Our Gluten Free Blueberry Coffee Cake is sweet, nutty, moist, and healthy too! We use dates for sweetness, and avoid added sugars all together. Plus, it's studded with plump, juicy blueberries, and topped with a unique crumb topping for a delicious treat you won't want to stop eating!
This post may contain affiliate links. See our Disclaimer for more information
This gluten free coffee cake is perfect for an afternoon pick-me-up, dessert, or even breakfast. Using frozen blueberries makes it accessible year round, but using fresh blueberries in season elevates it even more!
Serve the coffee cake with your favorite coffee or tea beverages. Try our whipped coffee recipe, rosemary mint tea, or blackberry iced tea.
Jump to:
Heart Health Benefits of Gluten Free Blueberry Coffee Cake
This recipe is high in fiber, monounsaturated fats, and vitamin E. It's also a good source of protein, calcium, magnesium and iron. The coffee cake is low in saturated fats, and contain no added sugar.
Take note of the sodium content if you're sensitive to it. You can leave it out of the recipe if you wish, but you may have trouble with the leavening agents.
Macronutrients
The blueberry coffee cake is moderate in carbohydrates, and high in fiber, thanks to our use of a combination of oat and almond flours, plus the blueberries and macadamia nuts. Using dates to make a paste allows us to make this recipe free of added sugars, while also adding to the fiber and antioxidant content. The 6.5 grams of fiber go a long way to helping you reach your daily requirements!
The recipe is low in saturated fat, and high in monounsaturated fats (MUFAs), because of our use of almond flour, flax, olive oil, and macadamia nuts. MUFAs are known to increase HDL (the "good" cholesterol), lower triglycerides, and lower blood pressure (1, 2).
Micronutrients, Phytonutrients, and Antioxidants
This recipe for gluten free blueberry coffee cake is high in vitamin E, an important vitamin and antioxidant most people don't get enough of. Almond flour contributes the majority here, and it is known to help reduce oxidative stress - specifically reducing a marker of inflammation known as malondialdehyde (3).
This is a good source of calcium, magnesium and iron, thanks to using cashew yogurt, dates, nuts, and flax, to help keep your heart and blood vessels working in tip top shape.
Antioxidants and phytonutrients are plentiful in this recipe. Here are the major players:
- Alpha tocopherol - (in almonds and dates) a type of vitamin E responsible for the effects mentioned above;
- Avenanthramides - (in oats) a class of potent antioxidant found almost exclusively in oats, shown to reduce oxidative stress, especially preventing LDL oxidation (4), and potentially lowering blood pressure (5);
- Lignans - (in flax) group of polyphenols that can prevent free radical damage, lower total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol, and raise HDL cholesterol (6);
- Alpha-linoleic acid (ALA) - (in flax) a type of omega 3 fatty acid that can help reduce blood pressure (7);
- Anthocyanins - (in blueberries) a purple/blue pigment in some fruits and vegetables that can reduce the risk of fatal heart events, hypertension, improve endothelial function, and reduce cholesterol levels (8); and
- β‑sitosterol - (in macadamia nuts) a phytosterol known to help lower cholesterol (9).
Ingredients
Here's what you'll need for our blueberry coffee cake:
- Oat flour
- Almond flour
- Ground flax
- Cashew yogurt
- Date paste (see recipe notes)
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Vanilla
- Frozen blueberries
- Macadamia nuts
- Oats
- Olive oil
- Cinnamon
- Cardamom
- Nutmeg
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Follow these step by step instructions to easily make this gluten free coffee cake.
- Step 1: Combine all the dry ingredients for the cake.
- Step 2: Combine the wet ingredients for the cake.
- Step 3: Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredient mixture, and mix until just combined.
- Step 4: Add the frozen blueberries.
- Step 5: Fold the blueberries into the batter, and transfer the batter to a prepared baking pan.
- Step 6: Make the crumb topping by adding all the ingredients to a bowl.
