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This moist Blueberry Buckle coffee cake, with its buttery streusel topping, plush texture, and unapologetic quantities of fresh blueberries was a breakfast legend back in my days working at a corporate office.

moist blueberry buckle

Our team took turns bringing breakfast on Fridays. We usually had leftovers, which would be left in the common area for scavengers (did anyone else prowl around her office, searching for free extra food?).

Except when my co-worker Michael baked his famous blueberry buckle.

Not only would our team silently, not-so-subtly try to beat each other to the slices with the max amount of topping, if even a crumb remained at the bottom of the pan, someone would run their plastic fork all around the bottom to catch every morsel.

blueberry buckle with streusel topping

I think it was the walnut streusel that got to us.

Or could it have been the moist, tender cake crumb, which is so filled with blueberries, you’ll find one in every juicy, sweet bite?

Although I’ve left office life behind, fortunately my blueberry buckle grazing can continue uninterrupted. Michael was kind enough to share his recipe!

5 Star Review

“I love making your recipes because I know they are going to be healthy, easy to make, and absolutely delicious. This will be my go-to recipe now for coffee cake. I love the healthy swaps that you made and the walnuts on top add a wonderful extra crunch.”

— Corinne —
old fashioned moist blueberry buckle

What Is a Buckle (vs. Coffee Cake)?

  • A buckle is an old-fashioned term for a single layer cake with fruit in the batter, such as blueberries or cut up strawberries, and a buttery streusel topping.
  • The fruit gives it a “buckled” or indented appearance, which is how old-fashioned blueberry buckle got its name.
  • The biggest difference between a coffee cake and a buckle is the fruit. A coffee cake can be any not-too-sweet cake that’s meant to be enjoyed with coffee. It doesn’t have to include fruit (these Coffee Cake Muffins, for example, do not).
  • That said, a coffee cake (like this Apple Coffee Cake) can include fruit and often does.
  • A coffee cake also does not have to include a streusel topping (my Grandma Dorothy’s Butter Bundt Coffee Cake does not), though it often does.

CONCLUSION: For all intents and purposes, since there is fruit and a streusel topping in this recipe, you can use the terms “blueberry buckle” and “blueberry coffee cake” interchangeably.

blueberry buckle with streusel topping

How to Make Old-Fashioned Blueberry Buckle

This is truly the best blueberry coffee cake (or blueberry buckle; pick your favorite term!).

It’s easy to make, has just the right ratio of berries to cake to crumb topping, and the flavor is lively with notes of cinnamon and lemon zest.

Tweaks to Michael’s original recipe (which as it turns out is from this cookbook), include my usual healthy substitutions: a little extra whole wheat flour, and I pumped up the nut-factor in the streusel topping, because I’m a sucker for the toasty walnut crunch.

blueberry buckle with walnuts and crumb topping

The Ingredients

  • Whole Wheat Flour + All-Purpose Flour. I use a 50/50 blend which gives this coffee cake whole grain benefits (like more fiber and nutrients compared to white flour), without making it overly dense or heavy.

Substitution Tip!

If you don’t mind a heartier cake, you can make this recipe with up to 75% whole grain flour. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of additional milk to the batter, since whole wheat flour is drier than regular, all-purpose flour.

  • Blueberries. Blueberry buckle is one of the best things to bake with fresh blueberries in the summertime. You also can make this recipe with frozen blueberries (no need to thaw them first).

Market Swap

You can make a buckle coffee cake with just about any fresh fruit! Try this recipe with raspberries, diced strawberries, pitted cherries, or take a note from this Almond Berry Crumb Cake and do a mix.

blueberry buckle with crumb topping
  • Granulated Sugar. This blueberry coffee cake is by no means overly sweet, so it’s perfect to enjoy for breakfast or an afternoon pick-me-up with a cup of coffee or tea.
  • Milk + Egg + Butter. To ensure the coffee cake is tender.
  • Cinnamon + Lemon Zest. Cinnamon is a coffee cake essential. Lemon makes it bright and is a scrumptious pairing with blueberry (be sure to check out this Lemon Blueberry Bundt Cake too!).
  • Walnut Streusel Topping. The crunch of the walnuts adds a wholesome touch and deep toastiness that makes this buckle especially satisfying.

The Directions

blueberry buckle bowl of whole wheat flour
  1. Whisk together the dry ingredients.
blueberry buckle mix
  1. Fold in the blueberries and lemon zest.
blueberry buckle milk, egg and butter mixture
  1. In a separate bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients.
blueberry buckle mix with blueberries
  1. Fold together the dry and wet ingredients.
blueberry buckle with walnuts
  1. Make the streusel topping.
blueberry buckle in a baking pan
  1. Scrape the batter into an 8×8-inch pan.
blueberry buckle with walnuts in baking pan
  1. Sprinkle the streusel over the top.
  1. Bake the blueberry buckle at 425 degrees F for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool and enjoy!

