If you're lucky enough to have fresh mulberries, you should make these Mulberry Muffins with Brown Sugar Topping. They're just slightly sweet (not sugary at all!) and are bursting with fresh mulberries in every bite. The crispy brown sugar topping is so good!
Jump to:
- Mulberry muffins
- Preparing mulberries for muffins
- Ingredients
- Equipment
- Instructions
- Can I use dried mulberries?
- Can I use frozen mulberries?
- What else can I substitute or add to the mulberries?
- Storing muffins with brown sugar topping
- Can mulberry muffins be frozen?
- Mulberry Muffins with Brown Sugar Topping
- Reviews
Mulberry muffins
We love using seasonal foraging finds for baking, such as these blueberry wheat germ muffins or mulberry danishes. So when mulberry season came around again, I wanted to create a new mulberry recipe: Mulberry Muffins!
These muffins are perfect for breakfast because they're not too sweet and are made with part whole wheat flour. At the same time, they make a great healthy-ish dessert because they have a delightful crispy brown sugar topping and bursts of fresh mulberry sweetness in every bite—just enough to satisfy a sugar craving.
This ratio of muffin ingredients is my basic go-to muffin recipe. To be honest, you can use ANY muffin recipe and just add 1.5 cups of fresh mulberries to the batter, and it should work fine!
You can use white or black mulberries for this muffin recipe, but the black ones are pretties because they add a pop of color and I find them tastier.
I hope you get a chance to make these muffins and enjoy baking with mulberries as much as I do!
And while you're at it, check out these other mulberry recipes:
- Mulberry syrup (AMAZING on pancakes!)
- Mulberry mojitos
- Mulberry iced tea
- Mulberry ice cream (6 ingredients!)
Preparing mulberries for muffins
The only down side to this recipe is that you need to remove all the mulberry stems before adding mulberries to the muffin batter. This takes about 10 minutes (and you need to do this for most mulberry recipes or for snacking anyway!). So plan ahead and do that in advance if you want these muffins to be ready quicker.
The easiest way to remove the mulberry stems is to hold them by the stem with your non-dominant hand and use kitchen shears (or clean scissors) to snip off the berry into a bowl, then discard the stem. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.
If you plan on using frozen mulberries, make sure that all the stems from the mulberries were removed before freezing.
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (or substitute 1 cup whole wheat flour)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- Optional: ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 cup milk (any kind - plant milk or cow's milk)
- ¾ cup brown sugar, tightly packed, + a few extra teaspoons for topping muffins (the sugar can be cut down to ½ cup for a not sweet muffin)
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or substitute ½ teaspoon vanilla bean powder)
- 1.5 cups fresh mulberries, plus 24-36 extra for topping muffins, with stems removed
Equipment
- Standard muffin tin for 12 muffins (or 12 silicone muffin cups, like I used)
- Muffin/cupcake liners
- Large and medium bowl, measuring cups and spoons
- Whisk
- Spatula (helpful for getting all the batter out of the bowl so nothing gets wasted!)
- Kitchen shears to remove the mulberry stems
Instructions
Step 0: Before getting started remove the stems from all the mulberries. This is easiest to do with kitchen shears or clean scissors.
Step 1: Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a muffin tin with muffin papers. Tip: to prevent the bottoms of your muffin papers getting greasy while baking, pour in a few pieces of uncooked rice on the bottom of the muffin tin, then place the muffin paper on top.
Step 2: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and ground cinnamon (if using).
Step 3: In a medium bowl (or a 2-cup Pyrex measuring cup like I did, see below), whisk together the milk, ¾ cup brown sugar, egg, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract until it's mostly mixed together. Make sure to really stir it to get all the brown sugar unstuck from the bottom.
Step 4: Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk together until almost fully combined.
Step 5: Add 1.5 cups mulberries and gently fold in until just well combined, but do not overmilk. You can also whisk them in, which might break the mulberries and release their juices—there is no wrong way to do this!
Step 6: Transfer the muffin batter to the prepared muffin tin lined with muffin liners. Use a spatula to wipe the bowl clean and use all the batter! Top each muffin with a generous sprinkle of brown sugar and a few mulberries.
Step 7: Bake in a preheated oven at 350F for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out almost clean. Allow to cool for a few minutes, and enjoy!
Can I use dried mulberries?
I would not recommend using dried mulberries because (1) they're just not all that tasty compared to fresh mulberries, and (2) they don't have bursts of juicy sweetness. If you don't have mulberries on hand and want to use something dried, I recommend sticking to dried cherries or dried cranberries.
Related recipe: Banana Chia Seed Muffins
Can I use frozen mulberries?
