Blueberry Muffin Cookies

Blueberry Muffin Cookies are like the top of a special homemade blueberry muffin but in a cookie form. Juicy blueberries with not-too-sweet, tender crumb. Crisp around the edges and caramelized on top.

Blueberry Muffin Cookies are the epitome of the perfect blueberry cookie, if I may be so bold. What started as a casual conversation with my daughter saying “I feel like you need a blueberry cookie on your blog”, ended up with our family’s new favorite treat. One of the best cookies I’ve ever made and that’s not being bold- I’m stating a fact.

After a lot of experimenting and sharing with several friends, neighbors, and Dave (Mr. Good Dinner Mom), I can tell you, this is the only blueberry cookie recipe you need. Seriously, comments like “Pure perfection”, or “Who doesn’t love a blueberry muffin? Even better in cookie form!”, and from one of my most hard-to-please tasters “a 10 out of 10”. Dave insisted that we give away every test batch, minus just a few for ourselves because he couldn’t resist them. So there you have it. You.will.love.this.recipe.

Below is the obligatory Ingredient List that Google loves all bloggers to add to their posts. From that list, the star ingredients are; 1) Cornstarch. This gives the cookies the slight poof and softness that ensures that “muffin” texture. 2) Cream cheese, and 3) lemon. Both of these ingredients add tang to the cookies that offsets the blueberries, since blueberries aren’t always tart. The cream cheese contributes to the moist factor in the cookies. Lemon is an excellent acid that brightens and boldens all the other flavors.

Ingredients in Blueberry Muffin Cookies-

Dry Ingredients- Flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and most importantly, corn starch. Corn starch is the secret to the soft pillowy blueberry muffin texture in these cookies.

Wet ingredients- Eggs, butter, lemon, and cream cheese. Lemon juice and zest is a critical component to contrast with the sweet blueberries and lemon is the acid that enhances everything else. Cream cheese adds a bit of tang and helps with the soft tender crumb in the cookies.

Sugar- Granulated sugar is most successful in the blueberry muffin cookies, but you can switch out the sugar for Monk fruit, Stevia, or honey. Make sure to check for conversion quantities as they aren’t all one to one switches.

Blueberries- Fresh or frozen blueberries work great in the recipe. If using frozen, I don’t bother defrosting the blueberries. Fresh, big blueberries are fantastic as some of the blueberries will pop during baking, and others remain whole, but are plump and juicy, just waiting for you to bite in.

The last step before baking is to roll the blueberry muffin cookies in sugar and this does not make the cookies too sweet. The sugar around the outside of the cookie kind of caramelizes the outer layer and adds at crispy edge at the base. You can skip this step if you prefer but it really adds to the overall experience.

Can blueberry muffin cookies be made in advance?

If you want to make the cookies a few days before serving, the cookie dough  can be made up to 24 hours in advance and refrigerated in a bowl until ready to bake (I’ve had to wait two days before and they came out fine then as well). Once you’ve baked the cookies, they’re best served the same day.

Can you use frozen blueberries in blueberry muffin cookies?

Even though blueberries are available year round, they’re at their peak in full flavor during late summer. But even fresh blueberries that might not be full-flavored become more flavorful and juicy as they bake in the oven so keep that in mind; in fact Blueberry Muffin Cookies is a great recipe for under-ripe or under-flavored fresh berries. That being said, you can also use frozen blueberries in this recipe. I don’t thaw the frozen blueberries, just add them in straight from the freezer. If you thaw frozen berries, they bleed a lot of the juice.

Can Blueberry Muffin Cookies be left out overnight?

Left over cookies should be refrigerated since the blueberries will continue to bleed if they’re left out and refrigeration helps them keep their shape and also since the cookies contain cream cheese, refrigeration is recommended. Bring the cookies back to room temperature before serving, they’ll be a little softer the next day, not really crispy at all, but they’re every bit as delicious. Just a little different than the day-of batch.

So there you have it, my new favorite cookie and one that is sure to please, Blueberry Muffin Cookies. The cookies shown were made with a large cookie scoop (3 tablespoon). I also make them with a medium (2 tablespoon) scoop and give baking instructions for those as well. Nutrition information is for the bigger cookies. If you don’t have a cookie scoop, use a regular tablespoon and eye ball the size. Gently roll into a ball with your hands or a second tablespoon.

If you love all things blueberry, be sure to try my Berry Galette or Sour Cream Blueberry Coffee Cake.

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as all my tasters did. If you make the Blueberry Muffin Cookies and share them on social media, be sure to tag @Gooddinnermom to be featured on my Instagram or Facebook pages.

