This Blueberry Crumb Cake recipe is like a warm hug from a dear friend. Easy to assemble, moist, tastes like a giant blueberry muffin. Perfect coffee cake to make for brunch, plus gluten free option!
Blueberry crumb cake is perfect for a lazy weekend, holiday breakfast, Mother’s Day, Easter, tea party or any special brunch. Using fresh or frozen blueberries, this cake recipe is moist, delicious, the ideal coffee cake!
We love coffee cakes here! Try our Apple Double Crumb Cake, or our “You Can’t Mess It Up Coffee Cake” or this amazing Cinnamon Bundt Cake.
The Best Blueberry Crumb Coffee Cake
This deliciously moist coffee cake is studded with fresh or frozen blueberries, topped with a buttery brown sugar crumble.
And if desired, drizzled with a creamy vanilla glaze that hardens as it cools giving the cake the perfect crunchy/crisp to chewy/moist ratio. Dreamy!!
Blueberry Cake and Friendship
I was reminded of this coffee cake when I was out in California with a group of long time girlfriends (since our early teens) this past weekend.
Oh my goodness, we laughed, shared, cried, giggled, listened, reminisced, dreamt, prayed with and encouraged one another. The security of being with friends who really know YOU, your history, and your family is truly priceless.
Don’t get me wrong, I love my husband and my boys, but sometimes we need the understanding, empathy and support of another woman. I would shrivel up without my family and girlfriends.
I was privileged to have grown up in the late 70’s and early 80’s with these girls in a unique situation that threw us together; all living on the same property with our families.
It was the best thing that could have happened to us during those tough adolescent years, we truly became sisters!
The older I get the more I realize the importance of these times with girlfriends who really know and love you, just as you are.
Be a Friend first
To be have a friend, one must BE a friend; give of yourself, even when you don’t have much to give.
~ Kathleen
Extend, risk and humble yourself to the beauty of authentic, real friendship.
Where truth can be told, in love; where you can see the good, the beauty, and even help heal deep wounds.
Through our vulnerability with one another we can encourage, hold up, and most especially pray for and with one another.
Friends who see through the extra pounds and wrinkles, to the sweet, kind, caring and vulnerable heart of that young girl that still lies somewhere beneath layers of now crepe-y skin; reminding you of the treasure you are to this world.
And so I encourage YOU my dear reader, to reach out to others; whether it’s re-kindling a friendship from long ago, making a new friend, or simply risking going deeper in a current friendship.
Don’t hesitate, jump in with your whole heart! You won’t regret it! I’m getting all emotional just writing this, so on to our Blueberry Cake Recipe!
“As iron sharpens iron, so one (wo)man sharpens another” Proverbs 27:17
What you need for blueberry crumb coffee cake
In just minutes you will have a fresh delicious coffee cake that tastes just like a giant blueberry muffin!
CRUMB TOPPING INGREDIENTS
- Light brown sugar
- Sugar | I use all natural cane sugar
- All-purpose flour | I use organic all purpose unbleached flour
- Butter (no substitutions), room temp
BLUEBERRY CRUMB CAKE INGREDIENTS
- All-purpose flour | I use organic all-purpose unbleached flour (Gluten Free flour may be substituted)
- Granulated Sugar | I use natural, unbleached cane sugar
- Baking powder | Gives the cake it’s rise
- Kosher Salt | a must have in any recipe!
- Butter | the real deal, no soft butter coming out of the fridge or blends.
- Milk | I always use whole milk in my recipes
- Egg | room temp if possible, large egg
- Fresh* Blueberries | washed and patted dry, any stems removed. *Frozen blueberries may be used. If time, thaw and rain, toss in a few tablespoons of flour to help blueberries from bleeding.
Giant Blueberry Muffin Glaze Ingredients
- Powdered sugar
- Vanilla extract
- Milk or Cream
How to make the best coffee cake
Step 1
- Wash blueberries and let sit on paper towels to dry.
- If frozen, remove from freezer and allow to thaw, if you totally spaced thawing, have no fear, you may just need to bake a little longer, but be sure to coat them in flour, see below.
Step 2 | Make Crumb (Streusel) Topping
- In a medium-large mixing bowl, combine your brown sugar, all natural cane sugar, all-purpose flour and cinnamon using a fork or mixer.
