My favorite blueberry muffin recipe turned into a loaf of blueberry muffin bread! It’s moist, stuffed with juicy blueberries and topped with some sparkling sugar for a light, sweet crunch. Try my blueberry oatmeal bars next.
Let’s talk about blueberries for a second, shall we?
They’re so inconspicuous. Little blue, matte, inconspicuous spheres. They look a little like tiny Death Stars, right down to the vulnerable opening – do a Google search of the two side by side, I’m telling you.
To this day, I’m always amazed that when baked they can explode into little purple pieces of art.
The color gets me every time, like I’ve forgotten what it looks like. It’s what gave the whipped cream in my meringue nests such a beautiful shade of purple. I think that’s part of why I like making blueberry muffins – the color contrast is just so pretty!
Last weekend I wanted blueberry muffins, but at the same time I wanted bread… and I kinda felt like eating blueberry muffins and bread was going to be carb and starch overkill.
I’d never made bread out of my favorite blueberry muffin recipe, so why not now?
Ingredients for blueberry muffin bread
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 egg
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup buttermilk
- ½ cup canola oil, or vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries, (1 pint)
- Zest of one lemon
- Sparkling sugar, for garnish
How to make blueberry muffin bread
- Preheat oven to 350° F. Spray a 9×5 loaf pan (aff link) with non-stick spray. If desired, also dust with a light coating of all purpose flour to help prevent sticking – set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs and sugar – don’t overmix! Whisk until just combined.
- Add buttermilk, oil, and vanilla and whisk until just combined.
- Add egg mixture to flour mixture. You don’t want to overmix, but just stir long enough that all the flour has been incorporated.
- Gently fold in blueberries and lemon zest until just combined.
- Pour batter into prepared pan. Optional: Add a little sparkling sugar to the top.
- Bake for 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Let cool in pan, then invert to gently remove it from the pan. Slice, serve with a pat of butter, and enjoy!
How blueberry muffin bread is different from my muffin recipe
- I made a couple changes to the temperature and cooking time
- I’ve adjusted ingredient quantities to accommodate being in loaf form versus smaller individual muffins
- I swapped in buttermilk instead of regular milk, and added a bit of lemon zest
Temperature & Time
For my muffins, I have you start at 425° F and then turn it down to 375° F to get them the big and fluffy.
For this bread, you want to turn the temperature down to 350° F because you’re baking it for more than twice as long (60 minutes, as opposed to ~28 minutes for the muffins).
This will keep the inside nice and moist, but the top will have a nice crunch and might develop big, beautiful crevasses of blueberry-y muffin-y goodness.
It will be a bit more dense than the muffins, but not in a way that makes you feel like you’re eating something heavy. I almost prefer it to the muffins because there’s more surface area to accommodate slabs of butter.
Oh, warm, melty butter – how I love you so ❤️
Consider waking up before everyone else in the house and make this one on Saturday morning and let the smell waft into their bedrooms and lure them awake ❤️
After you’ve made this recipe, please consider coming back to share your experience with others by leaving a comment below with a star rating!
Blueberry Muffin Bread
Recommended Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 egg
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup buttermilk
- ½ cup canola oil, or vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries, (1 pint)
- Zest of one lemon
- Sparkling sugar, for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F. Spray a 9×5 loaf pan with non-stick spray. If desired, also dust with a light coating of all purpose flour to help prevent sticking – set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.2 cups all-purpose flour | 2 teaspoons baking powder | 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon | ½ teaspoon salt
- In a medium bowl, whisk together egg and sugar – don’t overmix! Whisk until just combined.1 egg | ½ cup granulated sugar
- Add buttermilk, oil, and vanilla and whisk until just combined.½ cup buttermilk | ½ cup canola oil | 1 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Add egg mixture to flour mixture. You don’t want to overmix, but just stir long enough that all the flour has been incorporated.
- Gently fold in blueberries and lemon zest until just combined.2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries | Zest of one lemon
- Pour batter into prepared pan. Optional: Add a little sparkling sugar to the top.Sparkling sugar
- Bake for 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Let cool in pan, then invert to gently remove it from the pan. Slice, serve with a pat of butter, and enjoy!
Video
Notes
- If you find that the top is gets too brown and crisp for your liking, tent with foil for the last 10-15 minutes until cooked through.
- To reheat, just pop it in the microwave for 10-15 seconds.
Nutrition
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Originally published in 2015 and republished in August 2021 with revised photos and instructions.
Gail Norden
Just made this for dessert tonight. Even had the characteristic crack in the top. I had to try a slice to make sure it was good enough for others. It’s almost too good. I want to keep it ALL for me.
Fred gave it his sniff of approval.
Leslie Kiszka
Haha, I’m glad everyone approves (even Fred)!
BarbE
Simple but delicious.
I keep Greek yogurt on hand to swap out for the buttermilk in recipes.
I was nervous because the batter was thick but it baked to perfection.
Thanks for the recipe.
Leslie Kiszka
So glad that you liked it! Thanks so much for coming back to share your experience and a rating.
Robin
If you use regular milk, then is it the same amount as the buttermilk or different?
Leslie Haasch
It would be the same amount, just going to have a slightly different texture and end result.
Yan C. Cid
Os it still edible if i excluir te cinnamon? I’m not a big fan of it.
Leslie Haasch
Definitely! That’s not a requirement at all, it just gives it a little extra oomph in the flavor department. Feel free to leave it out if that’s your personal preference.
Dave
Reading this while on a diet…that was a mistake. Looks *amazing*, though. Saved for later!
Leslie Haasch
I’ll see if I can noodle around with it a bit to make it more diet friendly :)