Blueberry Buckle is a sweet buttery streusel cake that's delicious, and perfect for brunch or dessert. This blueberry coffee cake recipe is super simple to make, too!
This sweet treat bursts with blueberries and a crumbly cinnamon streusel topping that is hard to resist!
It's a breakfast or brunch treat that will surely impress you and any guests you decide to share it with.
Why You'll Love This Buckle Recipe
- Straightforward instructions. Making this dessert is a piece of... well, cake! Be sure to read my helpful recipe tips and step by step photos before you start.
- Quick and easy to prep. This recipe will take you just 10 minutes of active prep time before it goes into the oven to bake!
- A versatile dessert. Blueberry buckle cake isn't overly sweet, so it's perfect to serve for brunch, a tea party, or even a bridal or baby shower.
Ingredients
For the coffee cake you'll need:
- unsalted butter - If you have a choice, always use unsalted butter for baking recipes. This is important because the amount of salt in salted butter varies from brand to brand. Using too much salt can diminish the flavor of baked goods.
- granulated sugar
- egg
- whole milk
- vanilla extract
- all purpose flour
- baking powder
- salt
- fresh or frozen blueberries - You'll have the best results using fresh berries.
For the streusel topping you'll need:
- granulated sugar
- all purpose flour
- ground cinnamon
- unsalted butter
Substitutions & Variations
Butter: Butter is essential to this recipe. We haven't tried it with dairy free butter but it might work!
Sugar: We don't recommend substituting white sugar with anything else. But, if you need to, you could try using brown sugar, or a cup-for-cup granulated sugar substitute.
Eggs: We don't recommend substituting eggs, but you can read this article on Egg Substitutions for Baking if you need to substitute them. Try it at your own risk!
Milk: You can substitute milk with half and half, low fat milk, or non dairy milk.
Vanilla Extract: Helps to add flavor, you could substitute with lemon extract!
All Purpose Flour: We don't recommend substituting the flour, but you can check out this article on Substitutions for All-Purpose Flour.
Baking Powder: Baking powder is essential for this recipe. Do NOT substitute baking soda for baking powder.
Blueberries: I haven't made this recipe using any other fruit, but I think fresh raspberries or chopped fresh strawberries would be delicious!
Tips From Liz on Making Blueberry Buckle Coffee Cake
- Cream the sugar and butter together really well in a mixing bowl. Use a stand mixer if possible, or use a high speed hand mixer.
- Mix in the wet ingredients first. Mix in the egg completely before adding the milk, then the vanilla extract. Blend everything until the batter is smooth.
- Mix in the dry ingredients. Add the flour, baking powder and salt to the bowl, and mix them in on low speed, just until the flour is blended in. Don't over mix! Fold in blueberries gently with a spatula.
- Pour the batter into a greased baking dish.
- Combine the streusel ingredients together before sprinkling them evenly over the blueberry buckle batter.
- Bake at 350°F. for 45-50 minutes. Allow the cake to cool slightly in the pan before serving.
Serving Suggestions
You can definitely serve the coffee cake by just slicing it and enjoying it on its own, but it would also be delicious with:
- cup of coffee or tea
- dollop of whipped cream
- scoop of ice cream
Storing Leftover Cake
Storing: You can store this blueberry buckle for up to 4 days in an airtight container at room temperature.
Freezing: You can freeze the cake for up to 3 months. Wrap individual squares in plastic wrap and put in a freezer bag. Or, wrap the entire cake in plastic wrap and a layer of aluminum foil, and store in a freezer bag. Thaw completely before enjoying.
Blueberry Buckle Recipe FAQs
Blueberry Buckle gets its name from the way the crumb topping "buckles" as it bakes, creating a sunken appearance on top of the blueberry studded cake.
A buckle is a cake that typically has berries in the batter and will "buckle" as it bakes causing indents in the top of the cake.
Blueberry cobbler has a fruit filling topped with a biscuit or crumble topping while blueberry buckle has the berries mixed directly into the batter and is baked like a cake.
There are many reasons a cake may sink in the middle including under baking or an oven that's too hot, however this blueberry coffee cake is meant to dimple a little in the middle due to the berries in the batter.
If you want to prevent your berries from sinking in a cake, you can toss them with 1-2 tablespoons of flour. This isn’t necessary, and doesn’t always work at preventing the berries from sinking!
Other Cake Recipes You Might Like
- Cinnamon Sour Cream Coffee Cake
- Italian Lemon Olive Oil Cake
- Banana Bundt Cake
- Homemade Chocolate Fudge Cake
Buttery Blueberry Buckle
Ingredients
Cake Ingredients:
- ¼ cup unsalted butter softened
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- ½ cup whole milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt skip if using salted buttter
- 2 cups fresh blueberries
Streusel Topping:
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ⅔ cup all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ cup unsalted butter softened
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. and grease an 8x8-inch glass baking dish.
- Cream sugar and butter together. Add the egg and mix until smooth. Add milk and vanilla extract and mix until smooth.
- Add flour, baking powder and salt. Mix until smooth. Fold in blueberries gently with a spatula.
- Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish.
- In a bowl mix together the topping until crumbled.
- Sprinkle the topping over the cake mixture.
- Bake in a 350°F. oven for 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the center of the cake.
- Serve plain or with a little whipped cream or ice cream.
- Best with fresh blueberries, but can be made with frozen berries. Just make sure they are thawed and well drained before using.
LD
This was absolutely delicious! Easy to put together and a big hit! Definitely making this often!
Cindy
This is the absolute best recipe - - I started making it in the spring and I am still making it almost every week! My family loves it - I make it for my neighbors too ( I use almond extract instead of vanilla - it adds a sweet flavor - try it!) easy and quick to make! Delish!