- Add softened butter* and mix well, using your fingers if necessary, until the mixture starts to stick together into large clumps/crumbs.
- It should hold together when pressed.
- I like to use my mixer, it takes a bit longer, but I feel like the butter is better distributed in the long run. But you can always just use a pastry cutter or your fingers to mix.
Look at those bodacious, beautiful, buttery crumbs!
KATHLEEN’S PRO TIP | Place crumb topping in fridge or freezer while making the cake batter, this will chill the butter once again, so your crumb topping doesn’t melt into your cake while baking.
Step 3 | Assemble the Coffee Cake
- In a large batter bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, add all-purpose flour, all natural sugar, eggs, milk, butter, baking powder and salt.
- I’ve made it both ways, with putting all of your dry ingredients first, then your butter, then your liquids and the end batter was the same, so whatever works best for you.
- Mix on low, until combined, careful not to over mix, there might even be a few lumps and it’ll be fairly thick, don’t worry.
- Gently fold the blueberries into the batter, if using frozen blueberries see below.
How to stop frozen blueberries from “bleeding”
- When frozen blueberries thaw, it brings out all of the pigment that holds the color for these beautiful berries.
- In order to keep that color from “bleeding” into your dough, before folding in frozen blueberries, gently toss blueberries in a couple tablespoons of flour in a large bow.
- The flour helps absorb the color, but never fear, while it might make your cake purple, it’ll still taste terrific!
Below are two pictures, one of frozen (flour coated) blueberries and the other of fresh.
Fresh berries going into the batter…
Step 4 | Baking the Blueberry Coffee Cake
- Lightly grease a 9″ springform pan or a 9″ deep square pan if you don’t have a springform pan.
- If desired for easier removal from pan, cut out a 9″ round (or square) of parchment, lightly spray with oil and place in bottom of pan.
- Try splitting the batter into two smaller 6″ springform pans in order to get two cakes from one prep! Freeze one or give one away.
Blueberry Coffee Cake Pan Options
- Substitute a deep 9″ square or round pan, spray well with non-stick spray or line with parchment paper.
- Or use an 8″ springform pan, increasing baking time by 10 minutes or more.
- Or a 10″ springform (reduce bake time by 10 minutes or so).
- Split batter between 2 smaller pans, such as 2 – 6″ springform pans. Bake 30-40 minutes, putting foil on top if gets too brown. Freeze one for later or give one away to a neighbor and make their day!
- Crumble the crumb topping evenly over the top of the cake batter, leaving some larger chunks and some smaller so you have a traditional “crumble” topping.
- Pop it in preheated 375º oven and bake it for 50-65 minutes until the top is golden and the center is cooked. If it starts getting too brown on top but isn’t done, carefully lay a piece of foil over the top.
Tips
- DO NOT OVERBAKE – Coffee cakes should be moist, so don’t over bake the cake, however; you don’t want it soupy either. At minimum time, stick toothpick in middle, it should come out clean.
- COOL – If you are using the glaze, be sure to cool 10 minutes before pouring on the glaze, if not it will completely melt into the blueberry crumb coffee cake.
- FROZEN BLUEBERRIES? – If using frozen berries, toss in a couple tablespoons of flour before folding into the batter.
- EASY REMOVAL | For easier removal from springform pan, run a butter knife around the edges, then open pan and gently pull away from cake.
How to Store Blueberry Coffee Cake
Store in fridge — good up to about a week, if it lasts that long. Or may be tightly wrapped and frozen.
Warm in microwave for a few seconds before devouring.
Substitutions
Not a blueberry fan? Substitute the same amount of fresh or frozen berries or even rhubarb (but paired with a sweeter berry)!
- Strawberries (sliced)
- Blackberries
- Raspberries
- Cherries or a mixture of the above
High Altitude Adjustments
No adjustments necessary for high altitude.
Gluten Free Blueberry Coffee Cake
I love when you can easily adapt a recipe to be gluten free! And this is a super easy one to adapt!
- Replace all-purpose flour with a good cup for cup GF All Purpose Flour OR
- I tested with 1 cup GF All Purpose Flour, ½ cup GF Oat Flour and ½ Cup Almond Flour.
- Reduce baking powder to 2 teaspoons
- In crumb topping replace with half oat flour and half GF Ap Flour
- Bake as directed!
This recipe is adapted from Cookies & Cups.
