A deliciously tender Blueberry Coffee Cake with hints of cinnamon, lemon and a crunchy oat crumble topping.
Happiness is continuing to desire what you already possess.
Friedrich Nietzsche
This delicious and moist blueberry coffee cake recipe balances healthfulness with indulgence. The irresistible taste lies in a combination of whole wheat pastry flour, sour cream, lemon zest, and an aromatic hint of cinnamon and cardamom. Succulent blueberries are speckled throughout the coffee cake. The streusel topping’s satisfying crunch, paired with the hint of spice and light sweetness, makes it difficult to stop at just one piece.
Ingredients
- Fresh blueberries: Blueberries are in season from April through October, making this a great time to bake this coffee cake! Choose organic if possible.
- Whole wheat pastry flour or all-purpose flour: Whole wheat pastry flour is lighter than regular whole wheat, giving the cake an earthy, nutty flavor with added nutrition. Feel free to sub AP white flour or half wheat and half white.
- Oats: Adds texture to the crunchy, crumbly streusel topping.
- Sugars: Brown sugar (or sub coconut sugar) for the topping and 1/2 – 3/4 cup regular sugar, depending on how sweet you wish the cake to be.
- Spices: Ground cinnamon, and cardamom.
- Dairy: Unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small cubes, milk (whole, low fat, or dairy free), and sour cream (or sub-Greek yogurt).
- Eggs: Buy local and organic if you can.
- Oil: We used avocado oil, but any neutral oil works to moisten the cake.
- Vanilla extract: Delicious flavor that also enhances the other flavors in the cake.
- Lemon: Zest of 1 lemon, plus lemon juice for a hint of zesty tartness.
How to Make Blueberry Coffee Cake
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9-inch springform pan with oil (and place parchment on the bottom if desired).
Step 1: Mix the streusel topping. In a bowl, stir brown sugar, flour, oats, cinnamon, and salt. Cut the butter in until a coarse crumble forms.
Step 2: Prepare cake batter. In a separate large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cardamom, cinnamon, and salt. Cut the cold butter in, using a pastry cutter, forks, or fingers (make sure hands are not too warm). Combine until the mixture resembles a coarse meal.
Step 3: Whisk wet ingredients. In a small bowl, whisk oil, milk, sour cream, eggs, vanilla, lemon zest, and juice.
Step 4: Combine wet and dry ingredients. Fold wet ingredients gently into the flour mixture. It will be thick.
Step 5: Add batter to pan. Spread 2/3 of the coffee cake batter into the prepared springform pan, sprinkling 1 cup of blueberries on top. Spread the remaining batter over the blueberry layer. Then top with the remaining blueberries.
Step 6: Add crumb topping. Pour streusel evenly over top.
Step 7: Bake. Bake 55-70 minutes, until set in the middle and baked to golden perfection. Use a toothpick to test for doneness.
Step 8: Cool. Cool on a wire rack for 20-30 minutes before slicing.
Expert Tips
- Use whole wheat pastry flour: Adds deliciously nutty flavor and increases the fiber content, giving this cake a healthy boost!
- Don’t over-mix the batter: Be careful not to over-work the batter here or it will be too dense.
- Be gentle with the blueberries: Rather than fold in we just layer the blueberries with the batter, avoiding blue streaks that can turn your batter grey and it keeps them from sinking to the bottom of the cake.
FAQs
The main difference is the topping! Coffee cake has a crumbly streusel topping, usually made with cinnamon and oats. Our blueberry coffee cake is not overly sweet making it a nice addition to breakfast.
We prefer to use fresh blueberries here, however, if frozen blueberries are all you have, or they are out of season, then frozen works too. Be sure to add frozen, don’t let them thaw. The cake may take another 10 minutes to bake.
Yes! Wrap the slices individually in plastic wrap and foil. Place in an airtight freezer bag and store for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature before serving.
You can try substituting any other type of berry in this cake. Blackberries, raspberries, or strawberries would make fun variations!
Storage & Reheating
Store leftover Blueberry Coffee Cake in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days. You can reheat the cake in a 350F oven for 8-10 minutes.
