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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 button below for grams & ml)
- 2½ cups plain flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- ½ cup sugar (heaped)
- 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 and sugar 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.
Sharon Rick says
I have never seen your measurement for oil (.67 cups) before, and I do a lot of baking,. Is that a miss print? After googling it decided to use 11 Tablespoons which was almost 2/3rd cup of oil.
They taste good but partly collapsed after cooling.
Helen says
Hi Sharon! Yes, you’re right, that should read 2/3 of a cup of oil. The ingredient amounts were automatically converted from gram measurements, and that’s why it showed as 0.67 cups! I will fix it to make it clearer. Not sure why your muffins collapsed. It can be from a bit of over-beating of the mixture, or a slightly too hot oven, or… who knows? But anyway, glad they tasted good! 🙂
Marlene says
Just made these! They really are delicious! Used vanilla greek yogurt and truvia for the sugar. Had to bake it 26 minutes in a convection oven. It made a 12 large muffin batch! This is a keeper! Thank you soooooo much!
Helen says
Hello Marlene. Thank you so much for the positive review! It always helps to know what subs worked!
Liz says
I followed the recipe pretty closely except that I used frozen blueberries and added flax seeds. I added about 1/8 cup more milk because of the flax seeds and I ended up having to bake for 23 minutes.
The muffins were very fluffy. Next time I’ll add more sugar but that’s just a personal preference.
Helen says
Thank you so much for sharing how you adapted the recipe, Liz. I think it might be time for me to add a ‘reader adaptations’ section to this post. There are so many ways to make these with substitutions! My favourite is adding just a little bit of coconut flour and hemp seeds! Interesting that you felt you wanted a bit more sugar. Try sprinkling a bit of brown sugar over the top before you put them in the oven!
Ashley says
Thanks for the recipe. Been looking for a simple muffin recipe to adapt to my requirements. This worked perfectly! I went half wholemeal and half white flour. I used a heaped 1/2 cup of apple sauce (no sugar added) instead of sugar and put a teaspoon of cream cheese in the middle of each muffin! Tastes more like a savoury blueberry muffin but we are trying to cut down on sugar as a family so this was great for us and our toddler.
Thank you!!! 🙂
Helen says
Thank you so much for reporting back, Ashley – really appreciate it! Very interesting that you added apple sauce instead of sugar. And that’s a good idea to add a cream cheesy based filling. I would add a bit of icing sugar or healthy sweetener like maple syrup, but I like the idea a lot!
sandra archambault says
Has anyone made substitutes for the greek yogourt? If so which and what was the outcome.
Thinking of substituting with sour cream or regular yogourt.
Helen says
Hi Sandra! Yes, readers have used ordinary yogurt before and reported that the muffins still turned out well. I also suspect that sour cream would work too because I often substitute sour cream for Greek yogurt in other recipes and I find the taste and consistency very similar. No guarantees, but this recipe seems to be very forgiving so I’m pretty sure you’ll be OK! Good luck!
Eve says
Hi !
Great muffins… one quick question
is the calorie count for just one of the muffins or the whole batch?
Tasted Great
Thankyou!
Helen says
Hi Eve! Just for one – it’s 272 calories (roughly) per muffin. Full nutrition info is below the recipe!
Eve says
Thankyou so much!! Can’t believe I found such a great recipe… everyone loves them 💙
Helen says
So wonderful to hear this, Eve – thank you so much for letting me know!
Rana says
Another healthy winner Helen! I used Tamar Valley vanilla Greek yoghurt and also the stevia/raw sugar baking combo mix….YUM….👏👏👏
Helen says
Hi Rana! The adaptations this recipe can handle seem to be endless! Good to know this works well with Tamar, too! I usually buy Chobani blue because it’s the only one without cream in it, but seems like the muffins can take a bit of extra creaminess. Thank you so much for the review! 🙂
Rachel says
I have just made a batch of these for a camping trip tomorrow and couldn’t resist trying one – they are the best blueberry muffins I have ever made, absolutely delicious.
Thank you for the recipe!!
Helen says
Hi Rachel! Oooh, the baker always needs to test the goods before anyone else! Totally approve! Thank you so much for letting me know they’re the best blueberry muffins you’ve ever had. What a compliment!
Sarah says
Hi made these and they were so amazing they went in a day . Gone to make more but I have ran out of plain flour
Can I use self raising flour?
Helen says
Hi Sarah! Sorry for the delayed reply! Did you try these again with sr flour? They will definitely turn out fine with sr flour. Just add 2 teaspoons of baking powder for every cup of plain flour and you should be fine 🙂
Kate says
Hi Helen, I intend to try this recipe as well! Can I confirm if I still have to add any baking powder and soda if I am using self raising flour?
