors. Honeydew melons, pecan nuts, white tea, and lighter bodied coffees work well.
Blueberry muffins works well with citrus. Garnish with orange or tangerine slices. Very refreshing with lemon ice water.
Notes
These muffins are moist. Store covered in refrigerator, so the streusel remains dry and crumbly.
We prefer fresh blueberries, but frozen will work. No need to thaw frozen berries, just rinse and coat with flour.
A gentle reminder, this recipe was formulated specifically for Friends Drift Inn Blueberry Cardamom Jam. We cannot predict how other products will perform.
Keywords: blueberry muffins recipe, Blueberry muffins with buttermilk, cardamom blueberry muffins, blueberry muffins streusel, blueberry muffins, blueberry jam
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