• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Biting at the Bits logo
  • HOME
  • ABOUT
  • RECIPE INDEX
  • CONTACT
  • Nav Social Menu

    • YouTube
menu icon
go to homepage
  • ABOUT
  • RECIPE INDEX
  • CONTACT
  • SPRING
  • Find us on Social!

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • ABOUT
    • RECIPE INDEX
    • CONTACT
    • SPRING
  • Find us on Social!

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
  • ×
    • Collection of 25 homemade pizza varieties including vegetarian options, meat-vegetable combinations, hawaiian, prosciutto-arugula, marinara, margherita, mushroom, various cheese pizzas, olive, breakfast pizza, capricciosa, zucchini and ham, pepperoni, quattro formaggi, BBQ chicken pizza, and more on different kinds of homemade pizza dough including neapolitan, whole wheat, bread flour, 00 flour, St. Louis Style, pizza fritta, and pinsa Romana.
      Best Pizza Toppings & Pizza Dough Ultimate Guide w/Real Photos
    • A serving platter with light green colored Mexican cilantro rice.
      Restaurant-Style Cilantro Lime Rice (Better Than Chipotle w/Video)
    • The best shrimp burger recipe served up in red burger baskets on a vintage carhop tray - crispy shrimp burgers on two potato buns with burger toppings including spicy wasabi mayo, shredded cabbage, pickles, cilantro and shallots with twice-fried french fries for a real classic drive in burger experience.
      Crispy Shrimp Burger Recipe (Homemade Teochew Shrimp Patties + Video)
    • Homemade Asian sesame dressing in a small Weck Canning jar with toasted sesame seeds and fresh chives floating on top, showcasing its rich amber color and smooth texture.
      Asian Sesame Dressing (Easy 5-Minute Homemade Recipe + Video)
    • Creamy blue crab risotto served in a white pasta bowl with whole cooked blue crab garnish, topped with fresh chives and a single fresh red chili pepper.
      Easy Crab Risotto Recipe (Risotto al Granchio Blu Classico + Video)
    • Homemade Mexican dinner plate featuring cheese enchiladas, creamy refried pinto beans topped with melted cheese and authentic Mexican cilantro rice - better than restaurant enchilada plate.
      Easy Authentic Refried Beans Recipe (From Scratch or Canned w/Video)
    • Traditional homemade lasagna bolognese with eight layers, showcasing rich meat sauce and handmade spinach pasta sheets in classic Italian culinary style.
      Authentic Lasagna Bolognese (Lasagne alla Bolognese +Video)
    • A tray holding a microplane with blood orange zest filling it up sitting in front of fresh blood oranges, empty blood orange halves, freshly squeezed blood orange juice, and a jar of homemade orange sugar.
      Easy Orange Sugar Recipe (Using Sicilian Blood Oranges)
    • A casserole dish filled with cheese enchiladas covered in sauce, melted cheddar cheese, and minced white onions.
      Cheese Enchiladas with Red Enchilada Sauce Recipe (Authentic Tex-Mex + Video)
    • An All-Clad sauté pan filled with homemade red enchilada sauce with a whisk resting in the pan.
      Red Enchilada Sauce Recipe (Authentic Tex-Mex w/Video)
    • My hand holding a widemouth Mason canning jar filled with bright red glistening homeamde cherry pie filling.
      Ultimate Cherry Pie Filling Recipe (10-Minutes, Homemade)
    • Top down view of a widemouth Ball jar filled with creamy homemade almond pulp hummus next to a prep bowl of raw almonds.
      10-Minute Creamy Almond Pulp Hummus (Zero Waste Hack)
    Home » Recipes » Recipes

    Easy Wild Berry Muffins w/Streusel

    Published: Feb 19, 2021 · Modified: Aug 6, 2024 by Kelly · This post may contain affiliate links · 2 Comments

    Jump to Recipe

    These very purple very berry muffins not only look pretty, but they taste amazing. Super tender crumb, with crunchy-sugary tops, eat them warm, room temperature, or cold -- it makes no difference. And these berry-filled sweet treats only seem to get better with time. Unlike a lot of baked goods, we found these muffins even tastier the next morning. Move over Starbucks, because these muffins are at least as good (if not better) plus you can use frozen or fresh berries, make a small batch, or a large batch to freeze, and there's no more waiting in line at the drive-thru or inside in order to get our hands on our favorite muffin. 

    closeup of muffins in tin with olive tree blurred in the background

    inside of half of muffin held by a finger and thumb to show how moist and colorful they are

    What is Fruitti di Bosco?