Helen says
Hi Kate! So, each cup of self raising flour should contain 1.5 teaspoons of baking powder, so yes you’ll be fine using self raising flour instead of plain flour plus baking powder. I would still add the 0.5 teaspoons of baking soda though if you have it! It helps to counter the acidity in the yoghurt! Good luck! These are beautiful muffins that get really good feedback, so I hope you enjoy them as much as we do!
Robin Been says
I used gluten free flour and half sugar and half stevia equivalent. Turned out great, though next time will add a pinch of salt.
Helen says
So great to hear this, Robin. Thanks so much for letting me know!
Zara says
There were so light!
I used all yogurt , omitted the milk
Used raspberries and blueberries and cut back the sugar further by 20grams and they were perfectly sweet
Thankyou for the recipe
Helen says
Hello Zara! Thank you so much for bothering to leave a review. I always appreciate hearing how people have adapted this recipe and still ended up with perfect muffins! For some reason this recipe is almost indestructible!
Adriana says
Is it 272 calories in each muffin?
Helen says
Hi Adriana! Yes, that’s right! You can even reduce the sugar content a bit more if you like. Enjoy!
Mike says
Never made muffins before, but was looking for a relatively low fat treat. Substituted frozen blueberries for fresh, and found the recipe a breeze. Very happy with the results. Thanks.
Helen says
Hi Mike! Thank you so much for leaving your review. I often use frozen berries and find it works really well too. So glad you liked the recipe!
johow says
Hello Helen!
Can I check with you, if i don’t use any sugar at all for this blueberry muffin, will it affect the texture? or rather, in order to make this edible, what is the lowest sugar level you would recommend? I am a beginner as i just got my first oven for 2 months… i know it will definitely affect the taste .. I’m currently 34 weeks pregnant and I’m craving for muffins ! but my gynaecologist asked me not to have too much sugar! sighs! another quick question, is it ok if i use only whole wheat flour pls? thanks!!
Helen says
Hello Jo! Congratulations on your pregnancy! Not long to go now!!!
I’ve never made the muffins without any sugar at all, but these days I usually further reduce the sugar to about 1/3 cup (instead of 1/2). I’d say you could ‘safely’ reduce the sugar to about 1/4 cup and they’d still taste pretty good, especially if you tip in a few extra blueberries 😉
I don’t think the recipe depends on the sugar to work.
If you’re feeling really brave maybe you could skip the sugar altogether and squirt in a little date syrup instead?
Would love to know what you decide and how you got on! These muffins pretty much ‘never fail’ no matter what you change, very bizarrely, so I’d be interested to know what a no sugar version turns out like!
sandra archambault says
I have made these by replacing the sugar with same amount of date puree. Excellent.
Helen says
Very interesting to hear this, Sandra! I really like baking with date syrup – just a bit hard to find where I live!
Trina says
I’ve used your recipe twice now.
Today I did 2 batches, choc chip and raspberry. For the choc chip I used ‘Sweet and natural Greek style yoghurt’ (from Aldi) and didn’t add any sugar at all. For the raspberry ones I also used the sweet yoghurt, but added the sugar, as the raspberries usually are tart (frozen ones).
They are both fantastic, will definitely make them again.
Thank you so much for a fantastic recipe
Helen says
Great ideas, Trina – thank you so much for letting me know! I’ll have to try that – I’m thinking all kinds of flavoured yogurts would work!
Florina says
Very easy to make,they come out just as the one i buy …but the soda taste and smell is just to much? I wonder if that should be normal? Thanks anyway for the easy and yummy recipe,i will try them again with less soda 😉
Helen says
Hi Florina… hmmmm. I’ve never noticed this, but you could certainly try putting in just a bit less baking powder next time and see if you like them better that way. I think you’d still get a good rise with say half a tablespoon! Good luck
Mala says
Hi Helen,
Tried baking these today and I’m a sucker for coconut sugar and coconut oil so substituted those and it turned out beautifully. Thank you for a yummy and healthy muffin. Honestly it’s the first time muffins have turned out right for me (I’m normally a cookie person). Will be using this as a base many many muffins to come 🙂
Helen says
Hi Mala! Oh thank you SO much for taking the time to leave your feedback – and of course for the 5 star rating. These muffins never cease to amaze me! It seems you can make almost any kind of substitution and they still come out well. I might try the coconut subs next time – I bet they add a lovely subtle background flavor! 🙂