Gluten-free Blueberry Coffee Cake (+video)
You can use fresh or frozen blueberries in this yummy gluten-free blueberry coffee cake. This is the first gluten-free coffee cake recipe I ever perfected.
It is blueberry season around here and I’m loving finding big containers of blueberries on sale. I stock up this time of year and freeze several pounds of blueberries so that I can make smoothies, muffins, and this delicious gluten-free blueberry coffee cake all year! I mean, who wouldn’t want gluten-free blueberry cake for breakfast?
Gluten-free coffee cake is such a fun treat to make as it feels just a little fancier than muffins, yet is even easier to make than muffins are. More time in the oven, but less time to prepare! I can get the whole kitchen cleaned up while this bakes.
You can use fresh or frozen blueberries in this yummy gluten-free coffee cake. If using frozen, you’ll want to keep frozen until ready to stir in, then stir only enough to mix them in, otherwise they’ll bleed blue all throughout your batter.
If your berries bleed, it doesn’t affect the taste or consistency, but doesn’t look quite as pretty. You also may need to bake just an extra few minutes when using the frozen berries, as sometimes they’ll keep the batter around them gooey.
How to make this gluten-free blueberry coffee cake:
The video will show you how to make this, but basically, you’ll make the batter, stir in the blueberries, then scoop into a greased pan. Spread the batter out. Make the topping and spread it on top of the batter. Then bake!
After the gluten-free blueberry cake bakes for 40-45 minutes, the top should be brown and a toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean or with crumbs only, not wet batter.
Here’s a look at the finished gluten-free coffee cake:
Can you make this coffee cake dairy-free?
Yes – just follow the substitutions below for the buttermilk and butter!
Notes on ingredients and substitutions for this gluten-free coffee cake:
- Flour: As always, I only recommend baking with a good quality all-purpose gluten-free flour blend. All flour blends are not created equal! I recommend avoiding flour blends that contain any bean flours or that are primarily rice flour, as you’ll get a more gritty result. This recipe, like pretty much all of my recipes, has been tested with successful results with gfJules gluten-free flour and King Arthur Measure for Measure Gluten-free Flour, and Gluten Free Mama’s Almond Flour Blend and I recommend any of those. Two other flour blends that I’ve been testing some (but not this recipe yet) with good results are Cup4Cup and Pamela’s.
- Xanthan gum: If the gluten-free flour blend you use already has xanthan gum or guar gum in it, then omit the xanthan gum called for in this recipe. I use this xanthan gum with the flour blends that don’t already have it, but it’s only needed with the flour in the cake portion, not in the topping.
- Buttermilk: Buttermilk makes these tender. If you can’t have dairy, you can make your own dairy-free buttermilk substitute by placing 2 teaspoons of lemon juice in a one-cup measuring cup, then filling to the one-cup line with your favorite dairy-free milk alternative.
- Butter: You can substitute with your preferred butter alternative.
- Sugar in topping: I’ve made the topping with white sugar and also with brown sugar, and have found that I do prefer it with brown sugar but you can definitely use either.
Use the rest of those blueberries in these other gluten-free blueberry recipes! First up, these easy mini blueberry tarts from my friend Megan, that are gluten-free and vegan. Or these amazing looking gluten-free blueberry crumb bars.
I loved including fresh blueberries on top of my gluten-free cheesecake recipe. Then there are these paleo blueberry muffins that are dairy-free too! And cool off with this blueberry lemonade recipe!
If you have a brunch, baby shower, or other get-together coming up, this coffee cake is the perfect food to bring. My kids love this cake as much as I do. Just now, my 9 year-old saw me posting this and begged me to make this again soon!
If you have a chance to make this gluten-free blueberry coffee cake, come back and let me know by giving it a 5 star rating and a comment!
Gluten-free Blueberry Coffee Cake Recipe:
Gluten-free Blueberry Coffee Cake
If you have a brunch, baby shower, or other get-together coming up, this gluten-free coffee cake is the perfect food to bring.
