Healthy Blueberry Muffins made with whole wheat flour, maple syrup and applesauce are fluffy, moist, and absolutely delicious! Make ahead or eat fresh out of the oven for a nutritious breakfast or snack.
Healthy muffin recipes are easy to make so double these and freeze some for later. Other favorites include these almond flour blueberry muffins.
Table of contents
These healthy blueberry muffins come out fantastic every time. With no refined sugar and nutrient dense ingredients, I can feel good about feeding these to my family.
Moist, light and so fluffy, both kids and husbands love these and healthy strawberry muffins! They are perfect right out of the oven and leftovers are perfect for healthy snacks.
Usually, I prefer to eat my berries fresh, like on this healthy french toast casserole or served with Ukrainian sweet lazy pierogi. However, these blueberry muffins deserve even the priciest supermarket January blueberries!
I recommend to buy organic whenever you can because berries are on a Dirty Dozen list. And if you can’t find fresh, frozen work too, just like in blueberry oatmeal crumble bars!
What Makes These Blueberry Muffins Healthy?
- Whole grain flour: By using 100% whole wheat or spelt flour these muffins are full of nutrients plus fiber.
- Naturally sweetened: Skip the refined white sugar, these muffins use maple syrup or honey which means less sugar overall than your giant coffee shop muffins.
- Low oil: Unsweetened applesauce not only keeps these muffins moist, it lowers the use of heavy oils for lighter, better for you blueberry muffin!
Ingredients You Will Need
My healthy blueberry muffins recipe contains simple ingredients:
- Whole wheat or spelt flour: Baking is a science and it’s best to use whole wheat or spelt flour only for this recipe. Using all purpose or gluten free flour will need adjusting the recipe and I haven’t tried. Whole wheat pastry flour or white whole wheat may work, if you try, please let me know.
- Blueberries: My favorite homemade blueberry muffins are with fresh blueberries but frozen blueberries can be used with great success.
- Applesauce: I use unsweetened applesauce but if sweetened is all you can find, that works. Your muffin will just be sweeter. Here is a great Instant Pot applesauce recipe as well.
- Eggs: Provide lift and binding, see recipe notes for egg free.
- Any oil: Healthy widely available options extra virgin olive oil, avocado oil, coconut oil (melted first).
- Liquid sweetener: Maple syrup or honey. Please do not use any dry sweetener. It will throw off batter consistency and recipe will not work.
- Vanilla extract: Pure, not imitation for best taste.
- Cinnamon: Adds a warm taste and light spice to the muffins.
- Baking staples: Baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
How to Make Healthy Blueberry Muffins
Easy to make in one bowl, you may want to double this healthy blueberry muffin recipe to always have a wholesome healthy breakfast idea on hand for your own family!
Combine liquids and leavening agents first by whisking them well in a large mixing bowl. Ensure your baking powder and soda have completely dissolved.
Then add flour and stir gently to mix. Do not over mix your batter as additional gluten will develop and result in dense muffins.
A few patches of flour are OK and better than perfectly smooth batter. You can also let it sit for 3 minutes or so to absorb moisture. Then give 1-2 final stirs.
Add blueberries and give a few stirs just enough to incorporate into the muffin batter.
Fill muffin tin using large ice cream scoop with your muffin batter. Bake for 22 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Cool in the tin for 30 minutes before transferring onto a cooling rack to cool more or enjoying.
Tips for Best Results
- Mix batter only until combined. Stir a few times and let batter sit for a few seconds to let flour absorb the moisture. Stir again. A few flour patches here and there are fine.
- Keep an eye on muffins while they bake. All ovens vary and I recommend to check your muffins 3 minutes to the end. If toothpick comes out clean, time to remove muffins. They keep cooking with residual heat in a tin.
- Let muffins cool completely. These blueberry muffins are delicate, light, and fluffy. If you don’t let them cool patiently for 30 minutes, they will deform and fall apart a bit.
- Mini muffins: You can make mini muffins and bake for 11-13 minutes. Do toothpick test.
Can I Use Frozen Blueberries?
Yes. Frozen berries are a great way to make healthy blueberry muffins during cooler months. No need to thaw the frozen blueberries.
However, if you are worried about them turning your batter blue, rinse them a few times under cold water, then gently pat dry. Fold them gently into your muffin batter and give a few stirs. Once you notice some blueberry streaks stop stirring to prevent further bleeding.
More FAQs
In this recipe, you cannot substitute any other flour except for whole wheat flour and spelt flour. Try these almond flour blueberry muffins or healthy blueberry breakfast cake for gluten-free options.
Yes, to make these muffins egg free and also vegan, you can use an equivalent amount of flax egg or chia seed egg.
