High Altitude Blueberry Buckle Coffee Cake

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This high altitude blueberry buckle coffee cake is tender, soft and moist, with blueberries bursting in every bite, all topped off with buttery brown sugar cinnamon streusel.

Looking for more blueberry recipes? You’ll love these brown butter blueberry crumb bars, blueberry ice cream, and blueberry lattice pie.

A piece of blueberry buckle with crumb topping.

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Is it a Buckle or a Coffee Cake?

A buckle consists of fruit and cake baked together, with a streusel crumb topping. As the cake bakes, the fruit throughout causes the cake to “buckle”, hence the name. It’s really very similar to a coffee cake.

A coffee cake is not a cake that has coffee as one of the ingredients, and it may or may not contain fruit. It’s a cake that’s typically served for breakfast, intended to be eaten with coffee. You will also usually find streusel topping on coffee cakes. So if you want to call this blueberry buckle a blueberry coffee cake, I wouldn’t argue with you.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

No Waiting for Cake to Cool. One of the best things about this blueberry buckle or coffee cake is that you can enjoy it while it’s warm from the oven.

Moist for Days. This cake stays so moist that you can even bake it the night before, then just re-warm individual pieces the next morning for a just-baked texture.

High Altitude Tested. I develop all the recipes on my site for Denver’s altitude of 5,280 feet. If you’re at a lower or higher elevation, please see my FAQs for guidance on adjusting recipes for your altitude.

A piece of blueberry buckle coffee cake on a plate.

See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.

Ingredients

Flour. Plain all-purpose flour gives the cake structure and strength. You’ll be using this in both the cake batter and in the crumb topping.
Sugar. Adds sweetness and moisture. I use white granulated sugar in the cake, and a combination of white sugar and brown sugar in the crumb topping.
Baking Powder. Leavens the cake so it rises as it bakes.
Salt. Balances the sweetness.
Spices. Cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom add warmth and complement the flavor of the blueberries.
Milk + Sour Cream. Whole milk and sour cream adds moisture, richness and acidity for a tender cake crumb.
Vanilla Extract. Flavor.
Butter. Adds moisture and gives the cake a buttery flavor, as well as binds the crumbs together for the topping.
Egg. Adds structure and binds the batter together.
Blueberries. Fresh blueberries are best for baking, so they don’t turn the batter green like frozen blueberries tend to do.

Instructions

Getting Ready

Preheat the oven to 350 F and position a rack in the center of the oven.
Spray a 9×9 baking pan with non-stick spray or brush it lightly with softened butter.

Streusel

In a bowl, combine the flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt.
Add the melted butter, and stir until moist and crumbly. Set aside.

Cake

In a bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and spices.
In another bowl, whisk together the milk, sour cream, vanilla, melted butter/oil and egg.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry, and stir everything together with a spatula, into a thick batter. When the batter is mostly combined, but there are still a few floury streaks, fold in the blueberries.

Spread the batter into the prepared pan and sprinkle with the streusel topping, breaking up the bigger crumbles into smaller ones so it’s evenly distributed.
Bake on the center oven rack for about 45 minutes, until a cake tester in the center comes out clean.
Cool on a wire rack for about 30 minutes, then serve warm.

Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common baking questions, so that you can be successful in your own baking!

Frequently Asked Questions

Should I use fresh or frozen blueberries?

While fresh blueberries are abundant and inexpensive in the summer, I prefer to only use fresh blueberries in baked goods.

While frozen blueberries work great for pies, with baked goods, though, they present a few challenges. If you add them to your batter completely frozen, it will make the batter far too cold and can really mess up how well the batter bakes. So, those blueberries need to be thawed out a little. But when frozen blueberries thaw, all those ice crystals on the berries turn to juice, which in turn, colors your batter as they’re mixed in, usually to an unappealing grayish-green shade.

The solution to this is to rinse and pat dry your frozen berries. Rinsing under lukewarm water until the water runs clear will remove those ice crystals and thaw the berries. Then, you should pat them dry, and toss them with a little flour before gently folding them into your batter to avoid any discoloration.

How should I store leftover blueberry buckle?

Store the leftover cake in an airtight container for up to 2 days, or refrigerate for up to 5 days.

What’s the best way to reheat leftover cake?

This coffee cake is just as good leftover as it is baked fresh! Bake it the night before to make the next morning easier, and just rewarm slices for 15-20 seconds in the microwave for that soft, warm, just-baked texture.

Can this recipe be doubled?

Yes, you can double the recipe and bake it in a 9×13 pan. Bake for a little longer and test the center for doneness.

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