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5 from 10 votes

Blueberry Muffin Cookies

Moist and flavorful, these cookies taste just like a bakery muffin top. Versatile and easy, bake right after mixing and they're fabulous or refrigerate the dough up to a day ahead and bake the day of serving. Taste best and freshest the day of baking, leftovers should be stored in the fridge and then brought to room temperature before serving. Use fresh or frozen blueberries.

Course Baking

Cuisine American

Keyword baking, blueberries, Breakfast, cookies

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 13 minutes minutes

Servings 18 large cookies

Calories 188

Author Sally Humeniuk

Ingredients 

1x2x3x

• 1 cup granulated sugar, plus extra ½ cup for rolling cookies
• ½ cup unsalted butter (1 stick), softened
• 4 oz cream cheese, softened
• Juice of ½ lemon
• 1 Tbsp lemon zest
• 1 large egg, room temperature
• 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp corn starch
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp kosher salt
• 2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 375F° and place one oven rack one place above center and a second rack one place below center (See notes if baking just one pan at a time). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a large bowl if using hand-held beaters) mix 1 cup sugar and ½ cup softened butter until creamy, about 5 minutes on medium-low. Add in 4 ounces softened cream cheese and beat about 10 seconds to incorporate.
• Add the juice of ½ lemon and 1 Tablespoon zest, mixing just a few seconds. Add 1 egg and beat another 10 seconds (don't over mix).
• In a medium bowl, add 2 ½ cups flour, 2 teaspoons cornstarch, 1 teaspoon baking soda, and ½ teaspoon salt. Whisk briefly to combine. See notes on how I measure the flour without weighing it.
• Add the flour mixture to the batter in two additions, mixing just to incorporate. Scrape down the bowl and mix until fully incorporated, about 20 seconds. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in the blueberries.
• Place about ½ cup granulated sugar in a bowl. Scoop batter with large cookie scoop (3 tbsp) if you want 18 cookies, medium cookie scoop (2 tbsp) if you want 24 cookies. Roll cookie in sugar, then shake off excess and place about 3 inches apart on parchment-lined baking sheet. The cookie dough is pretty sticky, you might have to really work to get it out of the scoop. This is normal but if you find it too hard to work with, refrigerate for 30 minutes and then continue. Place about 6 cookies on each baking sheet.
• Bake for 10-13 minutes for the large scoops, 8-11 for the smaller scoops, switching baking sheets in the oven half way through baking. Bake until the sides become golden and a bit on the top. The tops might still be pretty light, this is okay. They'll deepen as they cool.
• Repeat for a second batch of the dough. Alternately, you can scoop all the cookies, refrigerate some to be baked the second day.

Cook's Note:

• Cookies are best the day of baking but still delightful the next day. Leftover cookies must be covered in plastic wrap or placed in a plastic container and refrigerated until serving. Bring to room temperature before enjoying. If you forget to refrigerate them, the blueberries will bleed and the cookies become pretty soggy. Plus with the cream cheese in the cookies, they shouldn't be left out.

Equipment

1 Stand mixer or hand-held beaters

2 Baking sheets parchment lined

1 Bowl for mixing if using hand-held beaters

1 Cookie scoop 3 Tbsp or 2 Tbsp, depending on size and how many cookies you want

1 Rubber spatula

Notes

Measuring the flour- I frequently use weight for measuring baking ingredients but for these cookies the following method has served me well. Whisk up the flour in its container with a whisk or fork until it's light and fluffy. Then scoop the flour into measuring cup and level off with a straight edge.

Fresh or frozen blueberries- If using frozen blueberries, no need to thaw the blueberries before adding to the dough. Fresh berries will pop a bit during baking which adds a nice burst of blueberry into the cookie.

Rolling in sugar- This step is optional but adds a nice bit of crisp edge to the cookies, making them even more like a muffin top.

Streusel top? You can definitely add streusel topping to the cookies before baking but I don't feel like these cookies need that. I wanted to keep this recipe as simple as possible and they're fabulous just rolled in the sugar.

Baking one baking sheet at a time- If you don't have two baking sheets or don't want to have to worry about switching the pans half way into the baking process, you can certainly bake one sheet at a time with the oven rack at the center position. When I do this, I don't bother refrigerating the dough that hasn't been formed yet but it will get a bit more messy to work with for the subsequent batches. 

Nutrition Facts

Blueberry Muffin Cookies

Amount Per Serving (1 large cookie)

Calories 188 Calories from Fat 72

% Daily Value*

Fat 8g12%

Saturated Fat 5g31%

Trans Fat 0.2g

Polyunsaturated Fat 0.4g

Monounsaturated Fat 2g

Cholesterol 30mg10%

Sodium 150mg7%

Potassium 46mg1%

Carbohydrates 27g9%

Fiber 1g4%

Sugar 13g14%

Protein 3g6%

Vitamin A 266IU5%

Vitamin C 2mg2%

Calcium 13mg1%

Iron 1mg6%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.