Everyone loves a good blueberry muffin, don’t they? Enter these super light, moist and airy blueberry muffins made with protein-packed Greek yogurt. And as they’re relatively low sugar, you can enjoy one (or two – why not?) guilt free!
Get ready for the best blueberry muffins you’ve ever had
I received a rare compliment indeed from Mr. Scrummy the other day when I made these Greek yogurt blueberry muffins.
He said “As you know, I’m not much of a muffin man, but I think this was the best muffin I’ve ever tasted. It was perfect.”
Now maybe this isn’t saying much coming from someone who isn’t really a fan of muffins (how can that be?!), but all the same I’m going to take it as a compliment, and as an extra vote of confidence that these are good – really good.
This was one of those recipes that I was expecting to have to experiment with for a while to get right. But to my surprise it actually worked out perfectly first time. I think the thing with muffins is that there is a bit of wiggle room with the ingredients. If you add a tiny bit more or less liquid or sugar, for instance, you’ll still likely get a decent result, so long as you follow some simple guidelines.
UPDATE 2019: Just take a read through of the comments below. Many readers have made adaptations and substitutions and these muffins always seem to turn out well!
What guidelines, you ask?
Well, nothing earth-shattering – but there’s nothing wrong with a little reminder!
I think the keys to success for these particular Greek yogurt muffins are the following:
1 Don’t forget the ‘basic’ rule of muffin making i.e. keep the dry and wet ingredients separate until the last minute, then mix until barely combined. A few lumps are fine. You just don’t want to overmix, get the gluten in the flour all excited and make your muffins tough.
2 Add a tiny bit of milk (about a quarter cup) to thin out the mixture a bit. Using loads of Greek yogurt is great, but it’s thick, so we need to keep the consistency right!
3 As well as using baking powder, add a half teaspoon of bicarb of soda to balance out the acid in the yogurt and make sure you get a good rise and colour on your muffins.
4 Add PLENTY of blueberries so there are blueberries in every bite. Mmmm!
5 Erm… don’t forget the oil! I made these again last weekend and ended up having to make them twice as I forgot to add the oil the first time. I wondered why the batter was so dry and added more milk before I realised what I’d done. Duh. Can I still blame baby brain?
I really enjoyed making these muffins because, well… BLUEBERRY MUFFINS!!
Not quite skinny muffins!
But also… I have to say it’s pretty satisfying enjoying a truly light and airy muffin that also happens to be fairly light on sugar. And if calories happen to be important to you, each of these muffins only contain about 270 calories.
I’m not sure if that makes them ‘skinny’ muffins, but then again Starbucks’ skinny blueberry muffins contain 317 calories, so I’ll leave you to decide.
It’s also very satisfying being able to cook up a batch of these so quickly. As they contain oil not butter (I used a combination of canola and olive, but any is fine), there’s no creaming or even melting involved.
Just throw everything together (but not too quickly, in case you forget an ingredient like I did a few days ago!), pop into muffin cases, and bake.
How long do these blueberry muffins last, and can you freeze them?
I thought I’d have to freeze some of these muffins as we wouldn’t be able to eat them all before they went past their best, but no. I just ate the last one 4 days after baking (sorry not sorry, Mr. Scrummy!), and it was still light and moist. Although I do find they don’t last quite as long in the summer.
And when they truly are on their last legs, just pop them in the microwave for about 15 seconds before eating. Spoon over a little extra Greek yogurt (why not?) and enjoy!
But you can freeze them of course, if for some bizarre reason you can’t eat them all in a few days. Just make sure you cool them completely, then store in freezer bags for up to 3 months!
Update: October 2018
These Greek yogurt blueberry muffins have proven so popular (and I still make them ALL THE TIME) that I decided to post a chocolate chip version!
You can find my recipe for Greek yogurt choc chip muffins (also fairly low sugar) here. Enjoy!
