The best Blueberry Coffee Cake recipe! Moist, fluffy, and naturally gluten free, this scrumptious homemade cake is perfect with a cup of coffee or tea.
For a lighter version, try my healthy coffee cake with whole wheat flour.
Table of Contents
Say good morning with a slice of blueberry coffee cake that’s deliciously soft and tender with a sweet blueberry center, crisp streusel topping, and drizzled in a light citrus glaze.
I recently treated my family to this freshly baked blueberry cake, and it was gone in minutes! It’s the perfect sweet treat to enjoy for breakfast or as a healthy dessert with a scoop of vegan vanilla ice cream.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Uses lots of blueberries: Inspired by my blueberry breakfast cake, I am excited to share a new way to use up your fresh seasonal berries. Think classic coffee cake meets blueberry pie, yum!
- Super moist: Wholesome ingredients like coconut oil, maple syrup, and almond milk make this cake extra soft and moist.
- It’s gluten-free: We eliminate wheat flour by using a blend of almond flour and oat flour, so you can make blueberry crumb cake for a crowd, worry-free.
- Easy to make: A tasty, beautiful cake that comes together easily with no fancy mixer needed! It’s super easy to make, even for a novice baker.
Ingredients for Blueberry Coffee Cake
This blueberry coffee cake recipe is carefully curated with pantry-friendly ingredients, so you can enjoy a fun breakfast whenever the mood strikes.
- Eggs and milk: These ingredients act as a binder, provide structure, and add moisture. Any milk will work, I used almond milk.
- Maple syrup: Unrefined sugars like maple syrup add moisture and a sweet taste.
- Coconut oil: Melted coconut oil is a great substitute for butter and other oils, and gives your cake an upgraded texture. Any coconut oil will work, if you use a refined coconut oil you will not notice a coconut-y flavor.
- Baking extracts: Equal amounts of vanilla extract and almond extract adds the sweetness of vanilla with a hint of nutty flavor.
- Flour: Blending almond flour and oat flour yields a soft, cake-like structure. They’re both gluten free and packed with nutrients. Using almond flour also means you don’t need any butter for this healthy dessert recipe.
- Baking essentials: Baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Blueberries: I recommend fresh blueberries, if you have some. Frozen blueberries work also, but do not thaw.
- Brown sugar: A sprinkle of brown sugar makes the streusel topping sweet.
- For the glaze: The mixture of icing sugar and fresh lime juice holds just the right balance of sweet and tart. If you don’t have lime, just use lemon juice or water.
How to Make Blueberry Coffee Cake
This simple blueberry coffee cake comes together quickly in three parts: the cake, the streusel, and the glaze. The hardest part is letting it cool.
There is a full recipe card below.
Preheat your oven to 350 F and spray a springform pan with cooking spray. Set aside.
- Mix wet ingredients: Add eggs, milk, maple syrup, coconut oil, vanilla extract, and almond extract to a large bowl. Whisk and set aside.
- Mix dry ingredients: In another large bowl, whisk the almond flour, oat flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together.
- Combine: Add the flour mixture into the bowl with wet ingredients and use a spatula to stir until smooth.
- Assemble the cake: Pour the batter into the greased cake pan. Top with blueberries, keeping the majority in the center. Set aside.
- Make the streusel topping: In a medium bowl, use a fork to combine the softened coconut oil, oat flour, almond flour and brown sugar. Mash until crumbly, then sprinkle the crumb topping over the blueberries.
- Bake: Set the pan in the oven and bake for 45-50 minutes. Blueberry coffee cake is ready when the top is brown, the middle is barely jiggly, and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean without any batter. Wet blueberry marks on the toothpick are OK, you should be able to see some blue liquid in between the blueberries but not the gooey batter.
- Let the cake cool: Once you remove the cake, let it cool for 3 hours until it’s slightly cooler than room temperature.
- Make the glaze: Whisk icing sugar with lime juice in a small bowl. Drizzle the glaze on the top and sides of the cake, then let it sit for another 30 minutes, so the glaze solidifies. When ready to serve, use a sharp knife and slice into 10 pieces. Enjoy with a hot cup of coffee or tea.
Tips for Best Results
Here are my top tips for baking blueberry streusel coffee cake.
- Measure flour correctly: Too much flour will result in a dry cake. The best way to avoid this is with the scoop and level method. Use a spoon to fill the measuring cup, then level with the back edge of a knife.
- Spreading the blueberries: I like to dump most berries in the middle for that blueberry pie filling look and more empty edges. You can spread them evenly on top of the batter if you like.
- Glazing: First drizzle the glaze on top, then to make pretty, bakery-style glaze drippings on the side, drizzle the edge in a side-to-side motion all around and it will drip down.
- All ovens vary: My blueberry crumb cake was ready right around 45 minutes but remember all ovens are different, even brand new ones. Go by how the cake looks, and test with a toothpick in a couple different areas including the center.
