The Ultimate Moist Blueberry Coffee Cake with Zesty Lemon Glaze

Welcome to your new favorite breakfast (or dessert!) sensation: this incredibly **Moist Blueberry Coffee Cake**! Imagine a soft, tender cake, generously studded with plump, juicy fresh blueberries, crowned with a irresistible buttery streusel, and drizzled with a bright, tangy lemon glaze. This isn’t just a cake; it’s an experience that promises to brighten any morning or sweeten any afternoon. It’s truly a labor of love that delivers exceptional flavor and texture with every single bite.

Essential Ingredients for Your Blueberry Coffee Cake

While the full recipe card below provides precise measurements, understanding the role of key ingredients can elevate your baking experience and ensure a consistently delicious outcome. Each component plays a vital part in achieving that perfect moist crumb, vibrant berry flavor, and delectable streusel topping.

• Fresh Blueberries: The star of the show! Always opt for fresh blueberries over frozen for this recipe. Fresh berries hold their shape better and release less water, preventing a soggy cake. Tossing them lightly in a tablespoon of flour before mixing into the batter is a crucial step to prevent them from sinking to the bottom of the pan, ensuring even distribution throughout the cake.
• Greek Yogurt: This is your secret weapon for an incredibly moist and tender cake. Greek yogurt adds richness and tang, making the cake wonderfully soft without being heavy. If Greek yogurt isn’t available, full-fat sour cream is an excellent substitute, offering a similar moisture and texture profile.
• Maple Syrup: Beyond just sweetness, maple syrup contributes a subtle, warm depth of flavor that complements the blueberries and cinnamon beautifully. It helps to keep the cake moist. Honey or agave nectar can be used as alternatives, though they will subtly alter the flavor profile.
• Lemon Zest & Juice: The lemon element is what truly elevates this coffee cake from great to extraordinary. Lemon zest provides a bright, aromatic burst of flavor that cuts through the sweetness and highlights the blueberries. The fresh lemon juice in the glaze adds a delightful tang. Remember to zest the lemon before juicing; it’s much easier!
• Almond Extract (Optional): A tiny hint of almond extract can add a sophisticated layer of flavor that pairs wonderfully with blueberries. If you’re not a fan of almond, feel free to omit it or use an extra splash of vanilla extract for a more classic taste.
• Heavy Cream: Used both in the cake batter and the glaze, heavy cream adds undeniable richness and ensures a smooth, luxurious texture. In the glaze, it helps achieve that perfect drippy consistency.
• Unsalted Butter: Used in the cake and generously in the streusel. Using unsalted butter allows you to control the salt content in the recipe. Crucially, ensure melted butter for both the cake and streusel has returned to room temperature before mixing to avoid issues like curdling or a greasy streusel.

How To Bake the Perfect Blueberry Coffee Cake: Top Tips for Success

Baking this blueberry coffee cake is a straightforward process, but a few key tips can make all the difference, ensuring your cake turns out perfectly moist, flavorful, and beautifully textured every time. Follow these expert recommendations for a truly exceptional homemade treat.

1. Proper Pan Preparation is Key: Don’t skip the pan prep! Lightly greasing an 8×8-inch metal baking pan is essential. For even easier cleanup and seamless removal of the cake, I highly recommend lining the pan with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on two sides to create “handles,” and then greasing the parchment. This guarantees your beautiful coffee cake lifts out effortlessly.
2. Preventing Blueberry Sinkage: Ever had all your blueberries gather at the bottom of your cake? The simple trick is to gently toss your fresh blueberries with a tablespoon of flour (taken from the total amount needed for the cake) before adding them to the wet ingredients. This light coating helps them suspend evenly throughout the batter during baking.
3. Mind Your Butter Temperature: When incorporating melted butter into your wet ingredients, ensure it has cooled back to room temperature. Adding hot melted butter directly to Greek yogurt can cause the yogurt to curdle, affecting the cake’s texture. Patience here pays off!
4. Don’t Overmix the Batter: Once you combine the wet and dry ingredients, mix them only until they are just moistened and no streaks of dry flour remain. Overmixing develops the gluten in the flour, which can lead to a tough, dense cake. A few lumps are perfectly fine and even desirable for a tender crumb.
5. Perfecting Your Streusel: The streusel should be crumbly with distinct clumps. If your streusel mixture seems too wet or isn’t forming those lovely clumps, gradually add an extra tablespoon of flour at a time until you achieve the desired consistency. It should resemble coarse sand with some pea-sized crumbs.
6. Trust, But Verify Your Oven: Baking times can vary significantly between ovens. While the recipe suggests a range of 37–45 minutes, start checking for doneness around the 37-minute mark. Look for the edges of the cake to start pulling away from the sides of the pan, and insert a toothpick into the center; if it comes out clean, your cake is ready.
7. Adjusting the Glaze Consistency: The lemon glaze should be thick enough to cling to the cake but still drippable. If it appears too thin, gradually whisk in more powdered sugar, a tablespoon at a time, until it reaches your preferred thickness. If it’s too thick, add a tiny splash of lemon juice or heavy cream.

