Blueberry Coffee Cake is a staple breakfast treat that is delicious on its own or alongside a cup of coffee. It’s got a jammy layer of blueberries in the center and is topped with an easy cinnamon streusel that is irresistible.
Serve alongside other brunch dishes, like Smashed Eggs On Toast or Southern Fried Chicken and Waffles, for a sweet ending to any breakfast meal. Or you can add another coffee cake to the mix! This Snickerdoodle Coffee Cake is a holiday favorite!
If blueberries are in season where you live currently, we recommend using fresh summer blueberries! If not, you can absolutely use your favorite brand of frozen blueberries. Either way, you’re sure to get rave reviews with this one!
Ingredients For Coffee Cake
- Flour: We’re using a mix of all-purpose flour and whole wheat pastry flour. If you don’t have pastry flour, you can certainly use all AP flour instead.
- Granulated sugar: To sweeten the cake!
- Kosher salt, baking powder, and baking soda: To season the cake and also give it its rise.
- Unsalted butter and sour cream:
- Sour cream or whole fat Greek yogurt:
- Pure vanilla extract: For a sweet vanilla taste.
- Ground cinnamon: This adds flavor to the streusel.
- Turbinado sugar: To add texture to the cinnamon streusel topping!
For the jammy blueberry filling, you’ll need fresh blueberries, your favorite blueberry jam, a little cornstarch (used to thicken the purée), and pure vanilla extract.
How To Make Coffee Cake
First, make the blueberry purée. Combine all ingredients in a personal blender, which is the perfect size for this small job. It’s a blend of fresh (or frozen) blueberries, a few tablespoons of blueberry jam, a bit of cornstarch to thicken it, and a little vanilla extract for sweetness.
Next, make the cake batter. This is also the base for cinnamon streusel topping. Combine both flours in a bowl with sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Cut in cold cubed butter — either with your hands or with a pastry cutter — until you’re left with pea size pieces of butter.
Set aside some of the mixture to use as the crumble topping. To this, add a little cinnamon and turbinado sugar.
The larger bowl of the flour mixture will get whisked with the wet ingredients: sour cream, an egg, and vanilla extract.
Pour about half the blueberry coffee cake batter into a prepared baking dish, then spread the blueberry purée on top. Spoon the rest of the cake batter over the blueberry layer, and then sprinkle the streusel topping right on top. Bake that gorgeous homemade coffee cake until the edges are golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
FAQs
When a cake tester or toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, the coffee cake is fully cooked.
Yes, you can substitute frozen blueberries for fresh blueberries. Do not thaw the frozen berries, simply pat dry with a paper towel before using.
Yes, you can freeze our blueberry coffee cake. Allow it to cool completely, then wrap it in two to three layers of plastic wrap and cover with a layer of aluminum foil. When you’re ready to eat the frozen coffee cake, place it on your counter to thaw or in a fridge overnight.
This is best enjoyed the first day, but it will keep for up to 3 days wrapped tightly and stored at room temperature (though of course you can keep it in a fridge).
We haven’t tested this with gluten-free flour. If you give it a try, let us know how it comes out!
Expert Tips
- Dissolve the cornstarch. Stir together the vanilla extract and cornstarch before adding it to the blender to purée. Skipping this step may result in clumps of cornstarch in the blueberry puree, which doesn’t look or taste good.
- Use room temperature sour cream and eggs. This will yield the tender, light coffee cake!
- Don’t have sour cream? Use Greek yogurt instead! Either way, we recommend using full-fat (not non-fat), which adds both moisture and flavor to this homemade coffee cake recipe.
- If using whole wheat flour, look for pastry flour, not traditional. It’s a minor difference, but whole wheat flour will result in a denser coffee cake. Pastry flour is very finely ground and perfect for more delicate baked goods.
Variations
Want to use something other than blueberries? You can follow the same recipe with strawberries, raspberries, or blackberries!
Have a sweet tooth? Warm the coffee cake up (either in a microwave or in an oven preheated to 350F for a few minutes), then top with your favorite ice cream to serve a la mode!
If you make this Blueberry Coffee Cake recipe, please let us know by leaving a review and rating below!
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More breakfast recipes to try!
Coffee Kissed Blueberry Scones Lemon Ricotta Pancakes Lemon Blueberry Bundt Cake Easy Chocolate Chip Monkey Bread Muffins Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread
Blueberry Coffee Cake Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
For the jam layer
- 8 oz fresh blueberries
- 3 Tbsp blueberry jam
- 2 tsp cornstarch
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
For the cake
- 120 g (1 cup) all-purpose flour
- 120 g (1 cup) whole wheat pastry flour though all AP flour can be used, if needed
- 150 g (¾ cup) granulated sugar
- ½ tsp Kosher salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 12 Tbsp (1½ sticks) unsalted butter cold, cut into ½" cubes
- 240 g (1 cup) sour cream or whole fat Greek yogurt
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 tsp turbinado sugar
Instructions
- Preheat an oven to 375F, then line an 8” cake pan with parchment paper and coat with baking spray.
- Make the blueberry purée. Place 8 oz blueberries and 3 Tbsp blueberry jam in a blender. In a small bowl, mix together 2 tsp cornstarch and 2 tsp pure vanilla extract to form a slurry. Add to the blender, then purée until smooth. Set aside.
- Whisk dry ingredients, then add butter. In a large bowl, whisk together 120g all-purpose flour, 120g pastry flour, 150g sugar, ½ tsp Kosher salt, 1 tsp baking powder, and ½ tsp baking soda. Add 12 Tbsp cubed butter and break apart with your fingers or a pastry cutter until butter is the size of small peas. Remove and reserve ½ cup of flour mixture to crumble on top of cake.
- Add the wet ingredients. In the same bowl as the flour mixture, add in 240g sour cream, 1 large egg, and 1 Tbsp vanilla extract. Mix using a spatula until very well mixed.
- Assemble the cake. Pour slightly more than half of the cake batter into the prepared dish. Using slightly damp hands, gently push down the batter to form an even layer, pushing up slightly along the sides of the pan.
- Add the blueberry purée. Pour the blueberry purée mixture evenly on top, leaving a roughly 1” border around the edge untouched. Carefully dollop the remaining cake batter on top. Dampen your hands again slightly, then gently spread out the batter as best you can.
- Bake the cake. Add 2 tsp cinnamon and 2 tsp turbinado sugar to the reserved ½ cup flour mixture, then sprinkle evenly on top. Bake until golden brown on the edges and a cake tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Cool completely before serving.
Nutrition
Adapted slightly from Nigella Lawson’s strawberry streusel cake via NYTimes Food.
Photography by Alana of Your Home Made Healthy.
My husband said this is the most delicious thing I have ever made! I agreed. I didn’t have whole wheat pastry flour so I used just all purpose, it was still so light and fluffy. I also used a 9 inch spring form pan and reduced baking time by just about 5 min.
What a compliment!! Thanks so much, Siobhan (and husband!) — so glad you enjoyed! xo, Ari