Lemon Blueberry Coffee Cake
Tender, moist lemon coffee cake loaded with blueberries crowned with a crunchy, sweet crumb topping and drizzled with a tart lemon glaze. A fun way to change up blueberry muffins.
I was microwaving a bowl of Trader Joe’s Instant Multigrain Triple Berry Instant Hot Cereal for breakfast last week, and my son came upstairs and asked if I was making blueberry muffins. My family loves my streusel blueberry muffins and apparently just the smell of blueberries cooking draws them into the kitchen in hopes of finding blueberry muffins.
So when the weekend rolled around, I decided I’d better make some blueberry muffins for my son. But I also wanted to make something new to share on the blog, so my lemon blueberry coffee cake was born.
I used my blueberry muffin recipe as the base for the cake, but change it up by adding lemon zest to the batter. Coffee cake is always better with a crumb topping, and to give it another pop of lemon, I drizzled a tart lemon glaze on top and let it flow down the sides.
You can drizzle the glaze on with a spoon, but I like to use a quart size Ziploc bag. Put the bag in a tall drinking glass or mug, fold the edges over the top of the mug, then fill the bag with your glaze. Seal up the bag and snip off a tiny bit of the corner of the baggie with scissors. Then just drizzle the glaze over the top of the coffee cake.
If you want to get drips down the side of the cake, just put a little puddle of glaze along the edge and it will make a pretty little drip down the side of the cake. You’ll know your glaze is too thin if the glaze just runs down the side. If it’s too thick, it won’t drip down. You can do a test drip before you put the glaze in the baggie if you’re unsure if you’ve got the consistency just right.
If your family loves blueberry muffins as much as my family does, they’ll love this coffee cake too. It takes blueberries to a whole new level.
Update: I’ve added a new video that shows just how easy this coffee cake is to make. It’s become one of the most popular recipes on Barbara Bakes. If you haven’t tried it yet, you definitely need to try it soon! My topping is more crumbly than when Holly made it for the video, but you get the idea.
Lemon Blueberry Coffee Cake
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen
Crumb Topping
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons butter, melted
Icing
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1-2 tablespoons lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350º. Spray a 9-inch springform pan with non-stick cooking spray with flour.
- Prepare crumb topping and set aside.
- In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.
- In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, vanilla and milk. Mix in lemon zest. Add flour mixture and mix just until combine. Stir in blueberries.
- Spread batter evenly into prepared pan. Sprinkle with crumb topping.
- Bake at 350º for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. About 210 degrees with an instant read thermometer.
- Cool 10 minutes, then run a knife around the edge and remove ring. Drizzle icing on cake. Cool completely before serving. (Unless you're like us and would rather eat it hot even though the cake doesn't cut as well.)
Crumb Topping
In a small bowl, with a fork mix together sugar and flour. Add butter and mix until mixture is sandy and clumps together.*
Icing
Whisk together powdered sugar and lemon juice to create a thin glaze.
Notes
*If your crumb topping is not crumbly after adding the butter, add a little additional sugar and flour until you get a crumbly mixture.
Recommended Products
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Marionberry Cherry Crumb Cake, Barbara Bakes
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Banana Bread Coffee Cake, Crazy for Crust
Banana Streusel Coffee Cake with Maple Glaze, Shugary Sweets
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Made this for mothers day. Turned out great. Delicious recipe.
That’s great to hear – thanks Chris!
Barbara, I am recovering from surgery and am restricted in what I can do for another week or so. I am able to bake however and made this cake, with lots of lemon juice and Valencia orange peel in the icing. It was tremendous, thanks. Pay no attention to the grumpy people in your comment section.
Thanks! Sounds like a great way to change it up. I hope you’re feeling better soon!
Barbara, have you ever used this recipe to o make a loaf? If yes wondering if you made adjustments. Let me know and Thank you
Hi Carol – I have made it in loaf pans without the drizzle. Here’s a link https://www.barbarabakes.com/lemon-blueberry-quick-bread/
You are nuts. With all the advertisements and other BS all over your pages I had trouble finding your actual recipe.
Hi Arthur – most blogs, including mine, have a jump to recipe button right at the top of the post that makes it easy to find the recipe. It’s a great recipe that you’re getting for free just by viewing the ads – certainly not any reason for you to be rude to me. Are you rude to people when they come to your house, or just rude to people online that you don’t know because you feel anonymous? My site is well done and loaded with lots of great information. I work hard on it and am proud of my little corner of the net.
Your really complaining about having to scroll to the bottom to get the information you obtained for free?
Thank you Barbara for sharing this wonderful recipe with us. I also found a few other recipes (while scrolling to the bottom) that I also want to try. I can’t wait to share them with my family.
Thanks!