I’ve also added a how-to video to this post (scroll down to below the recipe, or see top of post on desktop). You’ll see that I’m making the chocolate chip muffins in the video, but the method and ingredients for this blueberry muffin recipe are exactly the same. Just switch the chocolate for blueberries!
Greek yogurt blueberry muffins (low sugar recipe)
Ingredients (UK/Australia? Click below for grams/ml)
- 2½ cups plain flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- ½ cup sugar (heaped)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs lightly beaten
- ⅔ cups oil (I used a mixture of canola and olive, but any is fine. Add a little more milk if the mixture still seems too thick)
- 1 cup Greek yogurt
- ¼ cup milk
- 1½ cups blueberries
- extra sugar for sprinkling (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 190C/375F.
- Combine the flour, baking powder, soda, sugar and salt in a large bowl.
- Combine the eggs, oil, yogurt, and milk in another bowl or jug.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry. Stir until just combined. Fold in the blueberries. Add a tiny bit more milk if the mixture still seems too thick (the consistency of the batter can vary depending on which brand of yoghurt you use). You want the batter to be a soft dropping consistency.
- Spoon the batter into muffin cases placed in muffin pans (you can fill almost to the top). Sprinkle a little extra sugar (white or brown) over the top of the muffins, if you like, then bake for 17 to 20 minutes or until risen and golden and a skewer pushed into the centre comes out clean.
- Cool on a wire rack, then store in an air tight container.
stacy says
I would like to use almond flour, less sugar and butter instead of oil. You think that will work?
Helen says
Hello Stacy! While I haven’t ever made these with almond flour, they work with most substitutions. I know they work with oat flour so I think they’ll be fine with almond flour too. They do work with melted butter instead of oil as well. If you like you can reduce the amount of butter a bit (maybe 1/3 less than stated) and add a little more yogurt or a drizzle of milk instead. If the batter seems dry at all, just add a little more yogurt or milk. And yes you can definitely reduce the sugar more if you like. Good luck!
Leslie says
Can I substitute some of the flour for soft wheat bran to make it more high fibre?i
Helen says
Hi Leslie, yes absolutely! I find this recipe works with most substitutions for some reason. Try substituting a third to a half and see how they turn out 🙂
Ada says
could I use mashed banana instead of blueberries?
Helen says
Hello Ada! I’ve never tried this but pretty much everything people try with these muffins seems to work out pretty well, so give it a go. It sounds delicious! 🙂
Emma says
I am in LOVE with this recipe!! It made about 44 mini muffins for my freezer stash (I did about 10 mins in the oven and they came out perfectly). I added a squeeze of lemon juice and vanilla extract to the batter and sprinkled the tops with crystal sanding sugar before baking. They’re not too sweet but have an amazing consistency and flavor! Will be trying the same recipe but with chocolate chips today. Thank you so much for posting this recipe and all your tips!!!
Helen says
Aw thank you, Emma! You’ve made my morning! So happy to know the mini ones worked out so well for you and it’s useful to hear the details. People have raved over these for years now, but it’s good to hear they can still work their magic! Have a great day! 🙂
Kai says
Yum! These have a nice, light texture. I made them with vanilla Greek yogurt (all I had on hand) and did 1 cup blueberries + 1/2 cup dark chocolate chunks. It worked well! Only change I’d make is adding lemon zest to enhance the flavour a bit.
Helen says
So glad you enjoyed them, Kai! I like your idea of adding a bit of lemon zest!
DAWN Kingsford says
These muffins are the bomb…amazing…failsafe…and A M A Z I N G!!!!!!!
I have been making them for a couple of years now because I work at SYDNEY MARKETS and always come home with damaged stock. Anyway blueberries is a common take home and the main thing they ask me to make is muffins and ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS get told that I should sell them, they are the best muffin they have ever eaten, not too sweet, delicious, moist, fabulous and so on.
Thank you for this recipe as I’m now trying to make a vegan one for my brother when he visits me 🙂
Helen says
Hello Dawn. Thank you SO MUCH for the feedback. I love that you get lots of compliments on these. I hope the vegan ones turn out well too. Do let me know if you get a chance 🙂
Jacinth says
Can you substitute blueberries with raspberries?
