Cooking Light Blueberry Coffee Cake

Homemade blueberry coffee cake with fresh berries and lightened up with a dusting of confectioner’s sugar instead of a streusel topping. Enjoy a slice for breakfast, brunch, dessert or enjoy anytime with a cup of coffee or tea.

Blueberry Coffee Cake – Cooking Light

This cake was first shared March, 2013. I have since updated the photos and provided additional content.

Cooking Light (May 2008) put this recipe in their series of top-rated dishes, Test Kitchen approved.

I enjoy trying my hand at those special rated recipes because they have the pros tweak and reconfigure the recipe until it’s perfect.

Although, this time I think there was an oversight.

See, the CL pros didn’t remind their readers of a very important tip to avoid the berries from sinking to the bottom of the cake, which is what happened to me when I baked this blueberry coffee cake.

Ready to hear about a simple tip to help those berries from sinking to the bottom of the cake pan?

Lightly coat the blueberries in flour before adding them to the cake batter. This helps the blueberries stick to the batter while cooking.

Coffee Cake Lightened-Up

This Blueberry Coffee Cake is nice and tender with just the right about of sweetness, and under 300 calories per serving (287 My Fitness Pal).

If you have followed Cooking Light then you know that they find ways to lower the fat in their recipes and reduce the overall calories without compromising taste.

I have always been pleased with their recipes, and this scrumptious coffee cake is one that I’ll make again and again.

You may notice that a lot of coffee cakes add a streusel topping like you see in this sweet potato cake.

The streusel topping is omitted on this cake. Instead, CL added turbinado sugar, which are large crystals of sweetener.

Instead, I sprinkled confectioner’s sugar on top and served with some fresh whipped cream. Plenty sweet!

Ready to get baking?

How To Make Blueberry Coffee Cake with Buttermilk

For this recipe I used fresh blueberries and although you can use frozen, I would stick with fresh berries.

Why? First, the frozen berries have a lot more water in them, so the ingredients may need to be adjusted.

Also, a lot of frozen berries are frozen with sugar. Again, this will alter the sweetener needed in this recipe.

Finally, frozen berries, will render their juice quicker, which often times leaves your cake with a gray ting of color in the cake.

Ingredient List

• All purpose flour, saving 2 tablespoons for the berries
• Baking powder
• Baking soda
• Salt
• Granulated Sugar (Monk Fruit/erythritol blend for sugar free)
• Vanilla
• Butter
• Eggs, whole egg and 1 egg white
• Buttermilk
• Turbinado sugar or confectioner’s sugar
• Fresh blueberries

Equipment Needed

• Large and medium mixing bowls
• Mixing spoons
• Hand blender
• Measuring spoons and cups
• 9″ baking cake pan (I used a springform pan)

Steps For Blueberry Cake

First prepare baking pan by lightly greasing the pan and set it aside.

Prepare the blueberries by rinsing them in a colander and gently patting them with paper towels removing as much water as possible.

Next, reserve 2 tablespoons of flour from the ingredients and gently fold into the blueberries. Set aside.

Prepare Wet and Dry Ingredients

Next, whisk together the flour, baking powder, soda and salt. Set aside.

Now in a large mixing bowl whip the butter and sugar together until creamy.

Add the egg and egg white along with the vanilla extract.

Fold The Flour and Buttermilk Into The Butter Mix

Now we are ready to mix in the flour and buttermilk into the butter mixture.

First start with adding flour, then buttermilk. Alternate again, but end with the flour. It goes like this –> buttermilk, flour, buttermilk, flour.

Avoid – sinkage (lol – the shrinkage Seinfeld episode just popped in my head, know which one??).

Finally, add half of the prepared batter to the lightly greased cake pan. Top it with the blueberries. Top again with the remaining batter and another layer of blueberries. Bake.

I have since read this wiki article that suggests sprinkling the bottom of the pan with baking powder to help the berries cook though the cake.

Blueberry Coffee Cake Without Streusel Topping

Let the cake cook completely before adding confectioner’s sugar. Serve with fresh whipped topping if you would like.

How To Store This Cake

Blueberry coffee cake is best left at room temperature for up to two days on a cake plate with a lid.

If you don’t eat this cake within a few days then it can be frozen.

Freeze

This cake can be frozen for up to 3 months. To freeze, wrap in saran wrap or freezer paper and then cover with aluminum foil before placing in a freezer bag. Label and date.

To enjoy again. Defrost in the refrigerator. Bring to room temperature and top with confectioner’s sugar.

How To Lower The Carbohydrates

To make this dessert low carb, replace the granulated sugar with a sugar alternative like Truvia baking blend, monk fruit with erythritol or any other sugar alternative you prefer.

In addition, the topping can be replaced with a sugar free confectioner’s sweetener like the brand Swerve.

More Recipes With Blueberries

Looking for more ways to enjoy fresh blueberries?

Check out these recipes:

• Blueberry French Toast Casserole – perfect for a family brunch or any special occasion.
• Blueberry Chia Pudding – packed with nutrients, this pudding can pass as a breakfast meal.
• Refreshing Blueberry Mojito Cocktail – made with a sugar free blueberry syrup muddled with fresh mind leaves.
• Oven Baked Ribs With Blueberry Bourbon Sauce – savory with a bit of sweet flavors takes these ribs to a delicious new level.

Blueberry Coffee Cake

A versatile coffee cake for breakfast, brunch, dessert. Good for snacks too! This blueberry coffee cake is lightened up with just a sprinkle of Confectioner's sugar instead of a streusel topping.

4.84 from 6 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Baking

Cuisine: American

Keyword: baking, blueberries, brunch, cake, light

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 50 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour

Servings: 8 Servings

Calories: 287kcal

Author: Sandra Shaffer

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour reserve 2 tablespoons for tossing blueberries
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 6 tablespoons butter softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg white
• 1 1/3 cups low-fat buttermilk
• 2 cups blueberries
• 1 tablespoon turbinado sugar

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Spray 9 inch round baking pan with cooking spray.
• Combine flour, baking powder, soda, and salt, mix with a whisk.
• In a separate large bowl, beat butter and sugar until well blended. Add vanilla, egg, and egg white, beating well.
• Add flour mixture and milk alternately to sugar mixture beginning and ending with flour.
• Coat blueberries in reserved 2 tablespoons of flour.
• Spoon half of the batter in pan, top with 1 cup of blueberries. Spoon remaining batter over the blueberry topping. Add another layer of berries. Sprinkle top with turbinado sugar.
• Bake for 50 minutes or until set. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 287kcal | Carbohydrates: 43g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 71mg | Sodium: 331mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 26g

Disclaimer

Please note that the nutritional information provided are guidelines and may vary based on the brand of products used. For your specific nutritional goals use My Fitness Pal or Verywell Fit recipe calculators. All content within this site is not intended as medical diagnosis or treatment and should not be considered a substitute for professional medical expertise.

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