If you love blueberry muffins and you love coffee cake, I have the perfect recipe for you! This amazing gluten free blueberry cake is a soft, moist vanilla cake bursting with tons of fresh blueberries and topped off with a sweet, crunchy streusel topping. Some people call it a blueberry buckle because the topping makes a buckled look on the finished cake. It's a fruit filled coffee cake that's perfect for breakfast or dessert.
Coffee cake is one of my favorite treats, because it feels like you have permission to eat dessert for breakfast without judgement. If you love it as much as I do, try this amazing carrot cake coffee cake or my second favorite, banana bread coffee cake.
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Why You'll Love This Gluten Free Blueberry Buckle
- It's so moist and soft.
- It takes like blueberry muffins in cake form.
- It's acceptable to eat cake for breakfast 😉
- It's gluten free and dairy free!
Ingredient Notes
- Gluten Free 1-to-1 Flour - I use Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1 Flour Blend in all of my recipes. You can use the flour blend of your choice just make sure it has xanthan gum. Different flour blends may produce different results. For the best outcome, weigh your flour.
- Baking Powder - Leavening agent helps the cake turn out light and fluffy.
- Sugar - This recipe only uses plain white sugar. It's not an overly sweet cake, making it ideal to have with a cup of coffee.
- Butter - I use Miyokos Vegan Butter or Country Crock Plant Butter in all of my recipes. If you're not dairy free, you can substitute regular dairy butter in the same measure.
- Eggs - The eggs provide structure for the cake. I haven't tried egg replacements with this recipe. If you do, let me know how it works in the comments.
- Milk - I use either oat milk or Unsweetened Coconut Milk (the kind in the carton) for all of my baking. If you're not dairy free, you can substitute regular milk in the same measure.
- Vanilla - Provides the flavor for the cake.
- Blueberries - Fresh blueberries are the star of this delightful cake. Don't substitute frozen berries as the extra moisture will through off the texture of the bake.
For the streusel, we will use a combination of butter, light brown sugar, white sugar, gluten free flour and cinnamon. The cake can also be prepared without the streusel and is still lovely.
Substitutions & Variations
- Not Dairy Free - use dairy butter and milk in the same measure.
- Make it Vegan - I would try a combination of a baking soda + vinegar egg and some applesauce.
- No blueberries - Replace with the same quantity of strawberries, blackberries or raspberries.
Instructions
Begin by making the streusel topping:
STEP 1: Combine the gluten free flour, sugar, brown sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl. Mix with a fork.
STEP 2: Add the melted vegan butter to the dry ingredients.
STEP 3: Stir the wet and dry ingredients together with the fork until all of the dry is incorporated.
STEP 4: Refrigerate the topping while you prepare the cake batter.
Once your streusel topping is chilling, prepare the cake:
STEP 5: Combine the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on medium speed for 3 minutes until light and fluffy.
STEP 6: Add the eggs and vanilla and beat again for 2 minutes.
STEP 7: Combine the gluten free flour, baking powder and salt together. With the mixer on low speed, add half of the flour mixture followed by half of the milk. Repeat with remaining ingredients.
STEP 8: Fold in the blueberries by hand using a spatula. Take care not to overmix or you will break the berries and cause the cake to turn purple.
STEP 9: Spread the cake batter into a lined pan and top with a few more blueberries and the crumb topping.
What is a Blueberry Buckle?
A buckle is a coffee cake topped with streusel and filled with fresh fruit. It get's its name from the buckled appearance of the top of the cake after it's baked.
While this recipe calls for blueberries, you could use equal measure of any fresh fruit. For peaches or strawberries, just cut the fruit into smaller pieces before mixing in.
Recipe FAQs
This recipe is going to turn out better with fresh fruit. Frozen fruit has more moisture than fresh fruit which will impact the way it turns out when baked. Save the frozen fruit for things like pie and cobbler.
I store mine in an airtight container in the refrigerator. I suspect it would also be fine to store at room temperature, but may not last as long.
This recipe will also work in a springform pan or a 9×5 loaf pan. For a loaf pan, increase the baking time by 10 minutes.
Yes! I went kind of light on the streusel on this recipe compared to my other coffee cakes. Definitely double the streusel topping if you like lots of crunchy goodness on top!
More blueberry recipes:
If you try this recipe, please leave a 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 star rating and let me know how you liked it in the comments below.
Recipe
Gluten Free Blueberry Cake
Ingredients
For the streusel
- ¼ Cup Vegan Butter melted
- ¼ Cup Light Brown Sugar
- ¼ Cup Sugar
- ½ Cup Gluten Free 1-to-1 Flour Blend
- ½ teaspoon Cinnamon
For the cake
- 2 Cup Gluten Free 1-to-1 Flour Blend I use Bob's Red Mill
- 2 teaspoon Baking Powder
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 1 Cup Sugar
- ½ Cup Vegan Butter room temperature
- 2 Eggs room temperature
- 2 teaspoon Vanilla
- ½ Cup Non Dairy Milk room temperature
- 2 Cup Fresh Blueberries divided
Instructions
For the streusel
- Combine the dry ingredients together in a small bowl.¼ Cup Light Brown Sugar, ¼ Cup Sugar, ½ Cup Gluten Free 1-to-1 Flour Blend, ½ teaspoon Cinnamon
- Add the melted butter and stir together until all the dry ingredients are incorporated.¼ Cup Vegan Butter
- Place in the refrigerator while you prepare the cake batter.
For the cake
- Preheat the oven to 375F degrees. Line a 9x9 baking pan with parchment paper.
- Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl. Stir together until well mixed. Set aside.2 Cup Gluten Free 1-to-1 Flour Blend, 2 teaspoon Baking Powder, ½ teaspoon Salt
- Combine butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on medium speed for 3 minutes, until light and fluffy. Scrape down the bowl.1 Cup Sugar, ½ Cup Vegan Butter
- Add the vanilla and mix 30 seconds more.2 teaspoon Vanilla
- Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing for 60 seconds between each addition. Scrape down the bowl.2 Eggs
- Turn the mixer to the lowest speed. Add half of the flour followed by half of the milk. Repeat with the remaining flour and milk. Mix until the dry ingredients are just incorporated.½ Cup Non Dairy Milk
- Remove the bowl from the mixer and add the blueberries, reserving about ½ cup for the top of the cake. Fold them in with a spatula, being gentle so as not to break open the berries.2 Cup Fresh Blueberries
- Spread the cake batter into your prepared pan. The batter will be thicker than normal, this is ok because it helps to keep the berries from sinking to the bottom of the cake.
- Sprinkle the top of the cake with the remaining blueberries and the chunks of streusel topping.
- Bake in preheated oven for 40-45 minutes until center springs back when gently poked with your finger. Remove from the oven and cool in the pan for at least 20 minutes before slicing. If you allow the cake to cool completely before serving, it will be a bit less crumbly.
Notes
Tiffany is the recipe developer, stylist and food photographer behind Well Fed Baker. As a lifelong baker who had to go gluten free and dairy free in 2016, Tiffany strives to share allergen friendly recipes that never feel like they are free from anything.
Monica Muller says
I just made this at our summer mobile home on Wolfe Lake Ontario and I’m so happy with the results. It’s still cooling and it looks delicious.
Can hardly wait to try it.
It's the perfect summer dessert. Hope you enjoy a slice by the lake!
Christy Sample says
This was very simple to put together and I had all the ingredients in my pantry. I made it for Father's Day and it was a hit with everyone. I am the only gf/df person in my family but they all loved this coffee cake.
This makes my day! 🙂