Mixed Berry Muffins With Frozen Berries

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Moist, light, and fluffy muffins made with buttermilk, frozen mixed berries, and a touch of lemon zest for brightness. No mixer required, meaning you can have a fresh batch of muffins in a flash!

I am super excited to bring you these Mixed Berry Muffins today! They are one of my new top favorites at the moment!

For starters, these Mixed Berry Muffins don’t even require a mixer. This means you can quickly mix the batter and have muffins in a flash!

You don’t need any planning ahead of time either. The butter in this recipe is melted and you can use a mixed berry blend straight from the freezer.

What could be easier than that?

I also like that this recipe is made without Greek yogurt. No disrespect to Greek yogurt, I love the stuff, but some of the yogurt muffins I’ve made in the past have come out a little heavy. I really prefer a light and fluffy muffin myself. So I tried buttermilk instead!

With the buttermilk, the muffins rise nice and high, the muffin tops are big and crisp around the edges, and the body of the muffin is super light, fluffy, and moist with little bursts of different berries throughout.

Finally, I added a touch of lemon zest to really brighten up the muffin and to compliment the sweet and tart berries. The results are perfect!

Serve these at a special breakfast or add them to a Mother’s Day Brunch table.

Here’s how you make them:

How To Make Mixed Berry Muffins

Makes 12 Muffins

Ingredients

• 2 cups of all purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon of baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1 teaspoon of fresh lemon zest
• 5 tablespoons of unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
• 1 cup of granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup of buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 2 cups of mixed frozen berries

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 400°.

Line a muffin pan with paper liners and set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and lemon zest until combined.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg and the sugar until well blended and pale yellow.

Pour in the melted butter and whisk to combine. Lastly, add the buttermilk and vanilla to the sugar mixture, whisk until fully incorporated. The mixture will be very thin.

Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and gently mix until almost fully combined. The batter should be lumpy with flour streaks showing still.

Add the frozen berries to the lumpy batter. Quickly and gently, fold the berries into the batter until the berries are evenly distributed and no flour streaks remain.

Divide the batter between the 12 muffin cups and bake at 400° for 20-23 minutes. The muffins are done when a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Allow to cool just long enough to handle, then spread on some salty butter and enjoy!

Homemade Buttermilk Substitute

One of the key ingredients for this Mixed Berry Muffin recipe is buttermilk.

But sometimes I don’t always have that on hand.

If that’s the case for you too, no worries! You can totally make a quick substitute with lemon juice (or even white vinegar) and milk.

In a liquid measuring cup, measure out 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar. Add enough milk to equal one cup. Let sit for 5 minutes until it starts to thicken and look curdled a little (don’t worry!! That’s what you want!). Then proceed with the recipe.

Want a Streusel Topping for these Mixed Berry muffins?

I love these muffins as is, but a sprinkle of sugar or a streusel topping wouldn’t hurt a darn thing either.

If you want a streusel topping–like the topping I use on my pumpkin muffins— here’s what you’ll need to do:

• ¾ cup of all purpose flour
• 6 tablespoons of granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons of packed brown sugar
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Combine the flour, sugars, cinnamon, and salt in a medium sized bowl.

Pour in the melted butter and mix until it has been absorbed by the flour and large crumbs have formed. Divide over the tops of the muffins and bake per the recipe!

Using Frozen Berries

I love using frozen berries for these Mixed Berry Muffins. I usually have them on hand and I love that all the berries come premixed! For this recipe, I used the frozen “triple berry blend” from Wymans (they’re a Maine company!).

When making muffins with frozen berries, you want to make sure the berries are kept in the freezer until the very last minute. If they start to thaw, they’ll end up melting into the batter during mixing and turn your whole muffin purple. You’ll also lose those nicely defined pockets of berries spotted throughout each muffin after baking.

If you find strawberries in your frozen fruit

It’s important to note that some frozen mixed berry blends contain strawberries. I found that the bags labeled “mixed berry blend” have strawberries and “triple berry blend” does not. I’m sure this depends on the brand as well.

If your berry blend does contain frozen strawberries, just know you’ll need to thaw the strawberries just enough to cut them into smaller pieces. The strawberries in these frozen berry mixes are way too big to add directly to muffin the batter.

After they’re chopped, you can either pop them back in the freezer until you’re ready to add to the batter, or just add them partially thawed.

Can I use Fresh Berries Instead of Frozen Berries In These Muffins?

Of course! Make your own blend!

You can either pop them in the freezer for a few minutes while you prepare the muffin batter or you can fold them into the batter fresh. Just be super, super gentle when you’re folding them into the batter so they don’t get mashed up!

Storing Your Muffins:

After baking, leftover muffins should be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3-4 days.

If you live in a particularly hot and humid area, feel free to keep the muffins in the fridge to prolong the shelf life.

Can These Mixed Berry Muffins Be Frozen?

Yes!

Once the muffins are baked and cooled, pop the muffins into a freezer-safe container or zip bag and store until ready to eat.

Then, when you’re ready for a muffin, remove it from the freezer, and allow it to thaw at room temp and enjoy!

Variations and toppings:

This Mixed Berry Muffin recipe is great because it allows a little room for variations, like swapping out the different berries and nuts for instance.

Below is a list of fun little swaps and mix-ins that will work great in this recipe!

• Use orange zest in place of the lemon zest
• Feel free to use just frozen blueberries, or raspberries, or blackberries if you don’t have a bag of mixed berries on hand!
• No buttermilk? See above or the recipe notes for an easy homemade buttermilk substitute
• Top with chopped nuts
• Dipping the tops of these muffins in a lemon glaze or butter and cinnamon sugar wouldn’t be a terrible idea in the least

Other Breakfast Recipes You Might Like:

Buttermilk Blueberry Muffins

Blueberry Banana Oatmeal Muffins

Orange Almond Muffins

Applesauce Donut Muffins

Pumpkin Muffins With Streusel

Lemon Blueberry Zucchini Bread

Pin Mixed Berry Muffins For Later!

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