Blueberry season is almost upon us! Now of course we could go the normal route and simply eat the berries straight off the bush — trust me, there will be plenty of that, especially if my children are involved in the picking process — but personally, I love cooking and baking with blueberries. I fully intend to create some shortcake magic with roasted blueberries, and perhaps some homemade blueberry ice cream with bits of pie dough tossed in (can you imagine?!), but to get the party started, blueberry streusel coffee cake.
Coffee cake. When I hear those two words, I immediately think cake for breakfast. Add ‘blueberry’ to the forefront and suddenly the dish is healthy and providing a necessary serving of fruit! But the real reason I adore this blueberry coffee cake? My family loves it.
After taking his first bite, my oldest proclaimed, “Mommy, this is the best dessert you’ve ever made.” But to be fair, he tells me that daily.
I would like to publicly apologize to my children’s future partners as they have grown accustomed to seeing new desserts appear daily, simply assuming this is a normal part of childhood. Wouldn’t it be nice if it were?
What’s in this blueberry streusel coffee cake?
For the blueberry jam layer running through this blueberry streusel cake, you’ll need fresh blueberries, blueberry jam (store-bought works!), cornstarch, and vanilla extract.
And for the homemade coffee cake, you’ll need a blend of all-purpose and whole wheat pastry flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and baking soda, butter, Greek yogurt, an egg, more vanilla extract, and Turbinado sugar. I don’t know if it’s wonderful or terrible that I almost always have the ingredients for this blueberry streusel coffee cake on hand. If I had more self-restraint, it’d be great!
How to make blueberry streusel coffee cake
You’ll first need to blend all of the blueberry puree ingredients in a blender until smooth. Set it aside until you’re ready to assemble the blueberry coffee cake.
Next, make the coffee cake topping. All you have to do is mix together the flours, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda, and then cut the cold butter in with your fingers or a pastry cutter. Set aside some of the mixture to use as the crumble topping, and then stir the Greek yogurt, egg, and vanilla into the flour mixture that’s left over.
Pour about half the blueberry streusel cake batter into a prepared baking dish and then (carefully!) spread the blueberry puree over top. Spoon the rest of the cake batter over the blueberry layer, and then sprinkle the coffee cake topping over that. Bake that gorgeous homemade coffee cake until the edges are golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Can I make this with frozen blueberries?
Yes, you can substitute frozen blueberries for fresh blueberries. Do NOT thaw the frozen berries, simply pat dry with a paper towel before adding to the puree mixture.
Can I freeze coffee cake?
Yes, you can freeze this blueberry streusel coffee cake. Simply wrap it in two to three layers of plastic wrap and then cover with a layer of aluminum foil. When you’re ready to eat the frozen coffee cake, place it on your counter to thaw.
Tips for making blueberry coffee cake
Make sure to stir together the vanilla extract and cornstarch before adding it to the blueberry puree mixture. If you skip this step, you may wind up with clumps of cornstarch in the blueberry puree, which doesn’t look or taste good.
Note that you can use either Greek yogurt or sour cream in this blueberry streusel coffee cake recipe. Whichever you use, make sure to buy the full-fat kind. The fat adds moisture and flavor to this homemade coffee cake — trust me, you don’t want to use the non-fat stuff in your blueberry coffee cake!
Lastly, make sure to buy whole wheat pastry flour and NOT regular whole wheat flour. Using regular whole wheat flour would result in a denser coffee cake. Opt for whole wheat pastry flour for a lighter blueberry coffee cake.
If you make my blueberry streusel coffee cake, please let me know by leaving a review below!
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For additional easy cake recipes, check out the following:
- Classic Vanilla Layer Cake with Mascarpone Buttercream
- Tres Leches Cake (with Chocolate!)
- Almond Cake with Lemon Curd and Fresh Berries
- Blueberry Lemon Bundt Cake
- Flourless Chocolate Cake
Blueberry Streusel Coffee Cake
Ingredients
For the jam layer
- 8 oz fresh blueberries
- 3 Tbsp blueberry jam
- 2 tsp cornstarch
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
For the cake
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
- ¾ cup sugar
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 12 Tbsp 1 ½ sticks unsalted butter, (cold, cut into ½” cubes)
- 1 cup sour cream or whole fat Greek yogurt
- 1 large egg (room temperature)
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
- 2 tsp turbinado sugar
Instructions
To make blueberry purée
- Combine 8 oz blueberries and 3 Tbsp blueberry jam in a blender.
- In a small bowl, mix together 2 tsp corn starch and 2 tsp vanilla extract until paste forms. Add to blender, then purée until smooth. Set aside.
To make cake
- Preheat oven to 375 F then line an 8” cake pan with parchment paper and coat with baking spray.
- In a large bowl, whisk together 1 cup each of all-purpose and whole wheat pastry flour, ¾ cup sugar, ½ tsp 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.
- In the same bowl as the flour mixture, add in 1 cup sour cream or Greek yogurt, 1 egg, and 1 Tbsp vanilla extract. Mix using a spatula until very well mixed.
- Pour slightly more than half of the cake batter into 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.
- 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.
- Add 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.
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