Old-fashioned blueberry buckle is essentially a moist coffee cake, loaded with wild blueberries, and topped with crunchy cinnamon streusel! This is a super easy, one-bowl recipe that really showcases one of late summer's best fruits. We love it for breakfast, snack, or dessert, especially when served with whipped cream or ice cream.
If you're lucky enough to live in wild blueberry country, then you know how special this late summer treat is! Available fresh only for a short time, we try to get our hands on as many as we can to make fresh blueberry recipes like this blueberry pie or blueberry clafoutis.
Ingredients
For The Cinnamon Streusel Topping
For The Blueberry Buckle Cake
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
- Wild Blueberries: Only available fresh around August. Can be purchased frozen year round. You can use fresh or frozen wild or high bush blueberries.
- Cinnamon: If you prefer lemon, substitute the cinnamon for the zest of one lemon.
- Vanilla: Almond extract is a lovely swap for vanilla.
- Milk: You can substitute the milk with 2% milk, buttermilk, or 18% half and half cream.
Method
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Place all of the topping ingredients in a small bowl and mix with a fork.
Step 2: Grease the baking dish with butter then dust the inside with cinnamon sugar.
Step 3: Mix the sugar, butter, egg, milk, and vanilla together until well combined.
Step 4: Add the dry ingredients and continue to mix until the flour is just combined. The batter will be very thick.
Step 5: Add the blueberries to the cake batter.
Step 6: Switch to a wooden spoon and gently fold the berries in by hand.
Step 7: Spread the batter evenly into the dish and add all of the topping. Cover the dish with aluminum foil, and bake for 30 minutes.
Step 8: Remove the foil. Continue to bake the blueberry buckle for another 25 to 28 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and cool for 15 minutes before serving warm.
Top Tips
1. It's not a big deal if the blueberries get squished when folding them into the batter, but the sliced cake looks nicer when they're intact.
2. If your butter is a bit cold the wet mixture will be chunky. It's ok if this happens. Keep going.
3. Use an oven thermometer for best results.
Recipe Notes
Serve blueberry coffee cake with whipped cream, vanilla ice cream, or try your hand at homemade ice cream. We especially love this white chocolate ice cream or this lemon meringue ice cream with blueberry desserts.
Other blueberry-like berries can sub for blueberries if you have them in the wild. Think saskatoons or service berries, bilberries, and huckleberries.
How to Store
Storage: this is still delicious the day after baking but the topping may lose its crispness. Wrap the baking dish tightly with plastic wrap and store the cake on the counter for up to two days. It will keep, stored the same way, in the fridge for up to five days.
Freezing: transfer the cooled cake to an airtight container and freeze for up to three months.
FAQ
What is blueberry buckle?
Blueberry buckle is basically a coffee cake with a crunchy streusel topping. The name comes from the way the streusel topping buckles on top of the cake as the cake rises in the oven.
Can you substitute frozen blueberries for fresh in a cake?
The answer is yes, absolutely you can! But keep in mind, you must have a quick hand when stirring frozen blueberries into cake batter as they tend to bleed more juice than fresh.
What is streusel?
A topping for baked treats, usually cakes, muffins, and fruit buckles, made with butter, sugar, and flour. Streusels can be made with all white sugar, all brown sugar, or a combination of both. Sometimes cinnamon is added.
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Blueberry Buckle
Equipment
- Measuring cups and spoons or digital kitchen scale
- small bowl
- Fork
- 8-inch (20-cm) square baking dish glass or metal
- Mixing bowl
- Hand or stand mixer
- Wooden spoon or rubber spatula
- Aluminum foil
- Wire cooling rack
Ingredients
For The Topping
- ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup sugar
- ¼ cup butter, room temperature
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
For The Blueberry Buckle
- ¾ cup sugar, plus 1 tablespoon for dusting the baking dish
- ⅓ cup butter, plus 1 tablespoon for greasing the baking dish
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup whole milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon, plus ½ teaspoon for dusting the baking dish
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 cups wild blueberries, fresh or frozen
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375ºF (190°C).
- Place all of the topping ingredients in a small bowl. Use a fork to mix everything together until no dry bits of flour or sugar remain. Set aside.
- Grease an 8-inch (20-cm) square baking dish with 1 tablespoon of butter. Mix 1 tablespoon of sugar with ½ teaspoon of cinnamon in a small bowl. Dust the entire inside of the greased baking dish with the sugar-cinnamon mixture. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, mix the sugar, butter, egg, milk, and vanilla together until well combined. Sift in the flour then add the baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Continue to mix until the flour is just combined. The batter will be very thick.
- Switch to a wooden spoon or rubber spatula. Add the blueberries to the cake batter and gently fold them in until well distributed. Spoon the cake batter into the prepared pan. Use an offset spatula or butter knife to gently spread the batter evenly into the dish. Scatter the brown sugar topping evenly over the buckle, then cover the baking dish with aluminum foil, and bake for 30 minutes.
- Remove the foil and continue to bake the blueberry buckle for 25 to 28 minutes, or until the topping is golden, the blueberries are bubbling, and the sides of the cake are pulling away from the baking dish. Transfer the buckle to a wire rack and cool for 15 minutes before serving warm with ice cream or whipped cream.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is an estimate and is provided as a courtesy. For precise nutritional data, please calculate it independently using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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