Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins

These easy blueberry muffins are light, fluffy, delicious, and made with simple healthy ingredients, including whole grains, natural sweeteners, and healthy fats.

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Let’s make some blueberry muffins!

For this recipe, I wanted to show you how you can use a simple muffin recipe and tweak it to use whatever you have in your kitchen. This is particularly helpful when you are trying to save money and eat healthy.

For this recipe, I’ll show you exactly what I used, but I’ll also show you how you can swap out ingredients as necessary.

Blueberry Muffins Recipe

To make blueberry muffins, I like using simple ingredients and frozen wild blueberries. Frozen berries are flavorful and generally more budget-friendly than fresh. Wild blueberries are smaller than regular blueberries, making them perfect for blueberry muffins. They are cheaper than organic, and they are usually non-GMO, which is nice. I buy mine at Costco. You can’t find them everywhere, so don’t sweat it. Regular blueberries work great.

I used my favorite whole wheat muffin recipe. This is a muffin recipe I’ve been using for years. I like that it’s made with simple whole, real food (honey-sweetened, healthy fats, whole grains), but it’s very easy to substitute ingredients.

For example, for these photos and in the video, I used white flour. I wanted to show how easy it was to swap out flours in this recipe. However, I usually make them with whole wheat or spelt flour.

How to Make Light & Fluffy Muffins

Whole wheat and “light and fluffy” don’t usually go together, but here are some tips to help you achieve that whether you use whole wheat or white flour.

Keep in mind that I am not a precise baker. I cook in my real, messy, busy life, and I have other things to do, so I follow these tips maybe half the time. Don’t interpret this as something you have to do.

1. Do not overmix the batter (impossible when your toddler is helping you bake)
2. All ingredients should be at room temperature (this only happens when I forget I was baking)
3. If you add chocolate chips or fruit, fold it in gently with a spatula (but honestly, I’m not gonna dirty another dish)
4. Use freshly ground whole wheat flour (it’s the best! But again, not for everyone)
5. Whole wheat does better when you let it soak for 10-30 minutes before baking (I actually do this more often than any other tip because it makes a big difference in my opinion)

Should I Thaw Frozen Blueberries for Muffins?

You don’t need to thaw frozen blueberries before using them in muffins. Simply toss them with one tablespoon of flour just before folding them into the batter. This helps stop them from bleeding into the batter so much and keeps them from sinking to the bottom of the muffin.

Alternatively, you can toss them into the dry ingredients before adding the wet ingredients.

Are Blueberry Muffins High in Sugar?

Generally speaking, the blueberry muffins you can buy from the store or from coffee shops are more like cake than they are breakfast food. They are loaded with white flour, sugar, and other ingredients you don’t want to eat every morning for breakfast.

That being said, they are delicious.

If I want a muffin we can eat every day, I make my Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins.

If I want something that tastes like cake – or normal blueberry muffins – I simply make my whole wheat muffins recipe with white flour, sugar, and butter.

Are Muffins Better with Oil or Butter?

Honestly, the short answer is both. Butter gives the muffins more flavor, and oil makes them more light and fluffy. For my whole wheat muffins, I use half the amount of oil/butter that usually goes in a muffin. Instead, I use applesauce, and then I choose either butter or oil for the rest.

So if you are dairy-free, vegan, or simply don’t have butter on hand, don’t worry! Your muffins will turn out great if you use oil.

Is it Better to Use Fresh or Frozen Blueberries for Muffins?

Either fresh or frozen blueberries work great in muffins. You don’t need to thaw frozen blueberries before using them in muffins. Simply toss them with one tablespoon of flour just before folding them into the batter. This helps stop them from bleeding into the batter so much and keeps them from sinking to the bottom of the muffin.

Fresh blueberries don’t bleed as much, but they aren’t always in season and can be more expensive.

