Blueberry Coffee Cake (aka Boy Bait)
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This tender blueberry coffee cake topped with a crunchy cinnamon streusel is cleverly named for its habit-forming effect on boys.
This old-fashioned blueberry coffee cake comes with a darling name and story. In 1954, a 15-year-old girl from Chicago named Renny Powell submitted a blueberry coffee cake recipe to the Pillsbury $100,000 Recipe & Baking Contest (the precursor to today’s Pillsbury Bake-Off). Renny took second place in the junior division for her recipe, cleverly named “Boy Bait” for its habit-forming effect on young men.
Tender, easy to make, and jam-packed with berries, boy bait has been popular ever since. My version is updated with lemon zest to complement the flavor of the blueberries and a crunchy cinnamon streusel topping. You certainly don’t need to be a teenage boy to enjoy it, but I can attest that this 14-year-old loves it — so maybe Renny was onto something ?.
What You’ll Need To Make Blueberry Coffee Cake
Fresh blueberries are ideal for this coffee cake, but frozen will work, too. If you’re using frozen berries, stir them into the batter without thawing, otherwise they’ll turn the batter purple. If you have extra blueberries on hand, or find them on sale at the market, you might also enjoy my blueberry pancakes, blueberry cobbler, or lemon blueberry pound cake – all family favorites!
How To Make Blueberry Coffee Cake
To begin, make the streusel topping by combining the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and salt in a small bowl.
Using your fingers, mix until no lumps of brown sugar remain, then add the cold butter.
Rub in the butter with your fingertips until the mixture reaches a crumbly state. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Next, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and granulated sugar until creamy, about 2 minutes.
Add the eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl and beating well after each addition.
Beat in the vanilla extract and lemon zest.
Gradually add the flour mixture, alternating with the milk, beating on low speed to combine.
The batter will be quite thick.
Add the berries to the batter.
Fold gently with a spatula until evenly distributed. Do not over-mix.
Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and spread evenly.
Sprinkle the streusel topping evenly over the batter.
Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until golden brown around the edges and a cake tester comes out clean.
Let cool in the pan on a rack for about 20 minutes, then serve right from the pan. Enjoy!
You May Also Like
- Best Blueberry Muffins
- Blueberry Cornbread Muffins
- Lemon Blueberry Pound Cake
- Sour Cream Coffee Cake with Cinnamon-Walnut Swirl
- Blueberry Cobbler
- Crumb Cake
Blueberry Coffee Cake (AKA Blueberry Boy Bait)
This tender blueberry coffee cake topped with a crunchy cinnamon streusel is cleverly named for its habit-forming effect on boys.
Ingredients
For the Streusel Topping
- 6 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
- ½ cup all-purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, cut into ½-inch chunks
For the Cake
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter, softened
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon packed lemon zest, from 1 lemon
- ½ cup milk
- 2 cups fresh blueberries (frozen may be used but do not defrost)
Instructions
- Make the streusel topping: Combine the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and salt in a small bowl. Using your fingers, mix until no lumps of brown sugar remain. Rub in the butter with your fingertips until it reaches a crumbly state. Refrigerate until ready to use.
- Preheat the oven to 375°F and set an oven rack in the middle position. Grease a 9-inch square pan with butter or nonstick cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and granulated sugar until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl and beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract and lemon zest.
- Gradually add the flour mixture, alternating with the milk, beating on low speed to combine. Add the berries to the batter and fold gently with a spatula until evenly distributed. Do not over-mix.
- Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and spread evenly. Sprinkle the streusel topping evenly over the batter. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until golden brown around the edges and a cake tester comes out clean. Let cool in the pan on a rack for about 20 minutes, then serve right from the pan.
- This cake is best served on the day it is made. Leftovers will keep well for a few days wrapped in foil and stored at room temperature.
- Freezer-Friendly Instructions: The cake can be frozen for up to 3 months. After it is completely cooled, double-wrap it securely with aluminum foil or plastic freezer wrap, or place it in heavy-duty freezer bag. Thaw overnight on the countertop before serving.
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (16 servings)
- Serving size: 1 piece
- Calories: 223
- Fat: 10 g
- Saturated fat: 6 g
- Carbohydrates: 31 g
- Sugar: 15 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 3 g
- Sodium: 169 mg
- Cholesterol: 47 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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The use of frozen Maine blueberries seizes up the dough and lowers the temperature that makes for a longer baking time. While the cake had good structure and mild flavor it was a bit dry. I would try other recipes before using this one again.
Easy & delicious!! My 7 year old daughter and I made this together this morning, following the recipe to a T. It was a HIT! Would definitely make again. Thank you!
OMG Jenn!!! What sorcery is this?! This coffee cake turned out soooooo good. Tender crumbs with a perfect crunch on top, perfect sweetness, and the addition of lemon zest was GENIUS. You said it serves 12 – 16, but I cut it into 9 pieces because a Jenn Segal recipe deserves bigger portions! Thank you, YET AGAIN, for another recipe that works beautifully. You really make me love cooking and baking.
😊
Love this! Perfect recipe for coffee or tea time, absolutely raved about on all fronts and I may have eaten at least half myself 😅
This is such a good base for all kind of fruit, I see a lot of this cake in my future
I make this recipe all the time now! It’s my go to because it always turns out perfectly, is delicious and quick and easy. My family enjoys it when I make this for brunch, my friends enjoy it when I bring it to a party and my co-workers are thrilled when I share it at work. I happily share this blog with everyone who asks. Thank you for another wonderful recipe!
I recently made the Blueberry Coffee Cake and, as simple as it was to make, it was outstanding! I brought some to a friend’s house and both her and her daughter commented on how good it was! Love the ease of the ingredients and the way it quickly comes together, but the results are WOW! Thanks, Jenn, for yet another stellar recipe!
I made this coffee cake earlier this past Summer & my daughter and husband both loved it! Great recipe, not overly-sweet. Thanks! M. Smith
what’s the difference between blueberry coffee cake vs. blueberry buckle? Also can you change your site so you can look up a specific recipe faster vs. going thru a long menu? thank you.
Hi Alicia, Blueberry buckle is essentially the same thing (just a slightly different name). And for searching for specific recipes, you can use the keyword search field in the upper-right corner of each page on the website. 🙂
Your recipes are amazing! Everything I have made has turned out so well! I made this today and didn’t have a lemon and accidentally forgot the milk, and it still tastes amazing!
So glad I found this website!
This is delicious! I made a few modifications: I used buttermilk instead of regular milk, and substituted 1cup of oat flour for 1 cup of the regular flour. I found the flavor gets better the next day. Might be good with peaches or other fruit. I will make again.
The recipe looks yumm, my husband loves blueberries … and he can’t live without his Coffee. Two in one, I through, what an excellent idea. I was very curious about the recipe and how you would incorporate coffee into the cake mix. ‘Blueberry coffee cake’ suggests that coffee would be one of the actual ingreedients, but it is not. I was wondering what would be the best way of incorporating the coffee into the cake?
if I was to incorporate some coffee granules into the topping? Do you have any suggestions?
Hi Aneta, this is called coffee cake because it’s intended to be served with coffee. I think it must be an American thing :). Unfortunately, I don’t think there’s a way to incorporate coffee into the recipe. Granules in the topping would have a bitter taste and I’m not sure how coffee could be added to the cake portion. I’d suggest serving it with a nice cup of coffee on the side!