Lightly sweet and subtly spiced, this low-fat blueberry coffee cake can be made with fresh or frozen blueberries for a treat you can make year-round.
Confession: My freezer is full of bulging gallon bags of the blueberries that we picked this summer, and rather than feel grateful that I’ll have blueberries all year round, I often feel pressured just to eat the darn things up so I can have my freezer space back. I want to be making Octobery desserts with the two exotic pumpkins that I just bought but feel compelled to use blueberries every chance I get.
Last weekend I made this blueberry coffee cake for my daughter E and her friend’s breakfast, and when E saw it she said, “Why didn’t you make a pumpkin cake?” It looks like being ungrateful for what you have runs in the family!
Still, E and her friend ate the whole cake, except for the 3 pieces D and I managed to grab. It’s a breakfast or coffee cake, so it’s not supposed to be super sweet (though try telling that to E, who poured agave nectar over hers because she thought it wasn’t sweet enough).
If you have blueberries in your freezer, you can enjoy this little taste of summer when it’s cool enough to want to turn the oven on. Who wouldn’t be grateful for that?
Coffee cakes traditionally have a crumb topping made crunchy/crumbly with oil or butter. For my oil-free, vegan coffee cake, I replaced that topping with some crunchy raw sugar (such as turbinado or demerara) mixed with cinnamon. It adds a nice crunchy texture and some sweetness without any fat.
More Coffee Cakes (Cakes to enjoy with coffee)
Blueberry Breakfast Cake
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients:
- 1 cup quick or whole oats (not instant)
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1/2 cup vegan sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 1/2 teaspoon Ener-G Egg Replacer or substitute
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Blueberries:
- 1 1/4 cup blueberries divided
Wet Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Topping:
- 2 tablespoons coarse sugar such as turbinado or raw sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F. Lightly spray or wipe the bottom and sides of a 8 X 8-inch glass baking pan with oil or cooking spray. (You may use metal, but the baking time will vary.)
- Put the oats into a blender and grind until they are fine. Stir a couple of times to make sure that they're uniformly ground.
- Mix the oat flour with the other dry ingredients. Stir in 1/4 cup of the blueberries.
- Put the remaining cup blueberries into a blender or food processor with the water. Pulse (quickly turn on and off) to coarsely chop the blueberries, but do not completely puree. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in blueberry mixture and other wet ingredients. Stir until moistened and completely combined, but don't over-mix. Pour into the prepared pan (batter will be thick). Mix together the coarse sugar and cinnamon topping, and sprinkle it over the top.
- Bake for 25-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Allow to cool for at least 15 minutes. Eat and celebrate!
Notes
Nutritional info is approximate.
Please pin and share:
Paulina
February 8, 2011 at 9:18 pmI made this on Sunday and it turned out amazing. I used strawberries and grapes in the mix too. It was awesome! My family loved it, which made me super happy since this is the first vegan cake I’ve made 😀 Thank you! Here’s the result if you wanna check it out!
KCalla
March 20, 2011 at 11:44 amJust finished our first Blueberry Breakfast Cake. WOW!!!! I wanted something special our lazy weekend morning – hanging around, reading the paper, looking out the windows and grateful to see signs of spring. This was perfect, thank you so much. I made the recipe as directed except that I did not defrost the frozen blueberries for either blueberry step (mine were just average sized store bought frozen blueberries in a bag, not the giant plumpers I sometimes see fresh in season). I baked it for 35 minutes. This will become a regular family recipe for us and is certainly “company worthy”. Thank you again for all of the wonderful recipes.
Get Skinny, Go Vegan.
March 20, 2011 at 7:05 pmThis looks amazing!
Crystal
December 10, 2011 at 11:28 amGreat recipe! It will definitely go in my keeper file. :). Thanks for the yummy recipe!!
Carolyn
January 8, 2012 at 3:50 pmThis was really yummy! I adapted it to be gluten-free by replacing the whole wheat flour with 2/3 cup of sorgum flower and 1/3 cup of cornstarch, plus I added 1/4 tsp guar gum for good measure. I will definitely be making this again.
susan
January 16, 2012 at 8:04 pmMade this tonight- very nice!
I added a bit more sugar, a few more blueberries and some walnuts.
It’s awesome…don’t know if it will last for breakfast!
Annemarie
April 8, 2012 at 8:59 amWould this recipe work to make as muffins?
Susan Voisin
April 8, 2012 at 9:04 amI can’t see why not. Give it a try!
Annemarie
April 8, 2012 at 7:53 pmThanks so much for your quick response! I made the recipe as muffins for Easter brunch and everyone loved them. My boyfriend had 3!
Esther J
May 11, 2012 at 4:21 pmThis is delicious, Susan! And I love the texture.
I made it today Friday afternoon for Saturday and Sunday mornings (trying to keep my sweets for special occasions). Big mistake – I just had a chunk with tea (just to taste ;D) and am eyeing it as I type for another chunk, er, slice.
I sub’d blackberries for the blueberries as that’s what I had on hand and it’s still very yummy!
I’m deeply concerned about how much will make it through to tomorrow, never mind the rest of Mother’s Day weekend. ;D
Thanks and hope you have a love-filled Mother’s Day!