Ingredients
Cake Batter:
- 2 cups good gluten-free flour *
- 3/4 tsp. xanthan gum*
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup salted butter, softened
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1-2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries (depending on how many you like in yours!)
Topping:
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup gluten-free flour
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) salted butter
Instructions
Cake:
- In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the gluten-free flour, xanthan gum*, baking powder, and salt until blended.
- In the bowl of your electric mixer, cream together the sugar, butter, egg and vanilla.
- Alternately add in the buttermilk and the flour mixture into the creamed sugar mixture. Stir only enough to blend together, don't over-mix.
- Fold in the blueberries gently, with a rubber spatula. Batter will be very thick.
Topping:
- In a small bowl or in your food processor, mix the brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Cut in the butter with knives or pastry cutter (or pulse option on food processor) until it is crumbly and butter pieces are pea-sized or smaller.
- Spread the batter into a well-greased 9" cake pan or pie plate. Sprinkle the topping over the batter.
- Bake at 375° for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Once cooled, remove from the pan onto a cake plate or serving platter to slice and serve.
Notes
See blog post for recommended flour blends.
*If using a flour blend that already includes xanthan or guar gum, then omit the xanthan called for in the recipe.
You can use fresh or frozen blueberries in this yummy gluten-free coffee cake.If using frozen, you'll want to keep frozen until ready to stir in, then stir only enough to mix them in, otherwise they'll bleed blue all throughout your batter.
I've made the topping with white sugar and also with brown sugar, and have found that I do prefer it with brown sugar. You can definitely use either.
I adapted this recipe from a blog called Becky Bakes (no longer online), where she shared a Blueberry Buckle recipe.
I hope you and your family enjoy this gluten free coffee cake as much as my family does!
Hi, I kept wondering where the coffee was, in the recipe but then I realised that you are supposed to eat it with a cup of coffee!
Confused can’t find the coffee in the recipe?
Hi Michelle,
I love Coffee Cake. I have celiac disease and this would be a dream to make at home. I do however have a question? When is the coffee in it? or is coffee cake just a name or type of cake? forgive my ignorance!
I don’t know what happened but I ended up with an extremely thick batter – almost cookie consistence. I added a few more tablespoons of milk just to make it workable, but it wasn’t enough; I have a dense dry cake with a crumb layer that is thicker than the cake. Did it really only take a half-cup of buttermilk?
This was lovely- baked it and froze it to bring a on a family beach vacation. It defrosted beautifully and was really delicious. I look forward to making it again and trying it fresh and warm from the oven. Great recipe.
So just went blueberry picking yesterday and made this again today. Eating it warm right from the oven. This is so fantastic. Thanks again for the recipe!
I made this with unsweetened vanilla almond milk vs buttermilk and it’s so moist and delicious! This recipe is a keeper.
I loved this cake! I omitted the topping and put in 1/2 cup of sugar instead of 3/4 sugar. I used Namaste Gluten-Free Flour Blend, and it turned out great. It was perfect for breakfast.
Would this work for muffins ?
I’ve tried it for muffins and it doesn’t work. I’d recommend making my huckleberry muffins and just sub in blueberries or make my blueberry lemon muffins. Both are so good!
Just made this and it came out great!! I’ve had mixed success with gluten free baking so far so I was really pleasantly surprised. I used flour blend #1 from the CIA’s Gluten Free Baking cookbook (superfine rice flour, potato starch, and tapioca starch in varying amounts) and the texture was great, not dense or gummy at all. My crumb topping is a little gritty and not exactly as nice as the crumb toppings you get on store-bought cakes but I’m chalking that up to operator error. I used frozen blueberries and let them sit in a little sugar for about an hour so they wouldn’t be too tart. I think overall baking time was around 45-46 mins for me but it could have actually done with a minute or two less. Thanks for the recipe!! 😀
This recipe baked up beautifully! I added arrowroot instead of xanthan gum along w a teaspoon of psyllium husk powder and it was amazaingly delicious! I forgot to add almond flour to topping, but I plan to make this often as my staple holiday dessert when I go to family parties…you would never know it was gluten free.