    In Italy, "Frutti di Bosco"  (or fruit of the woods) is a category of wild berries foraged from wild woodland or forest areas.  Essentially, Frutti di Bosco can be various combinations of these berries, but the most typical combination includes wild blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, red currants, and/or mulberries. Think of this as the berries a wild bear would be eating. These fruits are intensely flavored and if you're not in Italy you may be able to find them at your local Italian specialty stores where you live. Otherwise, just make your own berry mix using your favorite combination of frozen berries from the grocery store.  Below you can see three bags of frozen Frutti di Bosco each with their corresponding and slightly different ratio of berries.

    bag of organic frutti di bosco frozen fruit next to a bowl of mixed dry muffin ingredients
    bag of organic frutti di bosco frozen fruit next to a bowl of mixed dry muffin ingredients
    a pile of frozen frutti di bosco with raspberries, blueberries, blackberries and red currants

    Better than Starbuck's Very Berry Muffins at Home

    These moist muffins are light, airy, and full of wildberry flavor.  Each bite is a little different because of the tartness and sweetness of the various fruits in the "fruitti di bosco" mix. It's worth mentioning again, that these muffins also get better with age. In fact, to us, they're even better the next morning. Feel free to use any combination of frozen fruit in this recipe. 

    Can You Freeze Very Berry Muffins?

    Yes, you can freeze muffins. In fact, they freeze incredibly well and can last up to 3 months!. This means, freezing muffins allows you to save time and energy when you need it most -- like when prepping your kiddo's lunchbox or after-school snack, or when you're hastily trying to have breakfast, dress the kids, and blowdry your hair all at the same time so you're not late for that important meeting. But they're just as good when you need "a little something" to curb a major sweet tooth craving. Having frozen homemade muffins can be a delicious little lifesaver. Follow these easy steps and you won't be able to tell if they were baked today or weeks ago.

    1. Allow muffins to cool completely to room temperature. Individually wrap the muffins and place them into an airtight freezer-safe bag or container and freeze. Alternatively, if you're really busy, just pop them unwrapped into a freezer bag and freeze. Although they're more likely to have ice crystals form on them if they're unwrapped, it's not going to hurt you. 
    2. Defrost muffins in the fridge overnight or on the countertop for a little while (or zap it in the microwave for 30 seconds or so). 
    closeup of the blue, purple and red tops of the very berry muffins

    Very Berry Muffin Ingredients (small batch -- can easily be doubled or tripled)

    MUFFIN BASE

    • 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour (200g)
    • ¾ cup white sugar (165g)
    • 2 teaspoons baking powder (8g)
    • ½ teaspoon kosher salt (1g)
    • ⅓ cup vegetable oil (65g)
    • 1 large egg, room temperature (50g)
    • up to ⅓ cup whole milk, room temperature (85-107g)
    • 1 cup fresh or frozen "frutti di bosco" (or favorite mix of frozen berries) (100g)
    • zest of one small lemon (less than 1g)

    MUFFIN TOPPING

    • 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon white sugar (20g)
    • 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon white sugar brown sugar (20g)
    • 1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour (17g)
    • ½ teaspoon cinnamon (1g)
    • 2 tablespoons cold butter, diced (30g)

    How to Make Very Berry Fruitti di Bosco Muffins 

    When making berry muffins or cakes it's typically desirable to have fruit distributed from top to bottom within the crumb.  This even distribution of fruit is achieved by first tossing the berries in a bit of flour before adding them to the batter. Having the goal of making this recipe as easy as possible for parents (or anyone who doesn't have a lot of time), but also getting a good distribution of fruit, I simply toss the berries straight into the measured and whisked dry ingredients (the muffin base), then add the wet ingredients and stir.  This alleviates the need to dirty up another bowl or waste flour, plus it results in a gorgeous purple hue.