- Step 7: Mix the crumb topping until it is well mixed and crumbly.
- Step 8: Sprinkle the crumb topping over the cake batter.
- Step 9: Bake the coffee cake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
Hint: it is normal for the batter to be very thick, almost dough-like.
Substitutions
A few substitutions if you need them!
- Flour - use 2 cups of a gluten free flour with 1-to-1 substitution ratio in the cake, and 2 tablespoon in the topping instead of the oat and almond flours in the recipe. Also add ½ cup unsweetened almond milk (or your milk choice) to the cake batter
- Blueberries - use any frozen berries you like (if you pick strawberries you'll need to chop them first)
- Macadamia nuts - use chopped pecans instead, or go nut free by using (besides the flour sub above) sunflower seeds or just double the amount of oats you use
Equipment
To make the date paste for this recipe, you will need a blender - preferably a high speed blender.
Otherwise, you will need tools typical of baked goods, like measuring cups and spoons, mixing bowls, mixing spoons, and a 9x9 inch baking pan. Affiliate links for my favorite tools are in the recipe card if you need some new equipment!
Storage
Cool the blueberry coffee cake completely. It will be fine covered on the counter for a few days. It can be stored, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 7 days.
Pro tip
Resist the urge to slice it while it's still warm! Wait until the coffee cake is completely cooled before you cut it.
FAQ
Yes! Of course it won't be gluten free anymore, but if that doesn't matter to you, you can sub 2 cups of whole wheat pastry flour, or all purpose flour, for the oat flour and almond flour. You will also need to add about ½ cup of liquid - milk, or nondairy sub of your choosing.
Traditionally, there is no coffee in coffee cake! Perhaps misleading right? It's named simply because it pairs well with coffee. Enjoy!
Related
Looking for more heart healthy dessert recipes? Try these:
Pairing
These are my favorite recipes to serve with gluten free blueberry coffee cake:
Want to say thank you?
📖 Recipe
Gluten Free Blueberry Coffee Cake
Equipment
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 2 cups Oat Flour or ground oats
- 1 cups Almond Flour
- ¼ cup Ground Flax golden flax will give the best look
- 2 teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- ⅔ cup Date Paste
- ½ cup Unsweetened Cashew Yogurt
- ½ tablespoon Vanilla
- 2 cups Frozen Blueberries
For the Crumb Topping
- ⅓ cup Macadamia Nuts chopped
- ⅓ cup Almond Flour
- ⅓ cup Oats old fashioned or quick cooking
- 2 tablespoon Date Paste
- 2 tablespoon Olive Oil
- ½ tablespoon Cinnamon
- ½ tablespoon Cardamom
- ¼ teaspoon Nutmeg
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Spray a 9x9 brownie pan with cooking spray, and set aside.
Make the cake:
- In a large bowl, mix the oat flour, almond flour, ground flax, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together.
- In another bowl, combine the date paste, yogurt, and vanilla, and mix well.
- Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture, and mix until just combined. It will be thick; it’ll look more like a dough than a batter.
- Fold in the frozen blueberries, and transfer the mixture to the prepared 9x9 pan. Spread it out so the top is relatively even.
Make the crumb topping:
- Combine all the ingredients for the crumb topping, and sprinkle over the top of the cake.
- Bake for 40-50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Allow to cool completely before you try to cut it.
Nutrition
*Nutrition information is an estimate, and will change based on the brand and individual ingredients and amounts you use. This is provided for your convenience only.
Food safety
Safety is our top priority in the kitchen! Always keep these tips in mind.
- Wash hands before touching food, and after touching raw meat, your hair, face, pets, etc.
- Keep you face back when opening hot ovens to avoid hot air burns
- Always use oven mitts when removing hot pans from the oven, and place on heat proof surfaces
- Never leave cooking food unattended
- Store leftovers promptly and appropriately
Leave a Reply