Make cake mix blueberry muffins with white cake mix, fresh blueberries, and a lemon glaze, perfect for breakfast, dessert, or a snack.
Cake mix muffins use boxed cake mix instead of muffin mix for a sweet, moist muffin that's closer to cake than bread. Fresh berries and lemon zest are added to the muffin batter for a fresh, flavorful muffin. The muffins are topped with a sprinkle of turbinado sugar and a drizzle of powdered sugar glaze.
Muffins are great for a quick breakfast if you're in the mood for something sweet. Fresh blueberries are usually available year-round, but they're in season from May through early September, making this blueberry muffin recipe perfect for summer.
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Recipe Highlights
- Simple ingredients: This simple recipe is made with easy-to-find ingredients at the grocery store.
- Flavorful muffins: The sweet muffins are bursting with blueberries and are topped with a lemon glaze for a hint of lemon flavor.
- 30-minute recipe: Easy recipes take no time at all. This delicious recipe takes about 30 minutes from start to finish.
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Ingredients
Muffins
- Boxed white cake mix - Any white cake mix (15.25 ounces or 16.25 ounces). Lemon cake mix or yellow cake mix will also work.
- Lemon zest - To brighten the flavor of the blueberries.
- Eggs - Large.
- Milk - Whole milk, reduced-fat milk, non-dairy milk, or your favorite milk.
- Vegetable oil - Or canola oil.
- Fresh blueberries - Frozen blueberries can work in a pinch, see Substitutions below.
- Turbinado sugar (optional) - This is an optional touch to give your muffins a sugary crunch.
Lemon Glaze
- Powdered sugar - This is also called icing sugar or confectioners sugar.
- Lemon juice - Fresh.
- Milk - To thin the glaze as desired.
See the recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350ºF (177ºC). Line two muffin pans with 15 baking cups.
Whisk the dry cake mix and lemon zest in a large mixing bowl until the zest is evenly distributed.
Add the eggs, milk, and oil to the large bowl. Beat with a hand mixer on medium speed until just combined.
Tip: In baking, "just combined" means to stop mixing when the dry ingredients are moistened by the wet ingredients but the batter is not completely smooth.
With a silicone spatula, fold in the blueberries. To fold something into the batter means to carefully and gently mix the ingredient into the batter. The key is the avoid overmixing the batter.
Evenly distribute the batter across the baking cups, leaving a small space at the top.
Top evenly with turbinado sugar (optional). This gives the muffin tops a crunch.
Bake for 18 to 22 minutes or until golden brown on top. A toothpick inserted into the center should have a few moist crumbs but no runny batter. Let muffins cool for a few minutes in the muffin tin, then transfer them to a wire cooling rack.
While the muffins cool, make the lemon glaze in a small bowl by mixing the powdered sugar and lemon juice together until combined. Adjust the thickness of the glaze by adding the milk little by little. You may choose to skip the milk for a thick glaze or use all of it for a thin drizzle.
When the muffins are completely cool, top with the lemon glaze.
Substitutions
Muffins
- Cake mix - Any 15.25-ounce or 16.25-ounce box of cake mix will work. Lemon cake mix, angel food cake, and yellow cake are also great with blueberry. You can also use muffin mix, getting as close to 15 to 16 ounces as possible (some muffin mixes are as small as 7 ounces, so use two packages in that case).
- Lemon zest - Rather than substitute this ingredient, you can omit it if desired.
- Milk - Use any milk: cow's milk, almond milk, soy milk, oat milk, and more.
- Oil - Vegetable oil or canola oil.
- Blueberries - Instead of fresh blueberries, frozen blueberries will work just as well. Be sure to defrost them. Thaw them in the refrigerator overnight or cover them with cold water for about 5 minutes for a quicker method. Dry the berries thoroughly before adding them to the muffin batter.
- Turbinado sugar - Turbinado sugar (sometimes called raw sugar) is a coarse sugar that won't melt when baking. It is an optional touch to give your muffins a sweet crunch. Rather than substitute it with another type of sugar, you can omit this step altogether.
Glaze
- Powdered sugar - Skipping the powdered sugar? You can skip the glaze or try a cinnamon roll icing without powdered sugar.
- Lemon juice - If you do not want the glaze to taste of lemons, substitute it with milk.
Variations
Make your own flavor combinations. Play up the lemon flavor with lemon cake mix, or switch out the berries with raspberries or strawberries. You can also try adding chocolate chips or chopped nuts.
Equipment
- Muffin baking pan - Also called a muffin tin or cupcake pan
- Baking cups - Paper liners
- Mixing bowls - Large and small
- Hand mixer - A handheld electric mixer or a stand mixer
- Silicone spatula - To fold in the blueberries
Storage
These muffins are best enjoyed within a few days because the berries release moisture over time making the muffins soggy.
Room temperature: If you plan on eating the muffins within a few days, you can store them at room temperature in an airtight container or ziplock bag. This will keep them moist and fresh.
Refrigerator: If you need to store the muffins for a longer period of time, you can store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week, but again, the muffins become soggy over time because of the berries and the icing.
Freezer: To store muffins for an even longer period of time, you can freeze them. Wrap the muffins individually in plastic wrap and place them in a ziplock bag or airtight container. They will last for up to three months in the freezer. To thaw, simply take them out of the freezer and let them sit at room temperature for a few hours, or microwave for a few seconds to warm them up.
FAQ
Both fresh and frozen blueberries can be used to make muffins, but there are some differences to consider. Fresh blueberries are a great choice because they can be added directly to the muffin batter without any prior preparation. Frozen blueberries can also be used, but they should be thawed and dried to keep excess moisture out of the muffins.
Muffin mix and cake mix are very similar, but muffin mix tends to have less sugar and more flour.
More Cake Mix
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📖 Recipe
Cake Mix Blueberry Muffins
Video
Ingredients
Muffins
- 1 box white cake mix 15.25 ounces
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup milk
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
- 1-½ cup blueberries
- 2 tablespoons turbinado sugar optional
Lemon Glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon milk
Instructions
For the muffins
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF (177ºC). Line two muffin pans with 15 baking cups.
- Whisk the dry cake mix and lemon zest in a large mixing bowl until the zest is evenly distributed.
- Add the eggs, milk, and oil to the large bowl. Beat with a hand mixer on medium speed until just combined.
- With a silicone spatula, gently fold in the blueberries.
- Evenly distribute the batter across the baking cups, leaving a small space at the top. Top evenly with turbinado sugar (optional).
- Bake for 18 to 22 minutes or until golden brown on top. A toothpick inserted into the center should have a few moist crumbs but no runny batter. Let muffins cool for a few minutes in the muffin tin, then transfer them to a wire cooling rack.
For the glaze
- While the muffins cool, make the lemon glaze in a small bowl by mixing the powdered sugar and lemon juice together until combined. Adjust the thickness of the glaze by adding the milk little by little. You may choose to skip the milk for a thick glaze or use all of it for a thin drizzle.
- When the muffins are completely cool, top with the lemon glaze.
Notes
Nutrition
Food safety
- The USDA advises against eating raw eggs due to the possible presence of Salmonella bacteria.
- According to the FDA, you should not consume raw flour.
See more guidelines at USDA.gov.
More Blueberries
In the mood for more blueberry sweets? If you like this easy muffin recipe, try these.
Audrey Bluett says
I made these today and they are sooooo goood! Thanks for sharing your recipe. Instead of the glaze I used a butter cream icing and put 3 blueberries on top along with a sprinkle of lemon zest.
Kelsey Smith says
I appreciate you taking the time to comment! So happy you enjoyed them.