We had a bunch of fresh blueberries that were hitting their peak, so I decided that this week was the week I’d make a lemon blueberry coffee cake recipe. The trick for me was that I wanted to make it with slightly less sugar – something more tart than sweet. So, I decided to add a bit more lemon zest, and I swapped out the traditional streusel topping for one that incorporated walnuts instead. If this sounds like your kind of blueberry coffee cake recipe, read on!
Lemon Blueberry Coffee Cake Recipe Ingredients
2 Cups All-purpose Flour (I used White Lily to get a light, fluffy cake)
1/2 Cup Granulated Sugar
2 Heaping Teaspoons Baking Powder
1 Large Egg
1/2 Cup Whole Milk
1/4 Cup Softened Butter
2 Teaspoons Lemon Zest
2 Cups Fresh Blueberries (I’m sure you can use frozen, but we had fresh, so I went with it)
Walnut Crumble Topping Ingredients
1/3 Cup sugar
1/4 Cup All-Purpose Flour
1/4 Cup Walnuts (I used Raw California Baking Walnut Pieces from Trader Joe’s)
1/2 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
3 Tablespoons Cold Butter
Optional Icing Ingredients
Note: I didn’t ice our coffee cake because I wanted something less sweet, but you will get an extra hit of lemon if you do.
1 Cup Powdered Sugar
2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
Lemon Blueberry Coffee Cake Recipe Steps
Step 1 Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and grease a 9-inch square baking pan. Note: You can use an 8×8-inch pan, but you will need to bake it a couple of minutes longer.
Step 2 Set your butter out to soften. You do this naturally by setting it out for a while or choose a steam option in your microwave. Just be careful not to actually melt the butter because that changes the consistency.
Step 3 For the cake, whisk flour, sugar, and baking powder together in a large bowl.
Step 4 Cut your softened butter into pieces and set aside.
Step 5 Add the milk, egg, and butter slices to the dry ingredients. Mix.
Step 6 Grate the lemon peel and add it to the mixture. Stir. The batter will be pretty dense, so take your time. You won’t be able to stir easily, and you may want to get your hands in there to make sure all the flour has been moistened.
Step 7 Add in the blueberries. Stir to incorporate thoroughly.
Step 8 Spread the batter into your greased pan. If you find it hard to spread with your spatula, lightly wet your fingers and spread the batter into the corners using your hands. Set the pan aside as you make your walnut topping.
Step 9 For the topping, add the sugar, cinnamon, flour, and walnut pieces into the mini food processor. Chop to a fine consistency.
Note: If you don’t want to use the food processor, you can mix by hand, but first, you’ll need to very finely chop the walnuts.
Step 10 Slice the cold butter thinly.
Step 11 Pour the ingredients from the food processor into another bowl. Add the butter slices. Cut the butter in with a pastry cutter fork, or work the butter in by hand. You should get a nice crumble.
Note: If you work it too much, it will start to clump. No worries – you can spread it out a bit as you apply it to the cake.
Step 12 Sprinkle the crumbly walnut topping over the cake evenly.
Step 13 Bake for approximately 40-42 minutes. Do a toothpick test to ensure the middle is baked before pulling it out to cool on a rack.
OPTIONAL ICING STEP
Step 14 Whisk together the lemon juice and powdered sugar until you have created a thin icing. Drizzle the icing over the topping of the cake. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes to set the icing before serving. Otherwise, it will run once you cut the cake.
Overall Impression of the Recipe
We enjoyed this recipe right out of the oven, but there is no denying that it was even better the next morning. Yum!!
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