This sourdough blueberry coffee cake is a family favorite and an easy sourdough discard recipe. The tender, buttery crumb bursts with juicy blueberries and is topped with a melt-in-your-mouth, brown sugar, and cinnamon crumb.
We love coffee cakes over here. From pumpkin coffee cake, simple cinnamon sourdough coffee cake, or this blueberry version, they are such a versatile bake because they can so easily serve as a main dish, a cozy dessert, or both.
One of my favorite ways to easily serve a crowd is to bake up a savory sourdough breakfast strata or ham and cheese frittata and serve it alongside this irresistible blueberry coffee cake for a built-in dessert.
We stock up during blueberry season, freezing plenty of blueberries for the cold winter ahead. A crumb-topped cake with fresh blueberries is so cheery and delicious, the perfect recipe for bringing summer flavors to the middle of winter.
This recipe is often labeled a blueberry buckle, due to the nature of the baking process and how the crumb topping creates a buckling effect on the surface.
Whether you call it a buckle, a breakfast cake, a crumb cake, or simply a coffee cake, you’ll love the rich crumb, the tart berries, and the scrumptious crumble topping of this sweet treat.
If you’re new to sourdough, take a look at my post on how to make a sourdough starter or maintaining and feeding a starter. You’ll be baking sourdough bread and sourdough discard coffee cakes in no time!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Delicious – Served for breakfast or dessert, this blueberry coffee cake recipe is perfect with a steaming cup of coffee. It’s sweet and fluffy, bursting with pockets of tart blueberries, and topped with a brown sugar and butter streusel.
Sourdough discard – This is a great way to put your discard to good use! You’ll have the flavor and nutritional benefits of fermented grains all in one easy and mouth-watering recipe! The addition of sourdough starter provides moisture and a mild, tangy flavor. For less sourdough tang, use a recently fed starter.
Easy and plentiful – It’s an easy recipe to prepare and bake quickly, offering plenty of servings for company or to enjoy throughout the week!
Ingredients
Sourdough starter – A fed starter will produce very little sourdough flavor, while using sourdough discard will add a touch of sourdough tang. Either one will work in this recipe!
Blueberries – Fresh or frozen blueberries will do. See below for tips on using frozen blueberries.
A full ingredient list with exact amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
How to Make Sourdough Blueberry Coffee Cake
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease a 9×13 baking dish. Prepare the crumb mixture by adding melted and cooled butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, and flour to a medium bowl. Mix until combined, then set to the side.
Step 2: In the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, cream the room-temperature butter, sugar, and brown sugar.
Step 3: Add the sour cream, eggs, vanilla, sourdough starter, and milk, blending until smooth.
Step 4: In a separate bowl, combine salt, baking soda, baking powder, and flour. Add these dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, then mix on low speed until just combined. You don’t want to overmix the batter.
Step 5: Toss the blueberries with two teaspoons of flour to coat, a step that will help them not to sink to the bottom.
Step 6: Pour half of the cake batter into the baking dish, sprinkle half of the blueberries on top, then follow with half of the crumb mixture.
Step 7: Gently fold the rest of the blueberries into the remaining batter, then pour over the crumble in the baking dish. Sprinkle the rest of the crumb topping over the top of the batter.
Step 8: Bake in the preheated oven for 40-50 minutes or until the edges turn golden brown, the center is set, and a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack before serving.
Tips
- I handle the blueberries with a wooden spoon or spatula to avoid staining my hands.
- Frozen blueberries will lower the temperature of the cake batter, which may mean your cake will require additional baking time.
- Whole milk and full-fat sour cream make this cake deliciously rich.
- Don’t overmix the cake batter or it may not turn out as fluffy and light.
- Add a drizzle of your favorite icing to the cooled cake, if you’d like.
- Replacing the vanilla extract with almond extract adds a fun twist of flavor. Flavor to taste, but remember that almond flavoring is very potent.
- Try adding lemon zest to the crumb mixture.
Recipe FAQs
While best enjoyed the same day, this coffee cake can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container for 2 to 3 days. You can also refrigerate or freeze for longer storage. It’s delicious served warm, at room temperature, or even cold from the fridge.
Regular cakes have frosting, whereas coffee cakes have a crumb topping. The ingredients are often the same!
Sour cream adds moisture while keeping the batter thick, and the added fat content contributes more richness to the cake.
To avoid the cake sinking in the center, make sure to mix the batter gently and only until combined. Overmixing can cause a cake to deflate. You should also bake in a preheated oven and keep the door shut to avoid temperature fluctuation. Additionally, if your baking soda is older than 6 months and/or stored open, it may be time for new baking soda.
