How to make Blueberry Orange Muffins

Blueberry Orange muffins are light, fluffy, full of zingy citrus flavours and bursting with plump blueberries. Flavoured with orange juice, orange zest and the delicious flavour of blueberries I’m sure you’re going to love them. Enjoy these muffins plain and unadorned or topped with a smooth, silky glace icing.

I have two absolute favourite muffin recipes, these yummy Blueberry muffins and this one, which has added orange flavours. This recipe for Blueberry Orange Muffins contains orange juice and zest, to get the delicious orange flavours. It doesn’t contain milk or yoghurt so it is dairy-free.

I make these a lot at home especially during the wintertime when oranges are generally at their best. This Blueberry Orange muffin recipe, like most muffin recipes, is simple to make and cooks fairly quickly in a moderate oven.

What is the difference between a muffin and a cupcake?

The difference between cupcakes and muffins, which are after all both small cakes that are usually baked in paper cases, comes down to how they are made.

Cupcakes are usually made like… well like a cake. By creaming the butter and the sugar together, adding in the eggs and then the flour. They’re always sweet, often decorated with mounds of icing and dressed up to look gorgeous.

Muffins, on the other hand, can be sweet or savoury, may be eaten for breakfast without eyebrows being raised but the main difference is that muffins are made differently. Muffins are always made by mixing wet ingredients into dry ones to form a batter. Their texture tends to be denser when baked but they’re really wonderful.

Now we’re clear on that little detail these are the main things you may wish to know about these particular fruit muffins.

All about these Blueberry Orange Muffins

• Flavour – It can be disappointing to bite into a muffin and find that there’s not much inside. Not so with these muffins. These yummy Blueberry and Orange muffins are full of delicious citrusy orange flavours and bursting with berries, so many that they’ll be berries in every bite you take. The moist blueberries give a nice contrast with lovely little pops of sweetness and even more flavour. I’m confident that this is going to become a favourite recipe in your home.
• Texture – These muffins have a lovely muffin texture that we all love, denser than a cupcake but still light and airy.
• Difficulty – Like most muffin recipes this one is unfussy and is made as a batter, The batter is made by simply mixing the wet ingredients into the dry ones and combining them. There’s no fuss involved. You just stir until there are no dry ingredients clinging to the side of the bowl and that’s as difficult as it gets. Spoon the mixture into the waiting muffin pan and bake. Now just wait for your reward of amazing muffins. They’re easy, simple and fast to make. This recipe is suitable for a novice baker.

Is it ok to use Frozen Berries?

Yes, it is perfectly ok to substitute frozen blueberries for fresh ones in this recipe. I frequently use frozen berries when making homemade muffins. There are just a couple of things to bear in mind.

If you are pouring frozen berries straight into the batter you will need to sir them only enough so that they are distributed through the batter. If you over stir as they begin to thaw the blue colour will begin to bleed into the batter. This isn’t a problem but can result in your cooked blueberry orange muffins looking a little green in places. A mix of the blue with the yellow of the other ingredients I suppose.

The second thing to keep in mind is that because the fruit is frozen, it will take longer for the muffin to cook, so check that they are completely cooked through when it comes to the end of the cooking time. They may need a few extra minutes.

Freshly squeezed oranges or bottled orange juice?

If I have the oranges in the house then I quite like to squeeze the orange juice myself. If however, you find bottled orange juice easier to use or that’s what you have in your house then just substitute one for the other. The difference in flavour won’t be detectable and will work successfully.

Use Orange extract or not?

I like to add a 1/2 teaspoon to most orange things I bake as it really gives a wonderful flavour. Orange zest and the juice add a good amount of citrus flavour to the muffins, so if this is something that you’d not usually use, then feel free to leave it out.

Overview of Making Blueberry and Orange Muffins

This is really simple. The art of muffin making is to be a little bit relaxed about mixing the wet ingredients into the dry. If you’ve spent years ensuring that your cake and cupcake mixtures are silky smooth, then muffin batters may mean that you need to take a deep breath, connect with your inner muffin-maker and allow that batter to be lumpy. It’s just as nature (or the art of the muffin), requires.

Gather up your ingredients and either squeeze the fresh oranges for juice or measure out the bottled juice so that everything is ready. If you’ve washed fresh blueberries then make sure that they are dry. (Roll them gently in some kitchen towel.)

The precise instructions are in the recipe card below but basically, you mix the wet ingredients together and then mix wet ingredients together in separate bowls. Mix the wet mixture into the dry and stir until there are no dry flour lumps to be seen. It’s perfectly ok if the batter looks lumpy!

Finally, distribute the mixture between the muffin cases and pop into the oven for 20 to 25 minutes. Quick. Simple.

Variations you can make to this muffin recipe

• Omit the blueberries and turn this into a light, fluffy Orange muffin recipe.
• Substitute a lemon for the orange, omit the orange extract and make lemon and blueberry muffins
• Hold some of the blueberries back from being stirred into the mixture and once the batter has been added to the muffin cases – sprinkle the remaining berries between them. When baked you’ll see blueberries on top of the muffins which is quite pretty.
• Sprinkle caster sugar on top of the muffin batter (once it’s in the muffin cases, just before baking) for a slightly crunchy topping. For the crunchiest topping, use demerara sugar.
• Add a simple icing glaze.
  • Mix 3oz (85g) icing sugar with 2-3 teaspoons of orange juice and use to ice the muffins once they’re out of the oven and cooled slightly.

Storing Muffins

All muffins are at their very best if eaten fresh. They’ll be light, fluffy and aromatic… delicious. However, not everyone can dispatch a dozen homemade muffins in one sitting, so …

• Store in an airtight container and eat within two to three days.

If this isn’t possible then freeze some away for later. These muffins freeze successfully provided that they haven’t been iced.

• Freeze in air-tight containers or zip lock bags. Remove from the freezer when needed and thaw on the work surface. Warming them briefly in the oven or microwave will restore these muffins beautifully.

Hope you enjoy the muffins!

What’s your favourite muffin flavour?

If you like these then you may like these…

• Blueberry Muffins
• Lemon and Poppy Seeds Muffins
• Double Chocolate Chip Muffins
• Rock Cakes
• Castella Cake
• Cranberry and White Chocolate Muffins
• Cinnamon Apple Muffins with Streusel Topping
• How to make Lemon Drizzle Cupcakes: Quick and Easy Recipe

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