Helen says
Definitely! I’ve made them with raspberries a few times 🙂
Yvonne marshall says
I made the muffins using oat flour and oat milk I also used dairy free blueberry yougurt. I used applesauce instead of oil. They were delicious and vegan and dairy free
Helen says
That’s so helpful to hear that you ‘veganised’ these successfully, Yvonne. Thank you for letting me know!
DAWN Kingsford says
What do you use instead of eggs?
Helen says
Dawn I’ve never tried making these without eggs but I’d love to know if it would work. If you take a look through the comments on the post I think you might find someone who’s tried it successfully. Otherwise here’s a good source for deciding on the best egg substitute to try: https://www.thekitchn.com/best-egg-substitutes-baking-23003895
Cathy Adams says
I found your recipe only a few weeks ago and my family is thrilled. I had purchased fresh blueberries on sale and had frozen them in their store containers. I also had purchased the large container of Aldi’s Organic Greek Vanilla Bean yogurt. Following your directions the muffins were fabulous. I then experimented using only a little less than a 1/2 cup of canola oil and they were still incredible. I’m wondering how much of the oil could still be cut back.
I am going to try whipping up a batch of muffins with the frozen cranberries I have in the freezer this weekend. Will let you know how it goes.
Helen says
Hello Cathy! I’m so happy you’ve had success making these muffins – and also with adapting the recipe to your taste. This is where this recipe excels 🙂 I haven’t personally reduced the oil by that much, but it almost seems like anything goes with this recipe. If you browse the rest of the comments you’ll probably see some feedback from someone who’s reduced the oil by a lot. I think the fact that there’s also yogurt in there helps as yogurt can be used in itself as a substitute for oil. Generally with this recipe you can do (almost) anything you like to the recipe and it still seems to turn out well! 😉 Frozen cranberry muffins sound delicious! I could also imagine the addition of some orange zest really good!
A says
Can you sub butter for oil?
Helen says
Hello! I’ve never tried that but I think it would work well. You could probably reduce the amount of butter a little, to perhaps 2/3 of the amount of oil since butter is richer in taste. Good luck! I’d love to hear how you get on if you try it.
Anna says
I just made these with some tart strawberries and frozen partridge berries (Lingon Berry). The batter turned out velvety and soft like you described. I baked them at 425 for 10 mins to get the top dome started then turned the oven down to 375 and gave then an extra 5 mins ( I had large muffins)
I wish I could show you how they turned out! Mmm, delicious and soft. Thank you for your recipe!
Helen says
Oooh, you’re making me hungry. Those sound absolutely delicious, Anna! Thanks so much for letting me know how they turned out for you, and how you made them your own 🙂
Fran says
Can you substitute frozen blueberries?
Helen says
Yes, absolutely! Just fold them in gently so that the batter doesn’t turn purple. The blueberries will run into the batter a little, but it won’t affect the look or taste. I’ve used frozen blueberries to make these many times. I hope you enjoy them!
anne says
Made these muffins today. They are really tasty. I used evaporated milk and used a little more then the
recipe asked for.
Helen says
Great to hear what the results are like using evaporated milk, Anne – thank you! 🙂
Barbara says
Excellent recipe! I followed the other comment, half oil and additional yoghurt, and used monkfruit sweetener, substitute some flour with whole wheat flour. I’m not a muffin person but this muffin is awesome! I love the subtle sweetness, perfect fruit acidity and bouncy moist texture ! Thank you for sharing this recipe! And thanks for the others sharing their tips on making that.
Helen says
Hello Barbara! I’m so glad these worked out well for you, too! This recipe seems to handle substitutions really well. 🙂
Zara says
Is it ok to use banana instead of blueberrys?
Helen says
Hi Zara. I’ve never tried banana but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. You mean pieces of chopped banana?