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe.. we LOVE IT!
Would this work as muffins as well?!
I made this exactly as suggested and LOVED it. It was this hit of the neighborhood party, even for the gluten folks. Thanks for this!
I just put this in the oven and I hope I did not waste my berries! I don’t know how the directions say to ” pour” the batter. Mine was so thick I could have made balls out of it. The directions called for 2 cups of GF flour and 1/2 cup of milk. Are these directions correct? I love blueberries and really want this to come out right. Help!
I also had the same problem… I just added an extra half a cup of milk and am hoping for the best… probably a bad idea on my part.
@Pat D, SAME! I wish I had added another half cup of buttermilk like Dara did below. Thought of it, and should have trusted my gut. Dense and dry and disappointing. I hate when I waste ingredients (and time).
This was awesome. My whole family loved it. My son has egg and dairy allergies too, so I substituted both with DF and EF options. I also only had brown rice four on hand. I was a little worried because the batter was so sticky, But it turned out perfect…like a real coffee cake!!
I just made this coffee cake for my family and the loved it! It was very easy too… I used a large springform pan and it worked perfectly!
So glad you made it and everyone liked it! Thanks for letting me know the springform pan worked perfect for this too!
My family loved this cake today. Thank you!
Thanks Helen! So glad your family loved this! Hope you get to enjoy it again and again. Thanks for your comment and rating!
This cake is absolutely outstanding! I’m quietly savouring my first slice with a cup of coffee while the kids sleep…ahh, naptime + coffeecake! Since I have recently gone gluten AND dairy free, I replaced the milk with almond milk and the butter with margarine. It’s awesome! Thanks so much for sharing, Michelle.
P.S. 40 minutes was the perfect amount of cooking time for me!
Alexis,
Thanks so much for your comment. Listing your successful substitutions is so helpful to the other readers! I’m sorry that I missed this comment when you posted it and am just now replying. Hopefully, you’ve gotten to make it again to enjoy! I’ve got it on my list to make again soon too!
I haven’t tried it yet but *definitely* will! Looks fantastic and we love blueberries 🙂
Thanks Michelle! I used granulated sugar in the cake. You might want to fix Step 3 in the cake instructions where it says brown sugar.
I used brown sugar in the topping. It is in the oven now. Can’t wait to feed it to my GF spouse for breakfast. Will let you know!!! Thanks again! 😎
Ayiyi! Thanks for spotting that too! Hopefully I have it all fixed now! Sounds like you got it all figured out just as I’d intended! Enjoy!
OMG!!! It is soooooo good! A definite keeper! Took about 10-15 minutes of extra baking time. Keep checking with a toothpick till it comes clean. I just kept adding in 5 minute increments. We love this!!!
I’m so glad that you both love it! I thought you would as it is a favorite around here! Thanks again for pointing out my omissions and helping me make the recipe perfect for everyone.
Is it brown sugar or granulated sugar in the batter? The recipe says just sugar, that indicates to me, granulated. The instructions say brown sugar in step 3??? The blueberry buckle is granulated in both the formula, mixing instructions and topping. The buckle also calls for 2 tsp. baking powder. Want to make this for breakfast this morning. Help!!! Thank you.
Barry,
I’m so sorry for those recipe errors/omissions! I typed up the recipe shortly after being glutened, and obviously my brain fog did me in! I have updated the recipe now to reflect the baking powder. Also, while the original recipe used regular (white) sugar in the topping, I have tried it with white and also with brown, and found I slightly preferred the brown sugar in the topping. So feel free to use either one!
I hope yours turns out great and you enjoy it!!
Just made this and it is very,very good thanks for a wonderful gultenfree blueberry cake that is good anytime and can be carry to any events.Mary