    1. Preheat the oven. Heat the oven to 400°F/200°C and line a muffin tin with paper or foil cups (or grease the muffin tins).
    2. Make the crackle topping mix all of the topping ingredients together with a fork (or your hands) until crumbly and set aside.
    3. Make the muffin base. Mix the dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl (flour, sugar, salt, baking powder) and whisk to combine. Set aside.
    4. Mix the wet ingredients. In a liquid measuring cup, pour in the vegetable oil.  Add in the egg next and then pour in enough milk to measure one full cup of liquid ingredients (all of these liquid ingredients combined will be approximately 220g in total weight). Add the lemon zest and quickly whisk everything with a fork until well combined.
    5. Coat the frozen berries in flour. Gently toss the frozen berries into the flour mixture, coating them well.
    6. Mix the dry ingredients + the wet ingredients. Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix everything together with a fork, or spatula just until combined.  Be sure not to over-mix or you'll activate the gluten and end up with tough muffins (it's ok to be a tough muffin, but no one wants to eat one).
    7. Fill the muffin liners. Using a scoop or spoon, fill 6 muffin tins equally ⅔ full.  You'll have just enough batter left over to either make 6 mini muffins, or you can fill a 7th muffin tin, or you can just overfill the 6 muffin tins like I did (it won't be pretty, but they taste just as good.)
    8. Add the crackle topping + bake. Sprinkle the crackle topping over the muffins evenly and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a cake tester or toothpick inserted comes out clean. Place muffins onto a cooling rack and let them cool for 15-20 minutes before removing them from the pan and allowing them to further cool to room temperature.  Enjoy with your favorite tea or coffee.
    filled muffin tins
    Purple blueberry muffin batter in foil cupcake liners in a muffin tin covered with crunchy sugar crumb topping just before baking.
    filling muffin tins with a measuring scoop

    What's the Best Way to Fill Muffin Cups + Muffin Liners?

    I like to use a measuring scoop to add muffin batter to muffin tins and liners because it portions the batter which makes a more consistent size in baked muffins and it creates less mess than using a spoon or pouring batter from a measuring cup. A small ladle works well for some people if you don't have a scoop. But use what you have on hand because they'll taste just as great no matter what they look like. With this muffin recipe, I've even over-filled the lined tins and never had a problem with getting perfectly tasty muffins. They may not look as pretty, but they'll taste just as great. 

    closeup of a top down view of vanilla bean cheesecake in rose gold pink foil muffin wrappers with a small Weck Jar filled with easy homemade berry sauce in the middle in colorful contrast to the mini white cheesecakes
    stack of beautifully fluffy golden pancakes with a fat pat of butter melting in the middle of a homemade berry sauce dripping on 3 sides and maple syrup oozing off the pile of pancakes creating a pool around the pancakes
    Closeup of a strawberry scone that's been split in half and filled with clotted cream and topped with homemade strawberry jam and the plate sprinkled with freeze-dried strawberry powder with strawberry coulis dots off to the side.
    A perfect spoonful of vanilla bean white chocolate cheesecake that's been brùléed and drizzled with strawberry coulis.
    a beautiful slice of cheesecake with the italian rooftops in the distance and deep red berry sauce streaming off of one side
    a sliced mini vanilla bean cheesecake cut open and one half lying face up so you can see the insides (it's the shape of a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup) and drizzled with a Deep berry red Fruitti di Bosco Sauce with a small Weck Brand jar filled with berry sauce in the background all lying on a round white marble board

    A Few More Tasty Fruitti di Bosco (frozen fruit) Recipes

    Here are a few more tasty recipes using frozen fruit that we think you'll love.

    • 10-Minute Homemade Berry (Licious) Sauce
    • Light and Fluffy Pancakes for Two (or a Crowd)
    • Strawberry Shortcake Scones w/Jam + Clotted Cream
    • White Chocolate Creme Brûlée Cheesecake w/Biscoff Cookie Crust
    • White Chocolate Caramel Cheesecake w/Oreo CookieCrust
    • Easy Classic Cheesecake w/Biscoff Cookie Crust (+Mini’s)

     

    Very Berry Frutti di Bosco Muffins w/Crackle Top step-by-step recipe photos

     

    filling muffin tins with a measuring scoop

     

