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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Comments
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Hi. Looking to make this- can I substitute almond milk or half and half for the milk? Thanks.
Sure, Sara, almond milk will work here. Hope you enjoy!
I used half and half and it turned out yummy! I switched out lemon zest for clementine zest since I had lots of clementines. I also don’t have a 9×9 but luckily it was fine in an 8×8.
Can I use strawberries instead of blueberries?
Hi Kelley, I haven’t tried this with strawberries, but a number of readers have commented that they have successfully. Hope you enjoy if you make it!
This is a delicious, classic coffee cake. I love the combo of the bright blueberry with the cinnamon topping!
I made this this morning for a friend who is going in for surgery next week. I baked it in an 8×8 disposable pan and found, like other bakers, that it took forever to cook in the thin aluminum pan (even though I set the aluminum pan inside a normal 8×8 baking dish.. wishful thinking!). Because I was using a smaller pan, I also used some of the batter in a small glass baking dish. The bake on to two was very different, the glass dish coffee cake rose a lot more and, obviously, cooked a lot faster. I ended up using an instant read thermometer on the 8×8 because I was having a lot of trouble telling when it was done. The streusel was ALMOST over-done, I probably should have covered it earlier in the baking time. In any case, I think my troubles were entirely related to my pan choice, not the recipe.
I will absolutely make this again… and again. Next time I give this away, I’ll bake it in a normal pan and either give it to someone I trust to return the dish or cut and plate it before gifting.
Hi! I love this cake, I’ve made it before to wonderful reviews. I want to give it to someone who is grieving, I don’t want her to worry about returning the pan. Question : can I line the pan with parchment paper, if so, would that allow me to remove it from the pan, whole, and ready for gifting? Thanks for your thoughts on this! -Susan
I do think that would work well, Susan.
Excellent! I did double the amount of milk because it seemed too thick. Beautiful and delicious cake. Thank you for the story and the recipe.
Hi there – I want to bake this for my kids’ first day of in-person learning – could I mix all ingredients the night before and leave it in the refrigerator to bake in the morning?
Hi S, Unfortunately, it won’t work to refrigerate the batter as the cake won’t rise well when you go to bake it. If you’d like, you can mix the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet in another and then combine them and proceed with the recipe when you’re ready to bake it. Hope the kids enjoy!
Made coffee cake this morning. Did not have lemon zest, was wonderful even without the lemon zest. YUMMY!!
Could I use almond flour for a gluten free option? If so, how much would you recommend using? Thank you for the fantastic recipe.
Hi Megan, I wouldn’t recommend almond flour here as I think it will significantly impact the texture of the cake. If you need a gluten-free alternative, I’d recommend an all-purpose gluten-free flour like this one. Hope that helps!
Hello, excited to try this recipe. But I have a few questions. First of all. I only have 8 inch square pans and 2nd. Can this recipe be doubled for a 13x 9 baking pan? Thanks in advance.
Hi LuAnn, I do think you could make this in an 8-inch square pan or it can be doubled and baked in a 13 x 9“ baking dish. The baking time may be a bit different with either of these, so keep a close eye on it. Hope that helps and that you enjoy!
Amazing!
Small tip I learned from Smitten Kitchen: rub the lemon zest with the sugar in the recipe, smells amazing plus releases the flavor/oils of the lemon.
Amazing recipe! just made for breakfast this morning. I will give it 10 stars if there was an option. Thank you for another great recipe.
Made this today and brought a warm piece up to my husband’s office (working from home since March) and it was just what we both needed on a cold snowy afternoon! I did add 1/2 cup chopped pecans to the streusel just because we love nuts! Really delicious!