Yes, you can use frozen mulberries instead of fresh ones! Frozen mulberries will get a little mushy as they thaw, but that's totally OK for muffins. That just means that the mulberry juices will color the muffins a rich purple-red color and flavor the muffins more.
Related recipe: Cranberry Date Muffins
What else can I substitute or add to the mulberries?
If you don't have fresh mulberries, or don't have enough fresh mulberries, you can add fresh or frozen blueberries or blackberries to make up the 1-1.5 cups of fruit needed for these muffins.
Related recipe: Coffee Cake Muffins with Cinnamon Crumb Topping
Storing muffins with brown sugar topping
The brown sugar topping on these mulberry muffins is so delightfully crunchy! The best way to keep it crunchy is to store the muffins in a non-humid house on the countertop, otherwise the brown sugar dissolves a little due to humidity. You can always pop the muffins into the oven for a few minutes to reheat and to crisp up the topping.
Related recipe: Blueberry Wheat Germ Muffins
Can mulberry muffins be frozen?
Yes, these mulberry muffins can be frozen and thawed or warmed up later for a quick snack. To freeze, allow the muffins to cool completely first and then freeze individually. Once frozen, transfer them to a freezer-safe bag or container.
To thaw mulberry muffins, move the muffins to the fridge 24 hours before you plan on eating them. I recommend reheating in an oven at 350F to get the crispy brown sugar topping back, since it dissolves a little during the freezing and refrigeration steps.
I hope you get a chance to try these mulberry muffins!
If you enjoyed this recipe, let me know with a comment and a star rating below. And don't forget to share it on Facebook and save it on Pinterest for later!
Mulberry Muffins with Brown Sugar Topping
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour - (or substitute 1 cup whole wheat flour)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- Optional: ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 cup milk - (any kind - plant milk or cow's milk)
- ¾ cup brown sugar - tightly packed + a few extra teaspoons for topping muffins (the sugar can be cut down to ½ cup for a not sweet muffin)
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract - (or substitute ½ teaspoon vanilla bean powder)
- 1.5 cups fresh mulberries - plus 24-36 extra for topping muffins, all stems removed
Special equipment
- Muffin pan standard 12-muffin tin (or silicone muffin cups)
- Mixing bowls, measuring cups, measuring spoons (the usual baking equipment)
- Spatula
- Kitchen shears to remove the mulberry stems
Instructions
- Before getting started remove the stems from all the mulberries. This is easiest to do with kitchen shears or clean scissors.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a muffin tin with muffin papers. Tip: to prevent the bottoms of your muffin papers getting greasy while baking, pour in a few pieces of uncooked rice on the bottom of the muffin tin, then place the muffin paper on top.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and ground cinnamon (if using).
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk, ¾ cup brown sugar, egg, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract until it's mixed together and the brown sugar isn't all settled at the bottom.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk together until almost fully combined.
- Add 1.5 cups mulberries and gently fold in until just well combined, but do not overmilk. You can also whisk them in, which might break the mulberries and release their juices.
- Transfer the muffin batter to the prepared muffin tin lined with muffin liners. Top each muffin with a generous sprinkle of brown sugar and a few mulberries.
- Bake in a preheated oven at 350F for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out almost clean. Allow to cool for a few minutes, and enjoy!
Notes
- Do not use dry mulberries. If you don't have enough fresh or frozen mulberries, you can add blueberries, raspberries, or blackberries.
- If using frozen mulberries, make sure all the stems were removed before freezing.
- Using ½ cup sugar yields a very lightly sweet muffin. ¾ cup is not too sweet either.
- Substitute 1 cup whole wheat or white whole wheat flour for a healthier muffin recipe.
- Store these muffins in a non-humid location at room temperature so the crispy brown sugar topping doesn't dissolve.
- These muffins can be frozen. Thaw in the fridge for 24 hours, or reheat from frozen in the oven to warm up and get the crispy brown topping back.
Nutrition
The nutritional information displayed is an estimate and not to be used as dietary or nutritional advice. Consult a nutritionist or dietician for nutritional info based on the exact ingredients you use.
Amanda
Thursday 7th of July 2022
These mulberry muffins are fantastic! We just bought a home with a mulberry tree on the property, and this recipe will be used many times over. Perfect level of sweetness. I added a little cinnamon to the brown sugar topping which was nice as well.
Just wanted to share a tip about removing mulberry stems. If you freeze them, they break off really easily and quickly! You can shake them in the container you froze them in, or if you freeze them in a bag you can roll them around between your hands and they break right off (I prefer the bag method). Either way, most should fall to the bottom of the container/bag!
Kate
Sunday 10th of July 2022
Thanks for the tip!! And how lucky to have your own mulberry tree and not have to go searching for them!