Dietary Note

For a dairy-free coffee cake, use almond milk or soy milk in place of the regular milk and swap canola oil in place of the butter.

Storage Tips

  • To Store. Store leftover coffee cake at room temperature for up to 4 days.
  • To Reheat. Rewarm leftover slices in the microwave or tent loosely with foil and reheat in the oven at 350 degrees F. For the best leftover experience, serve rewarmed slices topped with a little butter.

Meal Prep Tip

Prepare the blueberry buckle batter and topping up to 1 day in advance. Store the batter covered in the refrigerator in the pan you plan to bake it in and the topping at room temperature. Before baking, let stand at room temperature for at least 15 minutes. Sprinkle on the topping, then bake as directed.

old fashioned blueberry buckle

What To Serve With Blueberry Buckle

  • Healthy Breakfast Casserole – This easy, healthy breakfast casserole with hash browns, spinach and sausage is delicious and hearty. Easy to make ahead and a crowd pleaser!
  • Oven Baked BaconPERFECT Baked Bacon—Easy oven method that results in perfect, crispy bacon every time. This is the best way to cook bacon. So much better than frying!
  • Sweet Potato Hash Brown – Easy shredded sweet potato hash browns cooked in a skillet in minutes. Better tasting and better for you than the original! Crispy outside, tender inside.
  • Fresh Fruit Salad – This simple, homemade fruit salad recipe is an ideal light, healthy side. With a citrus poppyseed dressing, you’ll love its fresh taste!

Recommended Tools to Make this Recipe

Dive into this blueberry buckle’s toasty walnut lid and enjoy a big bite of tender, warm cake that bursts with berries and sweetness.

And should you be so generous as to bring this coffee cake to the office someday, don’t be surprised when your co-workers beat you to the piece with the most streusel!

Blueberry Buckle

5 from 13 votes
This Blueberry Buckle coffee cake is bursting with berries and topped with brown sugar streusel. So moist and made with healthy ingredients!

Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 20 minutes
Total: 30 minutes

Servings: 1 8×8-inch pan (9 large slices)

Ingredients
  

For the Blueberry Coffee Cake:

For the Crumb Streusel Topping:

  • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter diced
  • 1/4 cup walnuts chopped

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Lightly coat an 8×8 inch pan with cooking spray, line with parchment paper, then coat once more. Set aside.
  • In a large bowl, combine the all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Gently fold in blueberries and lemon zest.
  • In small, separate bowl, whisk together the milk, egg, and butter. Add to the flour and blueberry mixture. Stir by hand with a wooden spoon, just until combined. The batter will be very thick. Scrape into the prepared pan and spread into an even layer.
  • Prepare the crumble topping: In a small bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon. With a fork (or your fingers), cut in the butter, combining until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Mix in the walnuts.
  • Sprinkle crumble mixture evenly over the top of the batter. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Notes

  • TO STORE. Store leftover coffee cake at room temperature for up to 4 days.
  • TO REHEAT. Rewarm leftover slices in the microwave or  tent loosely with foil and reheat in the oven at 350 degrees F. For the best leftover experience, serve rewarm slices topped with a little butter.

Nutrition

Serving: 1(of 9)Calories: 200kcalCarbohydrates: 34gProtein: 5gFat: 6gCholesterol: 21mgFiber: 3gSugar: 15g

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Erin Clarke

Hi, I'm Erin Clarke, and I'm fearlessly dedicated to making healthy food that's affordable, easy-to-make, and best of all DELISH. I'm the author and recipe developer here at wellplated.com and of The Well Plated Cookbook. I adore both sweets and veggies, and I am on a mission to save you time and dishes. WELCOME!

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75 Comments

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  1. I totally appreciate your healthy swaps in the recipe! Normally when I see a coffee cake recipe, I have to mentally make so many changes that I’m not even sure it’ll taste the same any more ;-) This looks so tasty as-is, so I’m glad you’ve done all the swapping for me

  2. Coffee Cake is my weakness. My favorite breakfast place always has it as a daily special in a wide variety of flavors. But the fact that you swapped out some of the unhealthy ingredients for healthy ones, I can have two slices without guilt! So excited to try this recipe.

    1. Two slices? Girl, you can go for three! :-) I love coffee cake too. Hope you enjoy this recipe Nicole.

  3. I wish my office had some of this sitting around! I’d kill the whole pan too!

  4. I LOVE coffee cake and with added blueberries…my mouth is watering as we read this. I am definitely saving this recipe!!!