Krista English
July 7, 2012 at 2:37 pmI made this cake this morning for breakfast. My 2 boys and husband scarfed it down in one sitting so it was good definitely. I think I needed to bake it a wee bit longer b/c it was a little on the doughy side for me. I used date sugar and xylitol as my sugar which is not my favorite, but it’s what I had and it did the job. I used flaxseed and water for the egg substitute. I added some walnuts and 1 T canola oil. The walnuts were a great addition. The canola oil, not sure it added to the goodness so I’d leave it out next time. Thanks for the recipes! I look forward to trying more!
Jamie
July 10, 2012 at 7:00 pmI thought this was GREAT! I did make some changes because I’m trying to be all sugar free besides fruit. Instead of sugar, I added 1/2 of my “date paste” (puréed dates soaked in water). I used a whole egg (since I’m not a vegan) and omitted the water. Topped with some cinnamon and baked in individual little custard dishes. They freeze great and I have been taking one a day for a snack! Thank you so much for this recipe!!
April Schreifels
August 5, 2012 at 7:42 pmI know this vegan, however if I chose to use egg how many eggs would I need? I am not vegan I just follow a diet that doesn’t include meat very often thanks for the recipes!!
Sandra Werner
May 4, 2013 at 1:00 pmI just want to say I would love to see some recipes that are for people with allergies to cinnamon. Mace is a substitute but changes the taste dramatically and not always favorable.
Kath (My Funny Little Life)
July 7, 2013 at 12:53 pmI made an adaptation of this today because I had to bake a cake for a birthday and the recipe was easy to convert to gluten-free and low in fructose. It turned out so well and tasted so good! This was the first time I’ve made a gluten-free cake, and I’m very happy there are a few leftovers! 🙂
Cathy
October 8, 2013 at 7:23 pmThis sounds amazing! My daughter needs gluten free, which is new since this past summer. Suggestions for making this GF?
Susan Voisin
October 8, 2013 at 8:28 pmYou should be able to substitute a gluten-free flour blend for the flour. You can buy one (find one that doesn’t have baking soda or powder added) or do a search to find a recipe to make your own. Gluten-free flours work best when several are blended because they have different properties, but I’m not an accomplished gluten-free baker, so I don’t have a recipe of my own to recommend.
Fran
March 26, 2014 at 9:54 amHi Susan,
I tried making this today. Was looking for recipes using flours other than wheat and landed up on your page. The cake looks wonderful, even when cut and tastes good but unfortunately has a gooey feel. Is it supposed to be like that? I used flaxseed instead of Ener- G Egg Replacer. I ‘ve never used flaxseed as a substitute for egg before so I don’t know what to expect.
A tip for those who ended up with a purple cake – mine didn’t! I used fresh berries and used a knife to chop them coarsely – each berry into 4-6 pieces. I added the water to the flour and mixed, adding the berries last. Could that be the reason for the gooey texture??
Fran
Susan Voisin
March 26, 2014 at 10:03 amFran, I suspect the flaxseed is the culprit. It doesn’t contain any leaveners like Ener-G, so instead of helping the cake rise, it thickens and gets gummy. I hope it’s still edible, though!
Fran
March 26, 2014 at 2:28 pmThanks for your repsonse. It’s still edible. Have to try it again as it tastes pretty good. 🙂
Hadas
November 3, 2015 at 7:40 pmThanks for another fantastic recipe! I used ground flax in place of the egg replacer and didn’t run into any problems. The cake came out so moist and flavorful and the crunchy topping is perfect.
Cheryl Schistad
January 10, 2016 at 8:43 amI want to send riffs link to a friend bit cannot figure out how to do that, Even from the desktop version… Help!
Susan Voisin
January 10, 2016 at 9:43 amI’m not sure what the problem is, but the link to this post is https://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2010/10/blueberry-breakfast-cake.html Hope that helps!
Cheryl Schistad
January 10, 2016 at 11:16 amI figured it out thanks!
Cheryl Schistad
January 10, 2016 at 11:22 amSusan, this is superb! I modified a bit, used 1T ground flax in with the oats I ground up, put the cup of blueberries in the dry ingredients while frozen, and the 1/4 cup in the blender, used one 🍌 instead of applesauce, used almond flavor instead of vanilla. Made a double batch the cake is just like cake, very fluffy and not too sweet. Thank you!
Shawna
April 24, 2020 at 3:56 pmMade it with my sourdough starter that got cooked too hot!! So liquid flour and water… worked a charm, added some blueberries and cranberries for tang!! Yummm. Ommited the apple sauce for liquid, and added some quinoa flour for consistency… Delish
Kim Baker
September 20, 2021 at 10:24 pm🙂 It was 10 : 30 p.m. . I was on my way to bed. I took the dog downstairs from her napping spot next to my husband who was sleeping..I opened the door to the patio and walked out with her to view the Harvest moon. And then I got all sentimental and decided to see if you had a recipe for coffee cake. For me to make for hubster. In the morning. ” I’ll just put the dry together and finish it in the morning.” Next thing you know I was throwing stuff into the bowl. I then read the directions. Lol. I took the bowl ingredients out and pulsed them a bit in my Blentec, then back to the bowl. Then I was ‘off to the races! ‘ I put together the wet and threw in the 1/4c bluberries into the dry bowl. Stirred it around and mixed in the wet. I then fnished reading the instructions. Lol. I decided to leave things as they were as the batter tasted ok. I am now waiting to see if it turns out too dry!