Streusel Tips for a Crumbly Topping

The streusel topping is a highlight of this coffee cake, adding a wonderful buttery crunch and cinnamon spice. Achieving the perfect streusel is simple with these pointers:

• Cooled Melted Butter is Essential: The recipe calls for melted butter, but it’s critical that this butter has cooled to room temperature before being combined with the other streusel ingredients. Hot melted butter will dissolve the sugar, leading to a greasy, less crumbly topping rather than distinct clumps.
• Adjust Flour as Needed: The ideal streusel consistency is crumbly with visible clumps. If your mixture feels too wet or looks like a paste, don’t hesitate to add an additional 1-2 tablespoons of flour, mixing until the desired texture is achieved.
• Resist the Urge to Press Down: Once you’ve sprinkled the streusel mixture evenly over the cake batter, let it be! Pressing it down will cause it to melt into the cake more, resulting in a less distinct, crunchy topping. A light hand is best for maximum crumble.

Discover More Delicious Blueberry Desserts

If you’re a fan of blueberries, you’ll love exploring these other delightful recipes from Chelsea’s Messy Apron that celebrate this versatile berry:

• Lemon Blueberry Sweet Rolls with a bright lemon glaze – perfect for a special breakfast or brunch!
• Mini Blueberry Cheesecakes featuring a classic graham cracker crust – elegant and easy individual desserts.
• Blueberry Crisp with an abundance of buttery streusel topping – a comforting classic that’s always a crowd-pleaser.
• Fluffy Buttermilk Blueberry Pancakes – a breakfast staple elevated with fresh blueberries.
• Healthy Greek Yogurt Blueberry Muffins – a nutritious yet delicious way to enjoy your blueberries.

Blueberry Coffee Cake Recipe

By Chelsea Lords

This Blueberry Coffee Cake Recipe is moist and bursting with flavor, featuring a hint of lemon and a sweet streusel topping, all drizzled with a simple lemon glaze. A truly irresistible treat!

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes

Servings: 16 pieces

Equipment

• 8 x 8-inch baking pan

Ingredients

Coffee Cake

• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup fresh blueberries (not frozen)
• 1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
• 1/3 cup light brown sugar (packed)
• 3 tablespoons maple syrup
• 3 tablespoons heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon almond extract (optional)
• 3/4 cup full-fat Greek yogurt
• Zest of 1 lemon (approx. 1 teaspoon)
• Juice of 1 lemon (approx. 2 tablespoons)

Streusel

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
• 11 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup light brown sugar (packed)
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

Glaze

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1-1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon heavy cream
• 1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)
• 1/16 teaspoon salt (optional, to balance sweetness)

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Lightly grease an 8×8-inch metal baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. For effortless cleanup, line the pan with parchment paper, allowing some overhang on two sides, then grease the parchment.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, and baking powder until well combined. Add the fresh blueberries and gently toss to coat them in the flour mixture. Set this bowl aside.
3. In a separate medium bowl, combine the melted and cooled unsalted butter, packed light brown sugar, maple syrup, and heavy cream. Stir in the vanilla extract, almond extract (if using), and Greek yogurt. Zest the outer rind of one lemon (being careful to avoid the bitter white pith) to get about 1 teaspoon of zest. Then, juice the lemon to yield approximately 2 tablespoons of juice. Add both the lemon zest and juice to the wet ingredients and whisk until the mixture is smooth.
4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Mix gently until just combined; be careful not to overmix the batter. The batter will be quite thick. Use a spatula to spread and smooth the batter evenly into your prepared baking pan.
5. To prepare the streusel, melt the butter in the microwave and then allow it to cool to room temperature. It’s crucial not to use hot butter, as this can make your streusel greasy. In another bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Add the cooled melted butter and mix until the streusel is evenly combined and forms small, crumbly clumps. If the mixture appears too wet or doesn’t form clumps, gradually add more flour, one tablespoon at a time, until the desired texture is achieved. Evenly sprinkle the streusel mixture over the cake batter in the pan. Do not press the streusel into the cake.
6. Bake for 37–45 minutes, or until the edges of the cake begin to pull away slightly from the sides of the pan, and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. (My oven typically takes around 40 minutes.) Allow the cake to cool completely in the pan before applying the glaze.
7. While the cake cools, whisk all the glaze ingredients together in a small bowl until completely smooth and lump-free. Once the coffee cake is fully cooled, drizzle the lemon glaze generously over the entire cake or over individual slices just before serving.

Recipe Notes

Storage: Covered coffee cake will remain fresh for about 1–2 days at room temperature. For extended freshness, store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Leftover slices can be gently warmed in the microwave and then glazed for a delightful treat. Please note that after the first day, the streusel topping tends to soften slightly, and the cake’s moistness often intensifies.