    1. Thanks! I’m a sucker for anything blueberry, and those plump little guys make this coffee cake a real treat!

  5. Oh my goodness! You’ve almost made me wish I worked in an office again. You made me laugh as back when I worked in the Accounting Department I would make my rounds at just the appropriate times too. Today though, those carbs would do a number on my waistline… ahhh, the difficulties of being over 40!
    Occasionally though the coffee cake is just what the body ordered, and this one looks to be a winner!

    1. Kim, I laughed outloud when I read “make my rounds.” That is the perfect phrase to describe it! A girl’s gotta take the office perks where she can find them. As far as carbs, maybe just a small piece? ;-)

      1. I doubled this for my Bible study today and it turned out amazing! I baked it in a 9×13 for 22 min and then loosely covered with foil at 350 for about 9 more minutes so it would cook through the middle. Thanks Erin!!5 stars

        1. I’m so pleased to hear that the recipe was a hit, Judith! Thank you for sharing this kind review!

  6. Lol you are too funny! Sometimes I’m totally tempted to do that with a box of doughnuts abandoned in the kitchen…so good thing you polished off something healthy–blueberries = health right?–rather than a box of Krispy Kremes ;) This sounds totally delish!

    1. Erika, you are reading my mind. Blueberries = three+ slices. Does the same logic count if it’s a strawberry-filled doughnut? Please say yes!

  7. haha you would love where i work….food all over the place which seriously is killer sometimes when you are trying not to snack…i do love a good coffee cake…and your saying BEST…i’ve now pinned and can’t wait to make!

    1. Oh I would be out of control in your office for sure Angela! Glad you like the look of the recipe. Please let me know what you think. I’d love your verdict!

  8. Mmmmm coffee cake. I’ve never had blueberry coffee cake but I can imagine how perfect this must be!

  9. I love coffee cake and while I’ve had all sorts of it before, I’m not sure I’ve ever tried a bluberry version. This looks wonderful Erin!

    1. Thanks Sally! The plump berries have me dreaming of summer already. Probably my favorite kind (thanks to the berrys and the brown-sugar cinnamon topping too, of course)

  10. Wait, so is this the *best* blueberry cake? ;)

    It looks amazing! love your healthy changes. I really want to try this! And I wish we had free office food. For a while, I brought stuff, but I was the only one and they were so greedy that it bothered me and I stopped. Jerks…

    Anyway, awesome cake!

    1. Thanks Erin! And not cool about the lack of office food love. If it’s any consolation, ours can be hit or miss–last week someone brought in leftover hamburger buns. I’ll stick with the coffee cake, thank you very much.
      Glad you like the look of the recipe! And yes, best for sure ;-p

  11. Hi Erin- I googled “whole grain blueberry coffee cake” and your recipe fit *most* of the ingredients I had available. It was sort of a trick trying to find a recipe that didn’t require much milk or plain yogurt- as I didn’t have much of either. So I just made the cake. Used 1/4 cup of oil and 1/4 cup of organic french vanilla yogurt… That was a sub for applesauce since I had none. And it worked! It is the most delicious cake I’ve ever made! Just wanted to thank you for the recipe- delicious!

    1. Jenny! This comment made my day! I am so, so happy that you loved this coffee cake. Yogurt is a great ingredient to substitute for applesauce (I use it in cakes all the time) and I’m sure it was just perfect. Yay for coffee cake! Thanks for taking time to share your review too!

  12. I think blueberries lend themselves very well to whole wheat flour. And I always add lemon to blueberries. I’m definitely trying this. I may try some swaps too…buttermilk for the milk, brown sugar for the white sugar, a bit of oatmeal in the topping.

    1. Sounds like a winner to me Patti! And I totally agree: blueberry + lemon are meant to be, and I bet the oatmeal would make the topping extra crunchy and yummy. Hope you love it!

  13. Searched online for whole wheat blueberry coffee cake. Made this for overnight guests. DEFINITELY a keeper! Thanks!

    1. YAY! I am so, so happy that you liked this coffee cake. Thanks so much for trying it and sharing your review. Also, you totally have me dying to make it again :-)

  14. Think that I will bake this treat this week. Especially bec. it is so frigid here in RI. Yes I froze blueberries last summer.

    1. Susan, you are so on top of it! Love that you have summer-fresh blueberries ready for baking. If you end up trying this coffee cake, I’d love to hear what you think. Hope you enjoy every bite :)

      1. Erin, This delicious coffee cake is still on the top of my to bake list. havve been dealing with some other issues & have not had a chance to bake it yet. Will let you know…

  15. I can’t wait to try this! I have at least 10 gallon bags of blueberries frozen from last summer so I’ve been in search of blueberry recipes. I have a couple of questions though — Do I still need to rinse the blueberries if I rinsed them and froze them individually originally (they’re not a clumpy mess — it’s like a bag full of little marbles)? Or is the goal of the rinsing to defrost them a bit? Also, my daughter has a severe nut allergy as well as a severe milk allergy. Will the topping be okay if I leave out the nuts? Can I substitute coconut milk for the milk, or will I need to add fat in some way? (I’ve been having good luck using coconut milk as a substitute for milk in muffin recipes.) Final question — my blueberries are huge. They’re high bush berries, and an extra-large variety. Will that be okay? Many thanks! Keep the blueberry recipes coming!

