Last Updated on March 26, 2022 by Anne-Marie
Make this easy blueberry muffin cake recipe with fresh or frozen blueberries. Bake a blueberry muffin coffee cake for brunch or a potluck.
Why this recipe works
Who doesn’t love coffee cake or blueberry muffins? That’s why blueberry muffin cake is amazing since it combines the two.
It’s perfect to bring to breakfast meetings or to potlucks.
Get the kids to bake this blueberry muffin coffee cake for Easter or Mother’s Day brunch!
How to make blueberry muffin cake
Prepare the crumb topping:
1. In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon.
2. Using a pastry blender or fork, cut in vanilla extract and unsalted butter.
3. Reserve 1/2 cup of the crumb topping and put aside.
4. Add chopped pecans to the remaining topping.
Prepare the cake:
1. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Coat and 8x8-inch square pan with non-stick spray.
2. In a bowl, mix together the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, and sugar.
3. Then add in the wet ingredients: milk, egg, and oil.
4. Add in blueberries until just mixed.
5. Sprinkle 1/2 cup of the reserved crumb topping on the bottom of the baking pan.
5. Carefully spread the cake batter in the pan with a spatula. Then cover the batter with the remaining reserved crumb topping.
6. Bake 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick or cake tester inserted in the center comes out dry.
7. Serve warm from the oven. Or let cool and serve at room temperature.
FAQs
Fresh or frozen blueberries?
If you keep a bag of frozen blueberries in the freezer, you'll find yourself baking up this treat for breakfasts or to bring to friends' homes.
Just thaw the frozen berries on the counter or in the microwave. Then pour off any juice before mixing them into the batter.
However, using frozen berries makes your muffin batter and final blueberry muffin recipe purplish-blue. Not to worry, it’ll still taste great.
Can you make this gluten free?
Yes by using gluten-free all-purpose flour like Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour. This is my favorite gluten-free all-purpose flour and cooks up exactly like regular flour.
This type of gluten-free flour blend has white rice flour, xanthan gum, potato starch, etc. so it bakes up just right and you don’t have to buy extra specialty ingredients.
(Learn how to measure flour correctly for the best results in your everyday baking.)
Check out my Best Gluten Free Products List to find more of my favorite gluten free baking products!
Can you make this sugar free?
If you're avoiding sugar, I recommend using Swerve Sweetener, Brown for the brown sugar and Swerve Sweetener for the regular (granulated) white sugar. Both taste and bake up just like the real thing.
Can you make this dairy free?
Make this dairy free by using alternative milk like unsweetened coconut milk, oat milk, or soy milk.
Use a vegan buttery spread instead of butter.
Baking this for someone who is nut-free?
It's OK to leave out the pecans from the topping. Then double the rest of the topping ingredients if you want to make up for not adding the nuts.
Baking tips from readers
Readers suggested that they added lemon zest, as well as extra cinnamon and vanilla extract. Tasty!
Toss fresh blueberries in flour. This keeps them from settling to the bottom of the coffee cake.
Read the comments below for more tips and suggestions!
More tasty cake recipes
Who doesn't love cake for dessert?
● If you love cheesecakes try: The Best No Bake Oreo Cheesecake, Pumpkin Cheesecake Lasagna Recipe, or Mini Blueberry Cheesecake Cupcakes Recipe.
● This Easy Mardi Gras King Cakes Recipe with Cream Cheese Cinnamon Filling is terrific any time of year, just change the colors.
● Try this Gluten Free Surprise Inside Jelly Bean Cake Recipe if you’re looking for a more traditional cake.
● Get out your slow cooker for this fun Crockpot Pumpkin Dump Cake Recipe.
Blueberry Muffin Cake
Make this easy blueberry muffin cake recipe with fresh or frozen blueberries. Bake a blueberry muffin coffee cake for brunch or a potluck.
