Glazed Blackberry Lemon Muffins

It’s muffin mania here at HIH! Y’all LOVED last month’s Ultimate Brown Sugar Buttermilk Muffin post…and for good reason, they are freaking delicious. If it’s muffins you want, today it’s the HIH Glazed Blackberry Lemon Muffins you’ll get! I know you’re going to love these bright and tangy muffins bursting with whole blackberries, tart lemon and just enough sweetness for the perfect balance of flavors.

The batter bakes up moist and tender, just like all HIH muffin recipes you’ve come to know. The batter is delish, but it’s the lemon glaze that steals the show. When you bite into one of these muffins, the light crunch of the sweet tangy glaze awakens your taste buds just in time to then bite into a whole sweet blackberry. A tasty trip all in one bite.

Often we think of blueberry and lemon as a perfect pair, but my Mother brought me a blackberry Danish last week when she came to visit and I’ve been thinking about blackberries ever since. So, I called an audible on the recipe I was going to post and ended up with these blackberry lemon muffins instead There were some interesting challenges I wasn’t quite expecting in the first batch. Make sure to scroll to the “Keys to Success” section of this post to get the scoop on getting the perfect muffin.

Keys to Success – Blackberries

1. Fresh or frozen? The answer comes down to ripeness. Ripe blackberries are the sweetest, but berries are often picked prior to peak ripeness so the shelf life is longer. Once you pick a berry, that’s as sweet as it’s going to get. That’s why you may associate blackberries with a tart flavor if you’re purchasing form your super market. Frozen berries are picked at peak ripeness before being flash frozen. You can almost guarantee they’ll be perfectly ripe and sweet. If you can get perfectly ripe fresh blackberries, go with fresh! If not, go with the frozen. Just make sure you thaw and blot dry. If they’re really juicy, you can set aside some of the flour and toss the berries in the flour to help keep your batter from turning purple.
2. Leave ’em whole. My first attempts at this recipe halved the blackberries. Not only did this make my batter purple, but it took away from the beautiful texture of a whole blackberry when biting into the muffin. I wanted to leave them whole, but found it difficult to scoop a proper berry/batter ratio. That’s where reserving the 12 berries for the top of each muffin comes into this recipe. Not only does this make the batter a little easier to work with when scooping, but the visual aesthetic of a perfectly placed blackberry on top of each muffin is stunning!

Keys to Success – Muffins

1. Resist the urge to over mix. Leave the whisk and the hand mixer alone and reach for the rubber spatula. Folding the wet and dry ingredients together with the rubber spatula until JUST combined will make for moist, fluffy, tender muffins.
2. Buy the cookie/ice cream scoop. Using a spoon will work, but using a scoop, will ensure your muffins are uniform and makes working with sticky batter extra easy. I found a super affordable and well-made set on Amazon, linked here. Of course, I use them for muffins and ice cream, but they also come in handy for cookies and meatballs.
3. Oven rack placement is important. Place the oven rack in the middle of the oven for an even bake. If your muffins are too close to the bottom, the bottoms could burn. If your muffins are too close to the top, the tops could burn. You don’t want either scenario! Also, if your oven is like mine, you might want to rotate the muffin pan 180 degrees, 3/4 of the way through the cook time for more even baking.

Keys to Success – Glazing

1. Let those blackberry lemon muffins cool! If your muffins are too warm when you dip into the glaze, it doesn’t matter how perfect the consistency is, it will melt off the sides. A properly cooled muffin will prevent sticky glaze from running down the side of the liner.
2. Not to thick, not too thin. The glaze should coat the back of a spoon and slowly drip off. If it’s too thick, the glaze will look like a thick blob on top of the muffin. If it’s too thin, it won’t stay put.
3. Dip ‘n twirl. First, you want the container you’re glaze is in to be just wide enough for fingers and the crown of the muffin, and deep enough you can really dip the crown down in the glaze. When you dip, dip just to widest part of the crown of the muffin, making sure to leave space between the glaze and the muffin liner. After dipping turn the muffin 90 degrees and slowly twirl to allow the glaze to coat the crown while allowing the excess to drip back into the container. Once the glaze starts to set, you can set the muffins up right and your muffin liner should be safe from drips.
4. Double dip, or don’t! There’s enough glaze in this recipe for two dunks for each muffin. Based on your personal tastes, you may like a lighter one dunk muffin. They’re delicious either way. You do you!