Easy Blueberry Breakfast Cake
I was going to make blueberry muffins but didn’t want to deal with the one-by-one nature of muffins. I thought about blueberry pancakes, but didn’t want to be held hostage to the stove flipping them. So I made batter that was a hybrid of muffin batter and pancake batter, poured it into an 8-inch square pan, and baked it as a cake. It turned out to be one of the softest, moistest, and best little cakes. And so easy. It tastes like a big buttermilk pancake that ran into a blueberry muffin on the way to the oven.
It’s the kind of cake that I’d want served for breakfast in bed or leisurely Sunday mornings with coffee and the newspaper. Since those things never happen for me, it’s also a great Wednesday cake. The batter comes together like standard pancake or muffin batter in 5 minutes flat. A bowl of dry ingredients and a bowl of wet. Pour the wet over the dry, stir, pour into a pan, and bake. No mixer, nothing complicated or fussy. The cake is like a good muffin or pancake should be. Light, soft, fluffy, and tender with just enough density to give it some heft and dimension, with a springiness to it that I loved.
I loathe dry cake and muffins so I used buttermilk, sour cream, and oil to keep it moist. And boy, it’s falling apart soft and moist. That could also have something to do with the abundance of blueberries. They’re juicy and add so much moisture. They sank a little, but I don’t mind blue walls at the bottom of my cake. A trick to prevent sinking is to roll them through flour before folding them into the batter. However, with this cake, it’s thinner and I used a ton, so they’re bound to be near the base, no matter what tricks are used.
I’m so glad I decided not to make muffins or babysit pancakes and made this cake instead. We polished it off in 12 hours. In our defense, it’s a small, thin muffin cake and not some big Bundt that’ll be lingering for a week. I’m wondering what this blueberry breakfast cake would taste like with strawberries, apricots, raspberries, or peaches. I’ll have to find out.
What’s in the Blueberry Muffin Cake?
To make this easy blueberry cake, you’ll need:
All-purpose flour Granulated sugar Baking powder Cinnamon Nutmeg Salt Egg Buttermilk Sour cream Oil Vanilla extract Blueberries Confectioners’ sugar (optional, for topping)
How to Make Blueberry Muffin Cake
Simply whisk together the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet in another, then combine them. Gently fold in the berries. Pour the batter into an 8×8-inch baking dish. Bake the muffin cake until the center is slightly domed and set, golden in color, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs, but no batter. Let the cake cool in the pan for about 30 minutes before slicing and serving.
Can I Use Frozen Blueberries?
Absolutely! I actually used frozen blueberries in this recipe because I’m cheap and don’t bake with fresh. I save those for eating and bake with frozen. When baking with frozen blueberries, add them into the batter frozen because they’ll run and bleed less than if you thaw them first.
Can I Double This Recipe?
I imagine so! Double the ingredients and bake in a 9×13-inch pan.
Tips for Making a Blueberry Breakfast Cake
The baking time listed reflects using ice cold, frozen berries. If you’re using fresh, the baking time could, and likely will be, dramatically less. This is definitely a recipe where you should watch your cake, not the clock. Bake until it’s done. Simple as that. At any time your cake is beginning to look a bit too golden brown before you suspect the center will set up, tent it with a sheet of foil laid across the top. Optionally dust the blueberry muffin cake with confectioners’ sugar or a simple glaze. This lemon glaze, this buttery vanilla glaze, this browned butter glaze, or this vanilla cream cheese glaze are all excellent, quick, and easy options.
More Blueberry Breakfast Recipes:
ALL OF MY BLUEBERRY RECIPES! Tried this recipe? Leave a review! Consider leaving a 5 star rating if you’ve made and loved one of my recipes! Blueberry Baked Pancakes — Craving pancakes but not the work of standing at the stove flipping them? Make these EASY oven baked pancakes with only THREE ingredients!!
Pumpkin Blueberry Dutch Baby Pancake – One big oven-baked pancake so there’s nothing to stand around waiting to flip!! The batter is made in the blender making this the EASIEST pancake ever!
The Best Vegan Blueberry Muffins — An avocado replaces the butter (and much of the oil) you’d typically add to muffin batter. These are fluffy, moist, and so easy to make!
Blueberry Zucchini Bread — This blueberry zucchini bread is a quick, no-mixer recipe that’s sweet, but not too sweet. Each bite is bursting with fresh blueberries!
Extra Soft and Moist Blueberry Muffins — These are hands down the best homemade blueberry muffins EVER. They’re fluffy and moist thanks to the addition of sour cream in the batter. Not to mention they’re bursting with fresh blueberry flavor.
Blueberry Dutch Baby Pancake — This oven-baked pancake has the chewiness of crepes with the thickness of clafoutis, and making it is as easy as making pancake batter!
Blueberry Coffee Cake with Streusel Topping — An EASY, no-mixer cake studded with juicy blueberries and topped with big buttery streusel nuggets that are just SO GOOD!! Not overly sweet and PERFECT with a cup of coffee for breakfast, brunch, or a snack!!
