Wild Maine Blueberry Lemon Muffins (Sourdough Recipe)
These homemade blueberry muffins are a deliciously healthy treat. Made with juicy wild blueberries, fresh lemon, and sourdough discard, they’re bursting with flavor and also easy to digest. Lightly sweet, full of nutrients, and simple to make, these healthy muffins are perfect for breakfast, snacks, or anytime you want a nourishing treat.
What are Wild Maine Blueberry Muffins?
Maine is the largest producer of wild blueberries – about 99% of all wild blueberries harvested in the US come from Maine! (source). European settlers of Maine who normally used bilberries in baking swapped these berries for the abundant wild blueberries found in this New England State. Blueberry muffins, like many other blueberry baked goods, became a common tradition in Maine. This recipe has the added flavor of lemon, which perfectly compliment the sweet and tart wild blueberries.
Why You Will Love This Recipe
Easy
Simply combine all ingredients except for the lemon and blueberry in a large bowl and let it sit, at room temperature to ferment for a few hours. When you’re ready to bake, fold in the blueberries and lemon, then transfer batter to a muffin tin. Add desired toppings, bake, and enjoy!
Healthy
This recipe is made with wholesome ingredients like maple syrup for natural sweetness, butter instead of unhealthy processed oils, nutrient packed wild blueberries, and whole grain flour.
Delicious
These moist muffins have a delightful combination of sweet, tart, and citrusy flavors. The juicy blueberries burst with natural sweetness, while the lemon zest and juice add a refreshing brightness. This blend creates a moist and tender muffin that’s perfect with a freshly brewed coffee on a cold morning, a refreshing treat on a warm afternoon, or a wonderful treat any time of day!
Healthy Ingredients in These Wild Maine Blueberry Muffins
Wild Blueberries: you can use either fresh blueberries or frozen. If you use frozen, make sure to thaw and drain them first or the muffins will have excess moisture.
Maple Syrup: maple syrup adds a natural sweetness to the batter without having to use white sugar!
Flour: I like to use ancient grain flour such as einkorn or spelt in this recipe, but you can use regular whole wheat or white flour if you prefer.
Can You Use Regular Blueberries?
If you can’t find wild Maine blueberries or any other wild blueberries, feel free to use regular blueberries in this recipe. The flavor will vary slightly, but will still be delicious!
Topping Options for Wild Blueberry Lemon Muffins
You can either keep these muffins plain or add a variety of toppings! These three topping options are included in more detail in the recipe at the bottom of the post.
Crumble Topping: you can make a healthy crumble topping with sprouted oat flour, butter, and natural sugar! Add the crumble topping on to the batter in the muffin pan orior to baking. The topping will turn golden brown and have a wonderful buttery, caramelized flavor.
Lemon Glaze: prefer a more tart topping? Make a lemon glaze with sugar and lemon. Add this topping after the muffins have baked and cooled off a bit.
Natural Sugar Topping: this is my favorite blueberry muffin topping! Sprinkle natural sugar like sucanat, panela, or coconut sugar on top of the batter in the muffin pan prior to baking. Once baked, the sugar will add a delicious taste and texture to the top of the muffin,
How to Store Wild Maine Blueberry Muffins
Once fully cooled, store in an airtight container on the counter for up to 3 days, the refrigerator for up to 6 days, or the freezer for up to 4 months.
Tips and Tricks
If using frozen blueberries, make sure to thaw and drain them before use or the batter may be too much moisture in the batter.
See the recipe below to adjust for using whole wheat or all purpose flour.
Make sure to cool the butter slightly after melting to avoid killing bacteria in the sourdough starter.
Add the blueberries and lemon after the batter has fermented.
How to Make Wild Maine Blueberry Lemon Muffins
Add dry ingredients(flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt) to a large bowl and combine well.
Add all wet ingredients except for lemon and blueberries (sourdough starter, maple syrup, eggs, yogurt, and melted and cooled unsalted butter) to a medium bowl and combine well.
Add wet ingredients to bowl of dry ingredients and combine well until a thick batter forms.
Cover bowl with damp cloth and let ferment at room temperature for 5-6 hours.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.Prepare a muffin pan with muffin cups or paper liners.
Remove cloth from bowl and fold blueberries, lemon juice, and lemon zest into muffin batter.
Scoop batter into prepared muffin pan (each muffin cup should be about 3/4 of the way full of batter).
Add sugar topping or crumble topping on top of each muffin, if using. Place muffin pan in the center rack of the oven.
Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the tops are slightly golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center of a muffin.
Remove from oven and let cool for at least 15 minutes before serving.
Add glaze on top of the muffins once cooled, if using glaze instead of other topping.
These muffins can be enjoyed warm, room temperature, or chilled.
Enjoy!
Prefer to Enjoy this Recipe as a Loaf?
Check out this Maine Wild Blueberry Lemon Bread recipe!
Looking for More Blueberry Recipes?
Try this refreshing Iced Blueberry Latte, or this Finnish Blueberry Pie!
Wild Maine Blueberry Lemon Muffins (Sourdough Recipe)
Equipment
- 1 Large Bowl
- 1 medium bowl
- 1 wooden spoon for mixing and folding
- 1 large spoon or ice cream scoop
- 1 medium sized muffin pan (makes 12) (adjust baking time for larger or smaller muffins as needed)
- 12 muffin cups or paper liners
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 to 2 3/4 cups flour 2 1/4 cups all purpose or 2 3/4 cups whole wheat
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter melted and slightly cooled
- 3/4 cup pure maple syrup
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup yogurt
- 1/2 cup sourdough starter/sourdough discard
- Juice and zest of 1 lemon
- 1 cup wild blueberries if frozen, thawed and drained
- *see notes for topping options
Instructions
- Add dry ingredients(flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt) to a large bowl and combine well.
- Add all wet ingredients except for lemon and blueberries (sourdough starter, maple syrup, eggs, yogurt, and melted and cooled unsalted butter) to a medium bowl and combine well.
- Add wet ingredients to bowl of dry ingredients and combine well until a thick batter forms.
- Cover bowl with damp cloth and let ferment at room temperature for 5-6 hours.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.Prepare a muffin pan with muffin cups or paper liners.
- Remove cloth from bowl and fold blueberries, lemon juice, and lemon zest into muffin batter.
- Scoop batter into prepared muffin pan (each muffin cup should be about 3/4 of the way full of batter).Add sugar topping or crumble topping on top of each muffin, if using. Place muffin pan in the center rack of the oven.
- Bake for about 25 minutes, or until the tops are slightly golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center of a muffin.
- Remove from oven and let cool for at least 15 minutes before serving.
- Add glaze on top of the muffins once cooled, if using glaze instead of other topping.
- These muffins can be enjoyed warm, room temperature, or chilled.
- Enjoy!
Notes
Lemon Glaze 3/4 cup powdered sugar 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract Add ingredients to a small bowl and whisk until smooth. Drizzle on top of muffins after baked and cooled slightly.
Natural Sugar Topping Add about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of your favorite natural sugar (panela, sucanat, coconut sugar, or brown brown sugar) to the top of the muffins prior to baking.