Ingredients
Crumb topping:
- 1/3 cup light brown sugar or Swerve Sweetener, Brown
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour or all-purpose gluten free flour
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
Cake:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour or all-purpose gluten-free flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 cup sugar or Swerve Sweetener
- 1/2 cup skim milk or alternative milk
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- 1 cup fresh blueberries or frozen blueberries
Instructions
Crumb topping:
1. In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon.
2. Using a pastry blender or fork, cut in vanilla extract and unsalted butter.
3. Reserve 1/2 cup of the crumb topping and put aside.
4. Add chopped pecans to the remaining topping.
Cake:
1. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Coat the 8x8-inch square pan with non-stick spray.
2. In a bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, and sugar.
3. Stir in the milk, egg, and oil.
4. Add in blueberries until just mixed.
5. Sprinkle 1/2 cup of the reserved crumb topping on the bottom of the baking pan.
5. With a spatula, carefully spread the cake batter in the pan.
6. Sprinkle the remaining reserved crumb topping over the rest of the cake batter.
6. Bake 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out dry.
7. Serve warm from the oven. Or serve at room temperature.
Recommended Products
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
12Serving Size:
1 pieceAmount Per Serving: Calories: 297Total Fat: 10gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 25mgSodium: 85mgCarbohydrates: 47gFiber: 2gSugar: 16gProtein: 6g
Nutritional information is automatically calculated per the ingredients list. Serving size may not be accurate. Please double-check with your preferred nutritional app for the most accurate information.
Originally published on May 7, 2012. Updated with new pictures and information on March 30, 2021.
Thanks for sharing! Does it keep long?
I’ve never kept it in the refrigerator for more than three days. We eat the Blueberry Muffin Cake by then. Enjoy!
This looks so good! Can I use other kinds of berries?
Sure! Try cut up strawberries or give blackberries a try.
Made this today. The baking time was higher for me than listed. I had to bake for at least 40 minutes. The cake was good but could have been sweeter for my taste. Perhaps a bit more sugar might help. Otherwise it was good.
Petra, I’m surprised that it took almost twice as long to bake the Blueberry Muffin Cake. Did you use a different sized pan? Maybe you should check your oven temperature to make sure it’s working properly.
This also took about an extra 10 minutes to finish baking in the center. I used a larger pan so that it would spread a little thinner and not take so long since I would be leaving the house with it very shortly after taking it out of the oven. Still took longer.
Great recipe but needed 40 minutes to bake.
Baking times can vary depending on weather, accuracy of your oven, and how well you measured the ingredients. Baking is an art not a science sometimes!
Has anyone made this into muffins? If so, what temp and for how long?? Thanks!!
This is amazing have made it 3 times already. Gonna make this blueberry muffin cake again. One time we added strawberries with it and it was ok. But definitely gonna make again!
Very yummy and quick to maKe.
Delish and just enough for a small group. I added vanilla, cinnamon, and lemon zest to the batter for a smidge more flavor. Hint: toss your blueberries (fresh) with flour to coat them. It keeps them from settling at the bottom. Thanks for this recipe!
Thanks for the tip about coating the blueberries!
Made this and it just came out of the oven. Having a piece with my coffee on Memorial Day. Thank you, wonderful recipe. I added vanilla to the batter as others suggested. Delicious!
This was delicious!!! It does need about 40 minutes to bake and I added a splash of vanilla to the cake.
Glad you enjoyed it. Adding vanilla was a terrific idea!
This dessert was amazing!! My daughter is gluten intolerant, so it’s hard to find something to make the whole family enjoys. This was a hit with my family! I used Namaste gluten-free flour and Simply Almond milk. I also added to the batter a teaspoon of Almond extract-yum!!!! Those are the only changes I made. Thank you again for this amazing recipe ?
Loved your changes. Glad they worked out to work around your daughter’s allergies.
Overall.,the cake was great! The streusel was really amazing and the texture of the cake was very moist. The only thing I found was that the cake portion really lacked flavor and was a bit too bland for my taste. I agree with the other reader, it definitely needs vanilla extract and I would have to add either a bit more sugar or mix in a really ripe banana. If you prefer more of a moist bread taste I would suggest to stick with the recipe as is but if you want it to actually taste like cake you definitely need to make some modifications. I ended up pouring a buttermilk glaze over the cake part and it helped to give it a bit more depth of flavor. I would definitely make it again but with the modifications.