I hope this blueberry sour cream coffee cake brightens your week! Enjoy in the morning with a cup of coffee or serve as a dessert with fresh whipped cream!
xoxo Tonia
More Baked Treats You Might Like
Blueberry Coffee Cake
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: 10 servings 1x
- Category: Brunch, Dessert
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
A moist and healthy Blueberry Coffee Cake recipe with hints of cinnamon, lemon and a crunchy oat crumb topping.
Ingredients
Streusel Topping
- 1/2 cup brown sugar or coconut sugar
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup oats (see notes)
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons unsalted chilled butter, cut into small cubes
Cake
- 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour *see notes
- 1/2 –3/4 cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cardamom
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1/3 cup unsalted butter, chilled, cut into small cubes
- 2 tablespoons oil (we used avocado oil)
- 1/2 cup milk (whole, low-fat, or dairy free)
- 1/2 cup sour cream (or Greek yogurt)
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- zest of a lemon
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 cups fresh blueberries
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Prepare a 9-inch springform pan with oil (and parchment on the bottom if desired).
- Mix the Stresuel Topping: In a bowl add brown sugar, flour, oats, cinnamon, and salt. Cut the butter in until a coarse crumble forms. Set the bowl aside.
- Make the Cake batter: In a large bowl mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cardamom, cinnamon, and salt. Cut the cold butter into the dry ingredients with a pastry cutter, forks or fingers (make sure your hands are not too warm) combine until the mixture resembles a coarse meal.
- Whisk together oil, milk, sour cream, eggs, vanilla, lemon zest and juice.
- Fold the wet ingredients gently into the flour mixture. It will be thick.
- With a rubber spatula spread 2/3 of the mixture in the pan and sprinkle 1 cup of the berries evenly on top. Spread the remaining batter on the top (drop small scoops evenly around and spread the dough over the berries). Top with the remaining blueberries. Spread the streusel evenly over the top.
- Bake at 350F for 55-70 minutes, until set in the middle.
- Cool on a wire rack for 20-30 minutes before cutting.
Notes
Optional you can use chopped pecans or walnuts in place of the oats.
Store at room temperature in a sealed airtight container up to 4 days. Reheat in the oven at 350F for 8-10 minutes.
Whole wheat pastry flour (ww pastry flour is lighter than regular whole wheat) gives the cake an earthy nutty flavor that we love and adds nutrition. Feel free to use all purpose white flour or half wheat & half white.
Sugar- 1/2 cup makes this cake just lightly sweet complementing the streusel topping. Adding 3/4 cup of sugar does richen the overall flavor of the cake.
We prefer to use fresh blueberries but frozen works too. Be sure to add while still frozen, don’t let them thaw. The cake may take another 10 minutes to bake.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 364
- Sugar: 13.9 g
- Sodium: 190.8 mg
- Fat: 19.2 g
- Saturated Fat: 10 g
- Carbohydrates: 42.9 g
- Fiber: 4.4 g
- Protein: 7.3 g
- Cholesterol: 76 mg
Could you make the recipe vegan and gluten-free, please? I would love that as I cannot make/eat it in its current form.
Thanks.
Hi Lucia, It might be fun to play around with, you could substitute- flax eggs, vegan sour cream or yogurt, coconut milk, and a gluten free flour mix. 🙂
A nice recipe. Nice tender cake, with decent flavor which is not always the case with coffee cake. However, I am a little disappointed in the topping. I find the rolled oats to detract and neutralize the flavor and the texture. If I make it again, I’ll replace the oats with equal parts chopped pecans to liven up the crumble – which is always my favorite part. Otherwise it’s a nice coffee cake with things I always have on hand.
Thanks Christy, appreciate the review. I really like your idea of the nuts, I will make a note of that on the recipe.
Can I use gluten free flour?
We haven’t experimented with gf flour but I think it should work fine. Let us know if you give it a try!
This was absolutely wonderful! I made it last night. I used the half white flour and half whole wheat as the food store does not regularly stock whole wheat pastry flour so thanks for adding the alternative in the notes. Warmed it up this morning and added a swirl of creme fraiche on top that was lurking in the fridge. Thank you!
Creme fraiche sounds just right. Glad you enjoyed Michelle!
Ok. Thank you for your response . I will try the flax eggs.
Love to hear how it goes!
Such a lovely recipe. Can flax eggs be substituted in this recipe?
I think that would work Sujata, but have not tried it yet.