    Very Berry Muffins tips + tricks +FAQ's

    • What's the difference between muffins and cupcakes?  Cupcakes are mini cakes and muffins are actually mini quick bread.  Typically cakes are eaten at room temperature or even cold, but muffins can be eaten warm or cold or at room temperature.  Also, most muffins have that quintessential "muffin top" whereas a cupcake will usually just have a nice gently domed top.  Also, cupcakes (being mini cakes) typically call for creaming the butter and sugar together as a step in the mixing process. Whereas muffin ingredients are typically gently mixed together or folded together before baking without the need for creaming.  Lastly, cupcakes are generally frosted and muffins are not.
    • Are muffins easier to make than cupcakes? Cupcakes are more time-consuming to make (in my opinion), than muffins because you're essentially making cake batter which is usually a bit more intensive and follows a stricter order of steps that must be followed to achieve a light tender crumb.
    • What's the most popular muffin to make? Blueberry muffins, banana-nut muffins, zucchini muffins, bran muffins, and pumpkin muffins generally round out the top universal favorites.
    • Where do muffins come from or originate from? An emigrant from the UK to America named Samuel Thomas supposedly brought his mother's recipe over from England and started selling them at his bakery in NYC in 1880.
    Print

    📖 Recipe

    clock clock iconcutlery cutlery iconflag flag iconfolder folder iconinstagram instagram iconpinterest pinterest iconfacebook facebook iconprint print iconsquares squares iconheart heart iconheart solid heart solid icon
    Purple blueberry muffin batter in foil cupcake liners in a muffin tin covered with crunchy sugar crumb topping just before baking.

    Very Berry Frutti di Bosco Muffins (w/Crackle Top)


    5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

    No reviews

    • Author: Kelly
    • Total Time: 35 minutes
    • Yield: 6 Regular Muffings + 6 Mini Muffins (or 7 regular muffins) 1x
    • Diet: Vegetarian
    Print Recipe

    Description

    Move over Starbuck's, because these very purple berry muffins not only look pretty, but they taste amazing. Eat them warm, room temperature, or cold -- it makes no difference. And these berry-filled sweet and crunchy muffins only seem to get better with time. Unlike a lot of baked goods, we found the muffins even tastier the next morning making them perfect for your daily commute.


    Ingredients

    Scale

    MUFFIN BASE

    • 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour (200g)
    • ¾ cup white sugar (165g)
    • 2 teaspoons baking powder (8g)
    • ½ teaspoon kosher salt (1g)
    • ⅓ cup vegetable oil (65g)
    • 1 large egg, room temperature (50g)
    • up to ⅓ cup whole milk, room temperature (85-107g)
    • 1 cup fresh or frozen "frutti di bosco" (a mix of raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, and red currants) (100g)
    • zest of one small lemon (less than 1g)

    MUFFIN TOPPING

    • 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon white sugar (20g)
    • 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon white sugar brown sugar (20g)
    • 1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour (17g)
    • ½ teaspoon cinnamon (1g)
    • 2 tablespoons cold butter, diced (30g)


    Instructions

    1. Preheat the oven. Heat the oven to 400°F/200°C and line a muffin tin with paper or foil cups (or grease the muffin tins).
    2. Make the crackle topping mix all of the topping ingredients together with a fork (or your hands) until crumbly and set aside.
    3. Make the muffin base. Mix the dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl (flour, sugar, salt, baking powder) and whisk to combine. Set aside.
    4. Mix the wet ingredients. In a liquid measuring cup, pour in the vegetable oil.  Add in the egg next and then pour in enough milk to measure one full cup of liquid ingredients (all of these liquid ingredients combined will be approximately 220g in total weight). Add the lemon zest and quickly whisk everything with a fork until well combined.
    5. Coat the frozen berries in flour. Gently toss the frozen berries into the flour mixture, coating them well.
    6. Mix the dry ingredients + the wet ingredients. Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix everything together with a fork, or spatula just until combined.  Be sure not to over-mix or you'll activate the gluten and end up with tough muffins (it's ok to be a tough muffin, but no one wants to eat one).
    7. Fill the muffin liners. Using a scoop or spoon, fill 6 muffin tins equally ⅔ full.  You'll have just enough batter left over to either make 6 mini muffins, or you can fill a 7th muffin tin, or you can just overfill the 6 muffin tins like I did (it won't be pretty, but they taste just as good.)
    8. Add the crackle topping + bake. Sprinkle the crackle topping over the muffins evenly and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a cake tester or toothpick inserted comes out clean. Place muffins onto a cooling rack and let them cool for 15-20 minutes before removing them from the pan and allowing them to further cool to room temperature.  Enjoy with your favorite tea or coffee.
    • Prep Time: 15 minutes
    • Cook Time: 20 minutes
    • Category: Cakes + Tortes
    • Method: Oven Bake
    • Cuisine: American

    Nutrition

    • Serving Size: 1 Muffin

    Did you make this recipe?