- Cake is ready when: Remove your coffee cake from the oven when the top is golden brown and crumb topping looks wet. Insert a toothpick, if blueberries are liquidly but its brown then you’re OK to remove. However, if you see a lot of liquid between blueberries let it bake a bit more. When you shake the pan, the middle shouldn’t jiggle, except the topping a bit.
- If cake starts to brown too much: If you notice this, move it to middle shelf or cover with foil. Speaking from experience, almond flour can start burning a bit in some ovens.
- Let it cool: The blueberry filling will set and thicken as cake cools. It doesn’t have to be completely cold, but room temperature is best for glazing and slicing.
- Let glaze thicken: For better presentation and taste, let the glaze sit for about 30 minutes before slicing.
Variations
- Make lemon blueberry coffee cake: Swap lime juice with lemon juice, and add lemon zest to the batter.
- Omit almond extract: If you’re not a fan of the strong flavor of almond extract, you can use lemon juice or zest instead.
- Use any kind of berry: Substitute blueberries with strawberries, raspberries, or blackberries. I may even try peaches one day.
- Sour cream coffee cake: Cut the milk in half and replace the other half with sour cream for an extra rich and fluffy cake.
- Add spices: This is the perfect cozy treat to enjoy as we transition into Fall. Add cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, or cardamom to the batter or streusel for that signature warm flavor.
How to Store
Store: Cover the cake with a kitchen towel and store at room temperature on day 1. On day 2, transfer to an airtight container with the lid half ajar. Store in the refrigerator for day 3, and the freezer after that.
Freeze: Once the glaze has set, transfer the blueberry cake to an airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight or on the counter.
FAQs
Yes, but don’t thaw! Frozen blueberries may leak more, but if they are thawed first the batter will turn purple.
I have not tried other oil and in my experience what oil you use in baking matters. It also adds very nice flavor to the cake. You could try to use avocado oil or a light olive oil in the batter, and butter for the streusel but I haven’t tried it. Let me know if you try.
Honey has a very distinct taste, especially when mixed with almond flour. You could try, but I recommend sticking to maple syrup.
Yes. A square 8×8 baking dish or Bundt pan would work also.
No. Baking is a science and in my experience you have to follow the recipe exactly, most of the time. Wheat flour contains gluten which makes it rise and absorb liquid differently, and coconut flour would result in a dry crumbly cake.
Of course, adjust to your liking by omitting the streusel topping, omitting the glaze, or both.
Absolutely! Pour the batter in the cake pan and refrigerate for a few hours. Then warm up on the counter for 30 minutes, add blueberries, streusel, and bake.
More Blueberry Recipes
- Blueberry oatmeal bars
- Healthy blueberry muffins
- Healthy blueberry pancakes
- Lemon blueberry muffins
- Almond flour blueberry muffins
- Healthy lemon blueberry muffins
- Healthy lemon blueberry bread
More Cake Recipes to Try
Blueberry Coffee Cake
Equipment
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- 3 large eggs
- 1/2 cup milk I used almond milk
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1/3 cup coconut oil melted
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 1/2 cups almond flour
- 1 1/2 cups oat flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 cups blueberries fresh or frozen
- Cooking spray I use Misto
For the Crumb Topping:
- 1/4 cup coconut oil softened
- 1/2 cup oat flour
- 1/4 cup almond flour
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar or coconut sugar
For the Glaze:
- 1/2 cup icing sugar
- 1 1/2 tablespoons lime juice or lemon juice, or water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F and spray sides and bottom of springform pan with cooking spray well. Set aside.
- In large bowl, add eggs, milk, maple syrup, coconut oil, vanilla extract and almond extract. Whisk and set aside.
- In another large bowl, combine almond flour, oat flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk and transfer to a bowl with wet ingredients. Using spatula, stir well.
- Pour batter into previously prepared pan and top with blueberries, concentrating majority in the center. Set aside.
- Make streusel topping by combining softened coconut oil, oat flour, almond flour and brown sugar in a medium bowl. Mash with a fork until it's incorporated and sort of crumbly, and sprinkle on top of blueberries.
- Bake cake for 45-50 minutes or until top is brown, middle isn't jiggly and toothpick inserted into the center comes out without batter but wet blueberry marks are fine. Your cake is ready if you see some blue liquid in between the blueberries but not the liquidy batter. Blueberry filling will set.
- Remove cake from the oven and let cool for 3 hours or until barely room temperature.
- Make glaze by whisking icing sugar with lime juice in a small bowl. Then drizzle on top and sides of cake, let sit for 30 minutes to solidify and slice cake with sharp knife into 10 slices, and serve.
Can you substitute applesauce for the eggs?
Unfortunately not. Almond flour needs eggs to hold up.