Personally, I prefer using frozen wild blueberries. Frozen berries are flavorful and generally more budget-friendly than fresh. Wild blueberries are smaller than regular blueberries, making them perfect for blueberry muffins. They are cheaper than organic, and they are usually non-GMO. I find wild blueberries at Costco, but don’t sweat it if you can’t find them. Regular works great.

Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffin Recipe

Here are the ingredients I use to make whole wheat blueberry muffins, and here are some helpful substitutions.

Keep in mind that every substitution creates different results. It’s fun to play around with them, and it’s handy when you don’t have all the ingredients the recipe calls for. But it does change the recipe!

Flour

Okay, the flour is flexible, but each kind will produce different results. Simple all-purpose unbleached white flour works great in this recipe if that’s what you have.

Whole wheat flour works great as well and produces a hearty, flavorful muffin.

Because I use a grain mill to get the most cost-effective, nutritious whole grain, I use Soft White Whole Wheat in my muffins. It’s the best whole grain for lighter, more delicate pastries, like muffins. But it’s still a whole grain.

If you like spelt flour, check out my Spelt Blueberry Muffins!

Oats

Old-fashioned works great, but I use quick oats too if that’s all I have. You can skip the oats and just add 1/4 cup more flour.

Baking Powder

If you’re out of baking powder, substitute with 1/2 tsp baking soda and 1/4 tsp cream of tartar for every 1 teaspoon of baking powder.

Baking Soda and Salt

Nothing exciting here. Just use what you have!

Nutmeg

Totally optional, but delicious in a blueberry muffin – especially if you grate it straight from the whole nutmeg (I know. So extra. But trust me.)

Yogurt

Plain yogurt works great in this recipe.

I prefer whole milk yogurt, but whatever you can find will work.

To make it more budget-friendly, use 2 cups of milk in place of the milk and yogurt, then stir in 1 tbsp lemon juice. Set it aside for 5 minutes and let it curdle, then add it to the recipe. This works with dairy-free milk if you are dairy-free!

Buttermilk also works great. Use it in place of both the yogurt and milk.

Milk

Regular milk or dairy-free milk work here.

Melted Butter/Oil

Butter gives the muffins more flavor, and oil makes them more light and fluffy. For the best results, use half of each, but for simplicity’s sake, I usually pick one.

Applesauce

If you don’t have applesauce, you can use more butter or oil instead.

Honey

Honey is our favorite sweetener for this recipe. It’s roughly twice as sweet as maple syrup, so your muffins will turn out much sweeter if you stick to honey instead of substituting it with maple syrup. That being said, if all you have is maple syrup, it works great too.

Honey and maple syrup are expensive. If you need to ration your sweetener, you can use 1 cup sugar or brown sugar in the recipe instead. Or you can split the difference and use 1/4 cup honey and 1/2 cup sugar.

Egg

For egg-free muffins, use a flax or chia egg from this recipe.

Blueberries

Use fresh or frozen berries in this recipe. I like wild frozen blueberries best because they are smaller than regular blueberries (perfect for muffins) more budget-friendly than fresh or organic (but still non-GMO), and they are available all year long.

Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins Variations:

Low-Gluten

Try my Spelt Muffins for a lower gluten recipe!

Dairy-Free

For dairy-free muffins, use dairy-free milk and then use avocado oil or coconut oil instead of butter.

Egg-Free

For egg-free muffins, use a flax or chia egg from this recipe.

Vegan

For vegan muffins, use the dairy-free and egg-free tips.

This Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins Recipe Is:

Whole grain

Real food

Easy

Flexible

Dairy-Free (options)

Egg-Free (options)

Vegan (options)

Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins Taste Great With:

• Soup
• Egg muffins
• Fruit Salad
• Frittata
• Cheese, veggies, and dip for a snacky lunch

More Whole Wheat Recipes:

• Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread (that doesn’t crumble!)
• Real Food Peach Cobbler
• Real Food Apple Crisp
• Mix-in-the-Pan Fruit & Oat Bars
• Healthier Banana Bread
• Healthier Pumpkin Bread