    1. Hi Ellen! I am so excited that you want to try this recipe. It is my absolute favorite coffee cake! Your questions are all great ones.
      -Rinsing: The idea with rinsing the blueberries is to defrost them a little. I find that it helps keep them from bleeding into the batter quite as much.
      -Nuts: you are totally fine to leave them out! If you wanted, you could try putting a little oatmeal in the topping to add some crunch instead
      -Milk: The purpose of the milk in this recipe is for moisture more so than fat, so coconut milk would be totally fine. I think soymilk almond milk are great alternatives too.
      -Berry size: There is nothing like a big, fat, juicy blueberry! I would just toss them with a tablespoon of flour before you fold them into the batter to keep them all from sinking to the bottom. They might sink a little anyway, but they will still taste great.
      I hope that helps and that you love the recipe! Let me know if you have any questions and enjoy :-)

  16. Your writings about office food amused me. Whenever there is an all-staff email about leftovers from a meeting, it’s a full stampede. We’re buying blueberries in bulk here (I love you Costco), a new favorite food of Genevieve’s, and this buckle would be such a tasty weekend treat!

  17. I love making your recipes because I know they are going to be healthy, easy to make, and absolutely delicious. This will be my go to recipe now for coffee cake. I love the healthy swaps that you made and the walnuts on top add a wonderful extra crunch. Thank you for the recipe!5 stars

    1. Corinne, I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave this lovely review!

    1. Hi Cathy! I’ve only tested this recipe in an 8×8 pan, so I’m afraid I don’t know the specific baking time for a 9×9. It will likely be done more quickly, as the buckle will be thinner. I hope you enjoy the recipe if you try it!

      1. I checked it around 17-18 minutes and it was perfect. Except that when I took it out of the oven I realized I completely forgot to make the crumble topping. That’s what happens when I try to cook with 7-year-old twins constantly distracting me with unrelated questions and the phone ringing several times. It was still delicious even without the topping. Will make it again soon, hopefully correctly next time. Lol. Thanks for the great recipe.5 stars

  18. I didn’t make any changes, but I think my 8×8 pan is slightly smaller than standard. My slices look a bit thicker than yours did. Either way, it turned out delicious! Had a slice with my breakfast this morning. Thank you, Erin!5 stars

    1. Hi Devorah! Just swap a gluten free 1:1 baking blend that’s meant to stand in for wheat flour. Bob’s Red Mill makes a good one. I hope you enjoy it!

  19. Hello – I am looking forward to trying this but had a quick question as I am not a huge cook but working on it…I cannot eat nuts so should I just omit the Walnuts or substitute them for something else (oatmeal, seeds….) I didn’t want to change the flavor. Thanks!!

    1. Hi Sherry! You are totally fine to leave them out! If you wanted, you could try putting a little oatmeal in the topping to add some crunch instead. Hope you enjoyed it, if you decide to make it!

  20. My sweet husband LOVES blueberries and we both totally loved this. Today is our second anniversary and this was the focal point of our anniversary brunch!Thank you for an amazing recipe.5 stars

  21. Erin can I sub huckleberries for blueberries. I ordered a bunch of huckleberries from Washington state and don’t know what to do with them. Same with ligonberries and honeyberries, I don’t know what I was thinking!

    1. Hi Laura, I have never tested the recipe with huckleberries but you could give it a try! If you decide to experiment, let me know how it goes!

  22. Super delicious! I used 2 cups of blueberries and made muffins (400 for 18 minutes like another one your muffin recipes).5 stars

  23. Just made this and it’s fabulous! I used a mixture of whole wheat and all purpose flour. I added frozen raspberries and fresh jumbo blueberries. Used coconut sugar in place of sugar and for the topping combined brown sugar and cinnamon 😋.5 stars

  24. I just made this (while my husband is recovering from COVID). He said this was the best coffee cake he’s ever had in his life, anywhere – including others I make and all of our favorite coffee shops and bakeries. Subbed out the walnuts for pecans but it was a huge hit and the highlight of the week for us both! Thank you!!5 stars

    1. Hi Reva, I have tested it with the whole wheat, so I am unsure how the bran flour would work. If you decide to experiment, let me know how it goes!

  25. I made this recipe using half the sugar and subbing 1/2 the flour with almond flour and it was delicious! This recipe is a keeper!5 stars