Yes. You can use an equal amount of plain regular yogurt or Greek yogurt.
I did not find blueberries sinking to the bottom of muffins. If you do, next time toss them with 1 tbsp of flour in a separate bowl before adding to batter.
What Can I Serve These Muffins With?
Make healthy fruit salad while waiting for your muffins to cool off. It goes great with fresh baked muffins!
Or spread some peanut butter or cream cheese on top.
Quinoa breakfast bake, a side of breakfast potatoes, and egg muffins would all be great for a light lunch or brunch spread in addition to these muffins.
How to Store and Freeze
To store: These won’t last more than 2 days because they are so good! Store muffins in an airtight container placed in a cool dry place for 3-4 days or in the fridge up to a week.
Freeze muffins: Bake and cool muffins completely. Then arrange them in a single layer in resealable plastic bag or any container with a lid. Freeze for up to 3 months.
To reheat: Thaw on a counter for a few hours. Warm up in the oven at 350 F or microwave for 30 seconds for that freshly baked experience.
Enjoy these healthy blueberry muffins! Would love to know if your kids approved!
More Healthy Muffin Recipes
- Healthy banana muffins
- Almond muffins with berries
- Healthy morning glory muffins
- Healthy chocolate chip muffins
- Healthy cranberry orange muffins
And if you love a good healthy pie, check out this gluten free blueberry pie.
Healthy Blueberry Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup applesauce unsweetened
- 1/2 cup maple syrup or honey
- 1/3 cup avocado oil or coconut oil melted
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 1/3 cups spelt or whole wheat flour plus 1 tbsp for dusting
- 1 1/2 cups blueberries fresh or frozen
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F and line muffin tin with unbleached muffin liners or use silicone muffin tin (I used both and didn't spray anything).
- In a large mixing bowl, add eggs, applesauce, maple syrup, oil, vanilla, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk well to combine, making sure baking powder and soda have dissolved. Add flour and stir gently to mix. Do not over mix.
- In a small bowl, toss blueberries with 1 tbsp flour, add to the batter and give a few stirs.
- Using large ice cream scoop, fill 12 openings with batter. Bake for 10 minutes, reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees F, and bake for another 10 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and let muffins cool in the tin for at least 30 minutes before transferring onto a cooling rack to cool more or enjoy.
Notes
- Store: Store in an airtight container in a cool dry place for up to 3 – 4 days or in a fridge for up to a week.
- Freeze: Bake and cool muffins completely. Arrange in a single layer in resealable plastic bag or any container with a lid. Freeze for up to 3 months.
- Yogurt: You can use equal amount of plain regular or Greek yogurt.
- Gluten-free? Unfortunately only flours that will work in this recipe are the ones listed.
- Do not overmix batter: Stir a few times, let batter sit and stir again. A few dry flour patches are fine.
- Egg free: Learn how to make a flax egg or chia seed egg.
Nutrition
Recipes and images are a copyright of ifoodreal.com. It is against the law to republish recipes without permission. Nutritional info is approximate.
Wow I think best blueberry muffins I have ever made !! Thank you very much Olena !
So glad you enjoyed them!
I am at a loss on how to measure flour. Is it by the scoop, spoonful, sifted or weighed? My preferred method is weighed (with less than desired results and why I ask). I’d like to try some new recipes, but baking becomes a challenge. How do you measure flour?
The preferred method is to scoop it into the measuring cup and then level the top with a knife. Best of luck and enjoy the muffins!
I really enjoyed these muffins
Glad you enjoyed them!
Sending love to you and Ukraine💕🙏🏻
Thank you Shelley!
Amazing muffins. All your recipes to date have been great. I put in frozen raspberries and blueberries and were great Thanks! Thanks for this and look forward to more of your recipes.
So glad you are enjoying the muffins!
Made your blueberry muffins and enjoyed them. I didn’t have applesauce so I finely chopped 2 apples. I used all the other ingredients. The muffins didn’t come out as fluffy as I was expecting but they held together and the flavors were wonderful. I think using all fresh fruit didn’t give it as much moisture as needed. So yummy
Glad you could use what you had on hand and enjoyed them!
I have tried several recipes from you, and I love them all!! I love that food can be so delicious and incredibly healthy at the same time. Thank you for publishing all these healthy recipes! Me and my family will continue to use you!
So glad to hear this Heidi and yes agreed food can be healthy and delicious, thanks for being here!
Will you please recommend which silicone baking tin you’ve purchased and enjoy using? I’d prefer your recommendation over custom reviews. Also, I would like 100% sillacone if possible.
We enjoy making a variety of your muffin recipes each week.
So great to hear on the muffin making! If you head over to our iFOODreal shop on Amazon, you can find a link to the pan we use 🙂