Blueberry Coffee Cake

Take advantage of blueberry season with this delicious blueberry coffee cake! It's fluffy, moist, and chock full of fresh blueberries bursting with flavor.

Ingredients

This blueberry coffee cake recipe is made up of two components: the cake and the crumb topping. Both use simple, everyday ingredients that you likely already have in your kitchen.

• Flour. Use all-purpose flour, also known as plain flour. You can also substitute gluten-free 1-to-1 flour.
• Cornstarch. To add an airy and fluffy texture to your blueberry sour cream cake. If you can't have cornstarch, I suggest omitting it, and swapping the all-purpose flour for cake flour, increasing the amount to 1⅔ cups.
• Salt. Use fine sea salt.
• Baking Soda & Baking Powder. The combination of the two leavening agents creates a fluffy cake layer.
• Granulated Sugar & Brown Sugar. The cake layer uses granulated sugar, and the crumb topping uses brown sugar.
• Lemon Zest. Adds a bright lemon note to the cake that pairs so well with the blueberries!
• Butter. I like to use the reverse creaming method (working softened butter directly into the dry ingredients) whenever I make cakes because it makes them so tender.
• Eggs. Use two large eggs for this recipe.
• Milk. I recommend using whole milk, but you can also use almond milk or your choice of non-dairy milk.
• Sour cream. An acidic ingredient that works with the baking soda to add moistness and fluffiness to the cake. You can also use unsweetened Greek yogurt, or mayonnaise if you're dairy-free! Don't worry, you won't taste the mayo, I promise.
• Vanilla. Pure vanilla extract or vanilla paste will add the best flavor to your cake.
• Cinnamon. Adds the warm aroma of classic coffee cake to the crumb topping.
• Blueberries. Rinse and pat dry before using them in this recipe.

How to Make Blueberry Coffee Cake

Step 1: Prep the oven. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease and line an 8x8 inch metal square pan with parchment paper and set aside.

Step 2: Make the crumb topping. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cornstarch, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Add the cold butter and use your fingers or a fork to work it into the dry ingredients until large crumbs are formed.

Step 3: Prep. In a large bowl, add the granulated sugar and lemon zest. Work the zest into the sugar by pinching with your fingertips. In a separate bowl, add the blueberries and a tablespoon of the flour and toss it so all the berries are covered in flour.

Step 4: Mix the dry ingredients. To the lemon sugar, add the remaining flour, cornstarch, salt, baking soda, and baking powder, and whisk together. Set aside.

Step 5: Reverse creaming. Add the room-temperature butter into the dry ingredients and work it in with a whisk, a hand mixer, or a stand mixer, until the mixture looks like moist sand.

Step 6: Combine the wet ingredients. In a separate bowl, combine the eggs, sour cream, and vanilla extract. Use a whisk to mix them until a thick mixture forms. Pour it into the dry ingredients and start mixing. Slowly add the milk and continue to mix, just until you no longer see any pockets of dry flour.

Step 7: Assemble. Pour ⅔ of the cake batter into the prepared pan. Add the blueberries to the remaining cake batter and fold them in. Gently add this on top of the cake batter layer.

Step 8: Bake. Evenly add the crumb topping on top of the cake batter, and bake in the preheated oven for 60-65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let it cool completely before taking it out of the pan to cut and serve.

Tips for Blueberry Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Don't overwork the batter. Unless you're swapping out the all-purpose flour for gluten-free flour, be careful not to overmix the cake batter. Only mix until it's just combined and you don't see any dry bits of flour. Otherwise, you could risk a sunken or dense cake.

Coat the blueberries in flour. Blueberries are heavy and tend to sink to the bottom of cakes. Coating them in flour helps them to stay afloat.

Don't mix the blueberries in with the entire bowl of batter. In addition to coating them with flour, we can prevent the blueberries from sinking by mixing them with a little bit of batter and adding on top of the rest of the batter in the cake pan. By starting them off at the top of the pan, even if some sink, most won't.

How to Store Blueberry Coffee Cake

Storing: Keep any leftover cake squares in an airtight container. The blueberries hold a lot of moisture so I suggest storing them in the fridge instead of at room temperature, for up to 4 days.

Freezing: Wrap each cake square in a layer of plastic wrap followed by a layer of aluminum foil. Put them in a freezer bag and store them in the freezer for a couple of months.

Frequently Asked Questions

More Sweet Breakfast Recipes

• If you can't get enough blueberry recipes, make these easy blueberry muffins! Fluffy and moist muffins full of juicy blueberries are the best companion to your cup of coffee.
• Make these cranberry orange muffins instead if you want muffins that are spiced.
• Looking for a super easy breakfast? Try these muffin mix pancakes. All you need is a box of muffin mix, an egg, and milk!
• If you're more of a cereal person, this gluten free granola is super easy to make.
• Want a fruity, impressive, but easy recipe for brunch? Make this peach cobbler with canned peaches! Super easy thanks to the canned peaches, but so delicious.