    Tag @BITINGATTHEBITS on Instagram and hashtag it #BITINGATTHEBITS 

    Recipe Card powered byTasty Recipes

     

    More Recipes

    • Top down view of a glass jar full of homemade pumpkin spiced pumpkin seed milk resting on an orange and white pot holder with a green and yellow pumpkin half in view.
      Easy Pumpkin Spice Pumpkin Seed Milk (Dairy-Free Fall Favorite)
    • A glass pitcher with creamy homemade almond milk and a small peach colored bowl filled with raw almonds in front of it.
      Easy Homemade Almond Milk (Zero Waste Almond Milk Recipe)
    • A slice of prosciutto cotto and mozzarella lasagna with cheese and tomato sauce oozing out.
      Italian Ham & Mozzarella Lasagna (Lasagna di Prosciutto Cotto e Mozzarella)
    • A piping hot bowl of cicerchie and spicy ventricina soup garnished with grated parmesan cheese and chopped chives with 2 pieces of toasted Italian bread tucked into the bowl.
      Italian Cicerchie Bean & Ventricina Soup (Zuppa di Fagioli Cicerchie)

    Reader Interactions

    Made the Recipe? Tell Us What You Think! Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe rating 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

    Primary Sidebar

    A photo of Kelly doing a pasta making demonstration at The Broadway Panhandler in NYC, NY.

    Hi, I'm Kelly! A private chef helping busy families cook and enjoy tastier, healthier meals at home. Born and raised in Arkansas, I've lived and worked in NYC, Sichuan China, and now Northeast Italy. Each of these places impacts the diverse way we cook, live, and celebrate life. You'll find a bit of everything here whether you're new to cooking, or you've made it all. If you love to eat, you're in the right place!

    A BIT MORE →

    Healthy Comfort Food Recipes

    • A casserole dish filled with cheese enchiladas covered in sauce, melted cheddar cheese, and minced white onions.
      Cheese Enchiladas with Red Enchilada Sauce Recipe (Authentic Tex-Mex + Video)

    • A tray filled with rows of homemade raw tortellini in the traditional style of Bologna.
      Authentic Homemade Italian Tortellini (Tortellini in Brodo)

    • An All-Clad sauté pan filled with homemade red enchilada sauce with a whisk resting in the pan.
      Red Enchilada Sauce Recipe (Authentic Tex-Mex w/Video)

    • Traditional homemade lasagna bolognese with eight layers, showcasing rich meat sauce and handmade spinach pasta sheets in classic Italian culinary style.
      Authentic Lasagna Bolognese (Lasagne alla Bolognese +Video)

    Pizza Night Recipes

    • Just sliced super crispy thin-crust sausage and onion pizza.
      Best Thin-Crust Pizza Dough Recipe (Using Bread Flour)

    • Perfect thick-crust pizza dough with pizza toppings (including homemade pizza sauce, shredded mozzarella, and mini buffalo mozzarella balls.
      Best Thick-Crust Pizza Dough Recipe (Using 00 Flour)

    • Super crispy sliced whole wheat Supreme pizza with green olives, spicy ventricina salami, salsiccia, prosciutto cotto, mushrooms, red bell peppers, and onions.
      Best Whole Wheat Pizza Dough Recipe (For Thin Crust Pizza)

    • Homemade 00-thin crust pizza with pioppini mushrooms, pepperoni, shallots, mozzarella, buffalo mozzarella, and large green and black olives.
      Best Thin-Crust 00 Flour Pizza Dough Recipe (+Video)

    • HOME
    • ABOUT
    • Contact

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • PRIVACY & COOKIE POLICY
    • ALL RECIPES

    Newsletter

    • Coming Soon!

    Contact

    • CONTACT

    As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

    COPYRIGHT© 2025 BITINGATTHEBITS.COM ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. NO IMAGES OR CONTENT CONTAINED ON THIS SITE MAY BE REPRODUCED IN WHOLE OR IN PART IN ANY MANNER WITHOUT THE EXPRESS WRITTEN PERMISSION OF THE COPYRIGHT OWNER.