Gluten Free Blueberry Coffee Cake
Topped with a sweet cinnamony crumble, this gluten free blueberry coffee cake is packed with juicy blueberries in every bite. Make this soft, buttery cake for your next brunch gathering, or nibble on it as a mid-morning snack.
Easy Blueberry Coffee Cake Recipe
A streusel-topped coffee cake is a thing of beauty, and when you stuff it with blueberries you seriously won’t be able to stop at one piece. From the buttery, crumbly topping that’s spiked with cozy cinnamon to the swoon-worthy fluffy crumb, this gluten free coffee cake is absolutely worthy of celebration. It’s super adaptable, too, so you can play around with the spices and berries, and even easily make it dairy-free if needed. Let’s get to it!
Lots to Love
- Soooo fluffy: This is a gluten-free cake that you’d hardly know was gluten-free. And aren’t the best gluten-free bakes the ones where you can’t tell? This soft and buttery cake bakes up gorgeously fluffy and fork-tender.
- The blueberries: I love a simple coffee cake and this one takes it a step further by throwing in a generous handful of blueberries for color, texture, and flavor.
- Easy: I’ve outlined the ingredients for you below – you’ll find that it’s a short list and composed of simple ingredients.
Ingredient Notes
Here’s an overview of what you’ll need for this recipe. The full ingredient amounts are in the recipe card at the end of this post.
Topping
- Granulated sugar – Or use brown sugar
- Oat flour – Whole grain oat flour is a natural choice for this gluten-free recipe
- Ground cinnamon – Try ground ginger for a flavor twist
- Salt – I always use fine sea salt in my recipes!
- Butter – I prefer to use unsalted butter
Cake
- Oat flour – Naturally gluten-free oat flour creates a bouncy, sturdy crumb
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Granulated sugar
- Butter – Again, use unsalted butter!
- Egg – Use a large egg
- Milk – I prefer to use whole milk for richness
- Blueberries
Can I Use Frozen Blueberries?
Fresh or frozen blueberries are a great choice for this recipe and both perform the same. If you use fresh blueberries, make sure to give them a rinse and a gentle pat dry before you add them to the cake batter. For frozen blueberries, there’s no need to defrost them – simply fold them into the batter as the recipe instructs. You can also use wild blueberries if you can find them in the freezer section. Use an extra ½ cup of wild blueberries because they’re a bit smaller than regular blueberries.
How to Make Gluten Free Coffee Cake
Follow along with my photos below to guide you through making this easy blueberry coffee cake recipe. Find the detailed instructions in the recipe card lower down.
- Make topping: Whisk the oat flour with the sugar, cinnamon, and salt.
- Add butter: Work the butter into the dry ingredients until crumbly. Set aside.
- Make dry mix: Whisk together the oat flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Combine butter: Beat the sugar, butter, and egg together.
- Combine: Beat in the milk and flour in alternate additions.
- Add blueberries: Gently fold in the blueberries.
- Top: Spread the batter in a buttered 8×8 pan and sprinkle the topping evenly over the top.
- Bake: Bake the cake for about 45 minutes, then cool a bit before serving.
Why Use Oat Flour?
Oat flour is my favorite gluten-free flour to use in baking recipes. In many recipes, you can do a straight 1:1 swap if you measure the flour by weight (I’ve included both weight and cup measurements to keep things easy for you in the recipe card.) In this blueberry coffee cake, the whole grain sweetness of the oat flour complements the juicy blueberries perfectly. The cake bakes up beautifully and doesn’t have the denseness or grittiness you may find in baked goods that rely on a gluten-free all-purpose flour substitute.
Tips & Substitution Suggestions
As always, a few best practices can help your gluten-free bakes turn out perfectly! I’ve outlined a few tips and ideas below:
- Use room temperature ingredients. This is a suggestion that carries over from gluten-free to gluten-baking. Bringing your ingredients to room temperature for a bit before you add them into your batter or dough will help them incorporate better, resulting in a better final product.
- Rest the batter. Make sure to rest the cake batter while the oven heats. I find that this is just about the right amount of time for a gluten-free batter to hydrate.
- Make ahead: You can prepare the cake the night before if you wish. Make the batter and place it in the pan – do NOT add the streusel. Cover the cake batter tightly with plastic and put it in the fridge overnight. The next morning, make and add the streusel, then bake for 55 to 60 minutes. The cake will need a slightly longer baking time because the batter and pan will be cold.
- Serve from the pan. Streusel-topped cakes can be difficult to remove from the pan without all of the streusel falling off! Go ahead and slice and serve the cake straight from the pan.
- Oat flour substitute: Substitute sorghum flour by weight, or use 2 cups of gluten-free all-purpose baking flour or all-purpose or whole wheat pastry flour.
- Make dairy-free: Use your favorite non-dairy butter and non-dairy milk in place of the butter and milk.
- Refined sugar-free: Swap coconut sugar for the granulated sugar.
- Try other fruit. Use this blueberry coffee cake recipe as a jumping-off place to incorporate other berries, such as huckleberries, raspberries, or a combination.
Serving Suggestions
This gluten free blueberry coffee cake is amazing served soon after it’s been baked, especially when it’s still a bit warm. But it keeps well too and tastes just as good on the second or third day.
You can serve blueberry coffee cake at brunch, as a mid-morning snack, or as a sweet breakfast along with a hot cup of coffee. To justify serving it for dessert, sift a little powdered sugar over the top before cutting slices, and/or top with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
How to Store and Reheat Leftovers
There are several options for how to store leftover cake:
- Counter – Place the cake in an airtight container and store it on the counter at room temperature for up to 2 days.
- Fridge – Storing the cake in the fridge will help it last longer! Place the cake in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. You can eat it hot or cold.
- Freezer – Wrap the whole cake or individual slices in plastic then store in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw the cake in the fridge before serving.
- To Reheat – Cover the cake with foil and place the pan in the oven at 350°F for about 5 -10 minutes, until heated through. You can also microwave individual slices in the microwave in 30-second increments until warm.
More Gluten Free Breakfast Recipes
Blueberry Coffee Cake
Ingredients
Streusel Topping
- ⅓ cup sugar
- ½ cup oat flour 60 grams
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ¼ cup butter
Cake
- 2 ¼ cups oat flour 241 grams
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ¾ cup sugar
- ¼ cup unsalted butter
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup whole milk
- 2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
Instructions
Make Streusel
- Place the flour in a small bowl and whisk in the sugar, cinnamon, and salt.
- Work the room temperature butter into the dry ingredients using your fingertips, or a fork until it’s well incorporated and crumbly. Set aside.
Make Cake
- In a large bowl, whisk together the oat flour, baking powder, and salt.
- In another large bowl, using a stand mixer or hand mixer, beat the sugar, butter, and egg together. Beat in the milk and flour in alternate additions, beginning with the milk and ending with the flour until well combined. Gently fold in the blueberries.
- Spread the batter in a buttered 8×8 pan lined with a piece of parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 375℉. Sprinkle the topping evenly over the top of the batter and let it rest while the oven heats.
- Bake the cake for about 45 minutes, until a tester comes out clean and the top is set.
- Remove from the oven, let cool for 20 minutes on a wire rack, then cut and serve directly from the pan.