Blueberry Coffee Cake Recipe

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Here in Alaska, blueberry picking season is a highlight of our summer. We love to go out into the woods and pick gallons of fresh blueberries to enjoy all year. One of our favorite treats is this blueberry coffee cake recipe. Time for breakfast!

We love picking wild blueberries near our home in Alaska. They are the sweetest, most flavorful berries you can imagine! They’re small but bursting with taste and they’re also incredibly good for you.

Of course we enjoy eating as many fresh berries as possible as well as making homemade jam with them. But we try to freeze a lot so that we can enjoy them throughout the cold, dark winter months.

You can read all about proper freezing of berries in this post and some of our favorite ways to use frozen berries in this post.

This is one of our family favorites and my girls are always thrilled when I tell them it’s for breakfast. Although blueberry coffee cake takes a bit of time to prepare and bake, it’s worth the effort and everyone loves it. We just fry everyone up an egg and cut up an orange or some bananas to serve with it and we have a complete and delicious breakfast!

I like to use frozen blueberries for this recipe because fresh juicy blueberries are so tender that they burst too easily when mixed into this thick batter. I keep the berries in the freezer until the moment I’m ready to use them to make sure they don’t start to thaw while I’m mixing up the batter.

If you don’t have access to wild blueberries of your own, try to find frozen wild blueberries at your local organic market.

I’m including our favorite crunchy streusel topping for this coffee cake recipe. If you prefer a pretty white drizzle instead, just skip the streusel and bake the coffee cake as is. Then add your drizzle once it comes out of the oven. Either way, you can’t go wrong!

I think all of your family members will absolutely love this blueberry breakfast cake with its simple ingredients and sweet flavor. 

Ingredients for Blueberry Coffee Cake Recipe

• Blueberries– I prefer to use frozen blueberries for this recipe. Fresh berries break much too easily in this thick batter. Keep the berries in the freezer until you are ready to use them so they don’t begin to thaw before mixing. Coat them lightly with flour right before mixing them in to make it a little easier.
• All-Purpose Flour
• Baking Powder
• Salt
• Butter– I use homemade butter from the raw milk of our dairy cows. It’s easy to make using a stand mixer, here’s how I do it. I use unsalted butter for this recipe.
• Honey or Sugar– I like to bake with honey from our bees but you can use granulated sugar as well.
• Eggs– Duck eggs are great for baking with but chicken eggs work well too.
• Milk– I use raw, whole milk from our dairy cows.

Here are the ingredients for the optional streusel topping. But if you were to ask my children, it wouldn’t be optional at all! It’s quick to mix up and adds a delicious and fancy touch to this coffee cake.

• ​Butter
• Brown Sugar– Homemade brown sugar is an extra step but worth it. It’s much more flavorful than store-bought brown sugar. Just mix a tablespoon of molasses into a cup of organic granulated sugar. Stir well with a fork or use your hands until mixed completely.
• Ground Cinnamon

Tools You Will Need

You’ll just need some basic baking supplies to mix up this blueberry coffee cake recipe:

• Stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment
• Small mixing bowl
• Wooden mixing spoon or spatula
• 9 by 13 inch baking dish
• Measuring cup and spoons

How to Make Blueberry Coffee Cake

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Grease baking dish well with butter and set aside.

In a small mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt and mix well. Set dry ingredients aside.

In the large bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter on medium speed for 2 to 3 minutes until creamy.

Slowly pour in the sugar and mix well with the butter for 2 to 3 minutes until fluffy. Turn the mixer off and scrape the sides.

Add the eggs and milk and turn the mixer back on. Mix on medium speed until combined, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.

Turn the mixer down to low speed and slowly pour the flour mixture into the wet ingredients. Mix only until almost completely combined then turn the mixer off and set aside.

In a small bowl, measure out the frozen blueberries. Sprinkle with a pinch or two of flour and mix to coat the berries. Then immediately pour into the batter and mix in gently using a wooden spoon. Working quickly on this step will ensure the blueberries stay as frozen as possible and not break apart as easily.

Spread the batter carefully into the greased baking dish. Add the optional streusel crumble topping (see directions below) on top of the batter then place in the oven.

Bake for about 25 minutes until golden brown, or until a knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack for a few minutes before cutting. 

How to Make a Streusel Topping

You don’t have to add a streusel topping to your coffee but why not? It’s so delicious! Here’s how to make it:

• In a small saucepan, melt butter over low heat on the stove.
• Once melted, add in the brown sugar and ground cinnamon.
• Mix well with a spoon then sprinkle over the top of the coffee cake batter. Bake as instructed.

If you don’t want a buttery streusel topping, a simple glaze is also delicious! Just combine a cup of powdered sugar with a tablespoon or two of milk until it’s the thickness you prefer. Add a tiny drizzle of vanilla extract for extra flavor or even some lemon juice! Drizzle over the top of the cake while it’s cooling.

​Storage and Tips

• Store leftover coffee cake in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
• Reheat leftover coffee cake, if desired, in a 350 degree F oven for just a few minutes until warm. Or microwave for 20 to 30 seconds until warm.
• This is a great recipe to serve for breakfast or at a brunch with guests! Or take to a pot luck gathering. 
• This recipe makes 12 large servings. You can cut the pieces smaller to serve more.
• If you don’t need nearly this much, the recipe can easily be cut in half and baked in an 8 by 8 inch baking dish.

We think this is the best blueberry coffee cake, especially on a cold, dark winter morning. Enjoying the bright color and tangy flavor of our hand-picked wild blueberries is the perfect way to start any day!