• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Curly Girl Kitchen
  • about
  • faqs
  • recipes
  • portfolio
  • work with me
  • contact
  • Navigation Menu: Social Icons

    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest

High Altitude Blueberry Buckle Coffee Cake

August 12, 2020 by Heather Smoke 2 Comments

Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

An abundance of fresh, plump, juicy blueberries is one of the simple pleasures of summer. I love to eat them plain or with yogurt, scattered over oatmeal or pancakes, and baked into pies with flaky, all-butter pastry crust. Big, bakery-style blueberry muffins with crunchy tops are high on my list of favorites for weekend breakfasts. Also a favorite are coffee cakes. And this high altitude blueberry buckle coffee cake is just what I was craving this summer. Tender cake that’s soft and moist, with blueberries bursting in every bite. And buttery cinnamon streusel. Everything is better with streusel.

Looking for more blueberry recipes? You’ll love these brown butter blueberry crumb bars, vanilla bean cheesecake with blueberry compote, and blueberry crumb pie.

A piece of blueberry buckle coffee cake with a bite taken.

This site contains affiliate links.  As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.  This means that I may make a small commission if you purchase a product using those links.  This in no way affects my opinion of those products and services.  All opinions expressed on this site are my own.

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.

Slices of blueberry buckle coffee cake on blue flowered plates.

Ingredients

Streusel Topping

  • Sugar. Granulated sugar sweetens the crumb topping. You could use light brown sugar, too.
  • Flour. All-purpose flour gives the topping structure.
  • Cinnamon. Some spice complements the flavor of the blueberries.
  • Salt. Balances the sweetness.
  • Butter. Binds the crumbs together and makes it crisp and crumbly.

Cake Batter

  • Flour. Plain all-purpose flour gives the cake structure and strength.
  • Baking Powder. Leavens the cake so it rises as it bakes.
  • Salt. Balances the sweetness.
  • Nutmeg. Flavor.
  • Milk + Sour Cream. Whole milk and sour cream adds moisture, richness and acidity for a tender cake crumb.
  • Vanilla + Almond Extracts. Flavor.
  • Sugar. Adds sweetness and moisture.
  • Butter. Adds moisture and gives the cake a buttery flavor.
  • 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.
Blueberry buckle coffee cake cut into squares.

Instructions

Streusel

  • Preheat the oven to 350 and spray a 9×9 baking pan with non-stick spray.
  • In a bowl, combine all the streusel ingredients, using a pastry cutter to cut the butter into the dry ingredients until coarse and crumbly. Set aside.

Cake

  • In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg. In another bowl, combine the milk, sour cream and extracts. Set aside.
  • In a large bowl, whisk the sugar, melted butter and egg, whisking vigorously for about 1 minute. Using a spatula, add the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the milk mixture, starting and ending with the flour. The batter will be very thick, and it’s better to have a few streaks of flour left than to over-mix. Fold in the blueberries.
  • Spread the batter into the prepared pan and sprinkle with the streusel topping.
  • 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.
Slices of blueberry buckle coffee cake on blue flowered plates.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this a high altitude recipe?

Yes, I test and bake all my recipes at Denver’s altitude of 5,280 feet. High altitude bakers need to make a few adjustments to ensure that our cakes and baked goods turn out perfectly. Some of these adjustments include: increasing the flour, decreasing the sugar, increasing the liquid, and decreasing the leavening. If you bake a cake written for and tested at sea level without making any adjustments, your cake will likely sink, and have a dense, gummy texture. Not good!

And although this contains a little more flour, and it’s a very thick batter, don’t concern yourself that it will be a dry cake! Butter, milk and sour cream (not to mention all those blueberries) keeps it moist, tender and delicious. I also added a little nutmeg and almond extract to my cake batter, just for more flavor, but those ingredients are optional.

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, as much as possible. I always have a couple of big bags of frozen blueberries on hand, though, and I love thawing them out to eat for breakfast with a big spoonful of Greek yogurt. Frozen berries are also great for pies and cobblers.

With baked goods, though, using frozen blueberries presents 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.

Can I make this coffee cake the night before?

I’m a big fan of saving time in the morning, especially since I have hungry little boys waiting for breakfast. Since this cake takes 45 minutes to bake, I like to prep as much as I can the night before. This usually means I’m measuring all my ingredients ahead of time, maybe even going so far as to have my separate bowls of dry and liquid ingredients all ready to go, depending on the recipe, that I can just mix together in the morning.

But 45 minutes is still a long time to wait, so to avoid getting up early, I simply baked my cake the night before, and covered it loosely. The next morning, when everyone was hungry, our coffee cake was ready, and I had gotten to sleep in. It was just as soft, tender and moist, with crisp, crumbly streusel topping, as if I’d baked it that morning. And for that warm, fresh-from-the-oven texture, I like to individually warm slices for 15-20 seconds in the microwave.

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.

How long does this cake stay fresh?

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

A piece of blueberry buckle coffee cake with a bite taken.

You Might Also Like

  • Banana Bread Coffee Cake
  • Pieces of gingerbread coffee cake, drizzled with maple icing.
    Gingerbread Coffee Cake
  • Espresso coffeecake muffins, piled on a white platter.
    Espresso Coffee Cake Muffins
  • Sweet potato crumb muffins, one split in half.
    Sweet Potato Crumb Muffins

Favorite Products


Did you love today’s recipe? Please rate the recipe and let me know in the comments what you thought! Also, be sure to follow Curly Girl Kitchen on Instagram, and tag me when you try one of my recipes so I can see all your delicious creations!