Serve your coffee cake with a cup of coffee or hot tea! You can also serve it as a main dish with a side of fresh fruit, bacon or sausage, or paired with an egg dish.
More Sourdough Recipes from the Farmhouse
- Sourdough Swedish Cinnamon Buns
- Sourdough Pastry Braid
- Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls
- Easy Sourdough Crumpets
- Best Sourdough Crepes
If you try this recipe and love it, I would love it if you could come back and give it 5 stars! Tag me on Instagram @farmhouseonboone.
Sourdough Blueberry Coffee Cake
Equipment
Ingredients
Crumb
- 3/4 cup melted butter, 171g
- 1 cup brown sugar, 160g
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon, 15g
- 1 cup all-purpose flour, 140g
Coffee Cake
- 1 cup softened butter
- 1 cup granulated sugar, 201g
- 1/2 cup brown sugar, 106g
- 1 cup sour cream, full-fat
- 3 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 8g
- 1/2 cup sourdough starter, active or discard, 113g
- 1 1/4 cup milk, 354g
- 1 teaspoon salt, 7g
- 1 teaspoon baking soda, 17g
- 1 teaspoon baking powder, 17g
- 3 cups all-purpose flour, 420g
- 2 cups fresh blueberries
- 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
Instructions
- Prepare the crumb mixture by adding melted and cooled butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, and flour to a medium bowl. Mix until combined, then set to the side.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, cream the room-temperature butter, sugar, and brown sugar.
- Add the sour cream, eggs, vanilla, sourdough starter, and milk, blending until smooth.
- In a separate bowl, combine salt, baking soda, baking powder, and flour. Add these dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, then mix on low speed until just combined. You don’t want to overmix the batter.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease a 9×13 baking dish. Toss the blueberries with two teaspoons of flour to coat, a step that will help them not to sink to the bottom.
- Pour half of the cake batter into the baking dish, sprinkle half of the blueberries on top, then follow with half of the crumb mixture.
- Gently fold the rest of the blueberries into the remaining batter, then pour over the crumble in the baking dish. Sprinkle the rest of the crumb topping over the top of the batter.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 40-50 minutes or until the edges turn golden brown, the center is set, and a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack before serving.
Notes
- I handle the blueberries with a wooden spoon or spatula to avoid staining my hands.
- If you want to use frozen blueberries, use them straight from frozen and do not thaw.
- Frozen blueberries will lower the temperature of the cake batter, which may mean your cake will require additional baking time.
- Whole milk and full-fat sour cream make this cake deliciously rich.
- Don’t overmix the cake batter or it may not turn out as fluffy and light.
- Add a drizzle of your favorite icing to the cooled cake, if you’d like.
- Replacing the vanilla extract with almond extract adds a fun twist of flavor. Flavor to taste, but remember that almond flavoring is very potent.
- Try adding lemon zest to the crumb mixture.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
So if I want to break this down some more for the body and do the overnight method besides the starter and flour, what would I include in that mix to sit overnight? I look forward to making it and have loved all the recipes I have used from your site!
You can make the cake batter and then allow it to sit in the fridge, covered, for 24 hours.
This is very yummy but the middle didn’t cook all the way !?
Oh no! Each oven bakes a bit differently.
Fantastic! I added lemon zest to the crumb – recommend this. Thanks for a great recipe!
Great idea!
I tried this recipe for the first time. I’ve tried bread before but decided to try a dessert for my first ever attempt aside from box varieties . It was easy enough for a baking newbie to get through it and came out both visibly and most importantly, from all who sampled it excellent. My wife barred me from making another until it was gone but I have a green light to do another. Shared it with several friends and the 8 people in the house and was a huge hit. Thank you for sharing the recipe and looking forward to trying more.
This is a great recipe! My family loved it. I used frozen blueberries and they were delicious. I appreciate when recipes include measurements in weight so I can use a kitchen scale rather than dirty more kitchen tools. I think the baking soda/powder measurements are listed incorrectly though. Those should be about 4 grams each.
Lisa, would all-purpose einkorn work for this recipe?
It should!
what if I don’t have sourdough starter? what could I use instead or modify?
You can add equal parts flour and water in place of the sourdough starter. So 1/4 cup flour and 1/4 cup water.
Such a tasty treat with our morning coffee.
I love so much.
Martha, why 2 stars if you loved it? Why not rate 5 stars?
Can I make this recipe with Einkorn flour?
If I were to use fresh milled flour for this cake. How much and what kind of berries would you use?
You will want to use a soft white wheat! The measurements will stay the same.