Copycat Jumbo Panera Blueberry Muffin

close up of a blueberry muffin on a white plate

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4.46 from 24 votes

These Copycat Jumbo Panera Blueberry Lemon Muffins are bursting with blueberries and just a touch of lemon.

Prep Time15

Cook Time30

Total Time45

Course: Muffin Recipes

Cuisine: American

Servings: Jumbo Muffins

Calories: 678kcal

Author: Erica Schramek

Equipment

Ingredients

3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1 ½ cups blueberries
1 cup granulated white sugar
½ cup milk room temperature
⅔ cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs at room temperature
1 egg yolk at room temperature
1 lemon juice and zest
coarse sugar for topping

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Move the oven rack to the middle position. Preheat oven to 425°F (220°C). Grease one jumbo 6-count muffin pans with nonstick spray or line with muffin papers. Set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together the 3 ½ cups all-purpose flour, 3 teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, and ½ teaspoon kosher salt. Toss the 1 ½ cups blueberries in the dry ingredients until they are well coated. This will prevent the blueberries from sinking to the bottom of the muffins. Set aside.
In a medium bowl whisk together the 1 cup granulated white sugar, ½ cup milk, ⅔ cup vegetable oil, 2 large eggs, 1 egg yolk, lemon juice, and zest.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and fold together gently with a spatula until just combined. Be careful to not crush the blueberries and do not over mix. The batter will be thick. Allow the batter to rest for 5 minutes.
Divide the batter between each muffin cup, filling all the way to the top. Sprinkle with coarse sugar.
Bake the muffins at 425°F (220°C) for 5 minutes, then, keeping the muffins in the oven, reduce the oven temperature to 350°F (180°C) and continue to bake for 25-30 minutes until the tops are golden brown. Use a toothpick to test for doneness. Insert a toothpick into the center of a muffin, if it comes out clean, the muffins are done.
Allow the muffins to cool for several minutes in the muffin pan before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Notes

Tips

When stirring be careful to not crush any of the berries to keep the muffins from turning a weird blue-green color.
If you use frozen berries, rinse them under cold water several times and pat dry. This will help prevent the color from bleeding into the muffin batter.
Don’t over-mix the batter. A few lumps are fine. Overmixing will create too much gluten causing your muffins to be tough.
The muffin batter will be very thick, almost like cookie dough. This prevents the blueberries from sinking to the bottom and helps to give the muffins a tall muffin top.
Muffins bake best on the middle rack of the oven. Too low and the bottoms will burn, too high and the tops will brown too quickly.

Storage

These muffins will stay moist for a couple of days when stored at room temperature. Store them in an airtight container for 1-2 days. Any longer than that at room temperature and the blueberries will start tasting fermented especially on warm days.

For longer storage keep them in the refrigerator for up to a week.

They can also be frozen for up to 3 months. Wrap each muffin in plastic wrap and place them in a zip-top bag. Thaw muffins at room temperature.

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