A piece of blueberry buckle coffee cake with a bite taken.

High Altitude Blueberry Buckle Coffee Cake

Heather Smoke
This blueberry buckle coffee cake is moist and tender, full of juicy blueberries, and topped with buttery cinnamon streusel.

All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.

5 from 2 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 10 mins
Cook Time 45 mins
Total Time 55 mins
Course Breakfast
Cuisine American
Servings16

Ingredients
 

Streusel Topping

  • ⅓ cup (72g) granulated sugar
  • ½ cup (65g) all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • ¼ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
  • ¼ cup (56.5g) unsalted butter, cold

Cake Batter

  • 2 ¼ cups (293g) all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
  • 1 ½ tsp (6g) baking powder
  • ½ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
  • ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
  • ½ cup (135ml) whole milk
  • ¼ cup (60g) sour cream
  • 1 tsp (4g) vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp (4g) almond extract (optional)
  • ¾ cup (162g) granulated sugar
  • ¼ cup (56.5g) unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 (55g) large egg
  • 2 cups (380g) fresh blueberries

Instructions
 

Streusel

  • Preheat the oven to 350 and spray a 9×9 baking pan with non-stick spray.
  • In a bowl, combine all the streusel ingredients, using a pastry cutter to cut the butter into the dry ingredients until coarse and crumbly. Set aside.

Cake

  • In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg. In another bowl, combine the milk, sour cream and extracts. Set aside.
  • In a large bowl, whisk the sugar, melted butter and egg, whisking vigorously for about 1 minute. Using a spatula, add the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the milk mixture, starting and ending with the flour. The batter will be very thick, and it's better to have a few streaks of flour left than to over-mix. Fold in the blueberries.
  • Spread the batter into the prepared pan and sprinkle with the streusel topping.
  • 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.

Notes

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.
Store leftover coffee cake in an airtight container for up to 2 days, or refrigerate for up to 5 days.
This recipe can also be doubled, and baked in a 9×13 pan.  Bake for a little longer and test the center for doneness.
16 servings will be fairly small portions.  If you cut your cake more generously, you might only get 9-12 servings.
Keyword Blueberry Buckle, Coffee Cake, High Altitude
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
https://curlygirlkitchen.com/

Filed Under: Breakfast Tagged With: blueberry, coffeecake

Previous Post: « High Altitude Blueberry Vanilla Cake
Next Post: Brown Sugar Bourbon Ice Cream »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jamie

    August 17, 2020 at 1:09 am

    5 stars
    Soo good. Was very tasty. Will make again.

    Reply
  2. Dani

    June 25, 2022 at 2:33 pm

    5 stars
    I am slightly above 7000 feet and this recipe worked great! I actually didn’t have a 9×9 pan so I used a loaf pan and baked for 50min and it turned out wonderful. Definitely will be making again.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar

Welcome

I'm Heather, and welcome to my Colorado kitchen, where you will find high-altitude tested recipes for beautifully photographed cakes, baked goods and sweets. I believe that the kitchen is the heart of a home, and everyone is welcome in mine. So stay a while, sip a cup of coffee, and bake something delicious with me!

A graphic on how to make perfect American buttercream.
A graphic on how to stack, fill, crumb coat and frost layer cakes.

Recipe Index

  • Breads, Biscuits, Muffins and Doughnuts
  • Breakfast
  • Brownies and Bars
  • Cakes
    • Buttercream
    • Cake Decorating
    • Classic Cake Flavors
    • Holiday Themed Cakes
  • Candy and Snacks
  • Cheesecakes
  • Christmas and Thanksgiving
    • Christmas Cakes
    • Christmas Cookies
  • Cookies
  • Crisps, Crumbles, Cobblers and Puddings
  • Cupcakes
  • Drinks
  • Halloween
  • How To Guides and Resources
  • Ice Cream and Frozen Treats
    • Frozen Custard
    • Ice Cream Sandwiches
    • No Churn Ice Cream
    • Popsicles
  • Jams and Sweet Sauces
  • Pies and Tarts
  • Savory
A graphic on how I improved my food photography with Foodtography School.
A graphic on how to make flaky pie dough.

Recent Posts

  • High Altitude Raspberry Vanilla Cake
  • High Altitude Baked Chocolate Espresso Donuts
  • High Altitude Heart Shaped Chocolate Bundt Cake
  • High Altitude Homemade Graham Crackers
  • High Altitude Chocolate Chip Cookie Cupcakes
  • High Altitude Red Velvet Cake Whoopie Pies
  • Chocolate Dipped Chocolate Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies
  • High Altitude Chocolate Sheet Cake
  • Rose Petal Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies
  • Homemade Chocolate Fudge Pop Tarts

Archives

  • about
  • faqs
  • recipes
  • portfolio
  • work with me
  • contact

Footer

I'm Heather, and welcome to Curly Girl Kitchen, where you will find high-altitude tested recipes for beautifully photographed cakes and sweets. I believe that the kitchen is the heart of a home, and everyone is welcome in mine. So stay a while, sip a cup of coffee, and bake something sweet with me!

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest

Privacy Policy

About

FAQs

Work With Me

Contact

Copyright © 2023 Curly Girl Kitchen on the Foodie Pro Theme