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Blueberry Crumble Cake + Gluten Free
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Ingredients
CRUMB TOPPING
- ½ cup light brown sugar packed
- ¼ cup granulated sugar I use all natural cane sugar
- ⅓ cup all-purpose flour Plus 3 tablespoons. *See notes for Gluten Free
- ⅓ cup butter Plus 2 tablespoons. No substitutions, room temp
CAKE
- 2 cups all-purpose flour I like unbleached *see notes for Gluten free
- ¾ cup granulated sugar I use natural, unbleached, cane sugar
- 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup butter room temp (I use salted. If using unsalted butter, increase salt to 1 teaspoon)
- ¾ cup milk I use whole milk
- 1 large egg room temp if possible
- 2 cups blueberries fresh or frozen*. Washed and patted dry, any stems removed
GLAZE
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 ½ – 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2-3 Tablespoons milk or cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375° and spray 9″ springform pan with nonstick spray and if desired, cut out a piece of parchment paper for easier transfer to serving dish.
CRUMB TOPPING
- In medium bowl combine all crumb dry ingredients and stir. Cut butter into smaller chunks and mix with mixer until combined or using fingers or pastry cutter mix until butter is combined and you can squeeze together to form clumps. Place mixture in fridge until ready to use.
CAKE
- In large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Stir to combine. Add softened butter, in chunks, milk and egg.
- Using a mixer, mix until mostly smooth and combined. Batter will be thick, if too thick, add additional ¼ cup milk. Gently fold in washed/dried blueberries into the batter.
- Pour into prepared 9″ springform pan (see options in notes). Remove crumble from fridge and crumble on top of coffee cake batter, larger marble sized chunks. Bake 50-65 minutes until top is golden and center is firm, toothpick may or may not come out clean. Remove from oven and cool 10 minutes on a wire rack. Then glaze.
GLAZE
- Prepare glaze while cake is cooling. In a small bowl, mix powdered sugar, vanilla and milk/cream until smooth and pourable consistency.
- Pour over top of warm cake for glaze that hardens and melts into cake, or if preferred, wait until cake is cooled completely then pour glaze over.*Glaze is pretty, but can definitely be left off the cake.
- To serve, using a butter knife, gently run around the edge of the cuff of the springform. Open springform and gently lift off. If you used a piece of parchment, slide a flat spatula or large knife under and carefully slide off springform bottom onto plate or serving dish. Serve cooled or warm, may favorite!
Notes
- Substitute a deep 9″ square or round pan.
- Or use an 8″springform pan, increasing baking time by 10 minutes or more.
- Or a 10″ springform (reduce bake time by 10 minutes or so).
- Split batter between 2 smaller pans, such as 2 – 6″ springform pans. Bake 30-40 minutes, putting foil on top if gets too brown. Freeze one for later.
Nutrition
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Re: cake ingredients . Stated 1/4 cup of salted butter or 1/4 unsalted plus 1 tsp. salt perhaps is an incorrect equivalent . I believe it should only be 1/8 tsp. salt . Can you verify this?😊
Hi Carol, thank you! I just amended the recipe to make it a bit more clear;
1/4 cup butter, room temp + ¾ teaspoon salt. If using unsalted butter, increase salt to 1 teaspoon (increasing by ¼ teaspoon) which is my preference, but if you want to increase by just 1/8 of a teaspoon that should still be just fine.
Hope that makes sense. You can of course always reduce salt to your liking, I personally think a bit more salt in baked goods enhances the flavors tremendously, but that’s my taste! Happy baking! Kathleen
I’ve made this 3 times in a week. Amazing each time!!!
Love hearing this Michelle, thank you for sharing!
This coffee cake has become a family favorite and a frequent request from all who have had it! It is simply incredible!! My husband requested this for his birthday “cake”!
This looks amazing! I’m going to try and make this for an outing next week where we’re all bringing a plate 🙂
Julia // The Sunday Mode
I think you will love it Julia, let me know what you think! Thanks and have a great weekend!
Sounds delicious – When I make it I might try adding fresh lemon juice to the glaze to offset the sweetness and I love the blueberry/lemon combo.
I LOVE that idea!!!! Let me know what you think!!
Made this for a neighborhood brunch and it was a big hit! So moist and delicious and easy to make. Thanks Kathleen, another winner!
That makes me so happy to hear Tracy! So glad it was a hit!