I just made this for breakfast and thought it was good but it could use a little vanilla or almond extract in the batter portion. Also, i made the mistake of making the streusel in advance without pre-reading all the way through the recipe but having the almonds included in bottom the pan with the rest of the streusel proved to be no problem.
Glad it worked out! And thanks for the suggestions.
This recipe sounds delicious. Can I use vegetable or coconut oil instead of butter? I have a friend who can’t have the butter.
If she can’t have butter, your best bet is a vegan buttery spread. I would be concerned that any kind of oil would make the batter too moist. But you can experiment and give it a try.
I absolutely love this recipe! I make it often. I have done it with almond milk and cherries and it was also amazing. Thank you for sharing this.?
I love that you make it with almond milk and cherries! I make it often too. Just took it to a friend’s home last night (and finished the leftovers for breakfast – yum!).
This was so good. Making it for the 2nd time this wk.
I love hearing that! Thanks Barbara!
I had to use gluten free flour and almond milk, but this was good. Thank you. It will be a good potluck breakfast item at church next month.
Glad your substitutions worked out well!
Hello i was wondering if you can double the recipe for a 9×13 pan ?
I’m sure you can. Just keep an eye on the baking time. You may need to bake it a few minutes more.
Hi, I was wondering if you tried making it in a 9×13? Thanks
Yes, kind of. You’ll need more streusel layer at the top and bottom. And it will bake more quickly. So maybe not as good a choice as with the smaller pan.
This recipe is delicious and turns out very good but every time I’ve made it, it needs much more than 20-25 mins in the oven. When it first comes out, parts of it are goody and it needs more time. Other than that, very VERY good!
Hi, how much time would you suggest?
Has any done this in cupcake molds? If so, how many did one recipe make?
I’ve made this & it’s delicious! I have a family member that doesn’t like blueberries – have you tried other fruit like apples?
Can you use whole milk instead of skim?
Yes, but that will change the nutritional values given in the recipe. It shouldn’t affect the cooking time.
I used almond milk and this turned out delicious, very moist and not too sweet. I shared some with a friend who exclaimed it was the best blueberry streusel cake she’s had. High praise!?
Would this be alright to bake ahead and freeze? Has anyone tried doing this before?
I’m sure you could though I’ve never tried to.
I didn’t drain my frozen blueberries and it turned out great!
Thanks for letting me know Chris!
Hello! I know this post is a little old, but can you use frozen berries?
Thanks!
Jennifer
I don’t see why not! I would thaw them out and drain them of any extra juice as you don’t want to make the batter too runny.
Thanks a lot Anne-Marie (the name ‘sounds’ danish by the way – I am danish :-).
I did bake the cake – and it was a great success! I love it, and family and friends asked immediately for the recipe!
I put about 200 g blueberries into the cake – that is a big cup, I think.
The streusel was a bit hard to spread however. On the top I used wallnuts in the streusel and put it in small lumps (chunks, ??), as it was not so fluid that it was possible to spread. It gave a wonderful surface – looked total professional and delicious ! I would like to send you a picture 🙂
So thanks a lot for sharing this wonderful cake – I’m recommending your blog to my friends.
Best regards
Birthe
Blrthe, I’m thrilled that you had such success with Holly’s recipe. If you do take a picture, email it to me at mama {at} thismamacooks.com and I’ll post it on my Facebook page. (Or you can post it there yourself.)
And as far as the blueberries go, you can never have too much!
thanks for your answer, I didn’t succeed e-mailing to you, but have posted it on your Fb page:-)
Of course you are right about the blueberries – and it is top-season!
Birthe
Looks good! But how many blueberries ??
Birthe
1 cup! I didn’t put a line between the amount of blueberries and the streusel topping. Fixing it now!
That looks absolutely amazing.