Blueberry Muffin Cake

Making this Blueberry Muffin Cake is super quick and simple—2 bowls and 15 minutes to get it in the oven! Soft and fluffy with just a hint of orange and bursting with blueberries, this cake is a perfect breakfast or dessert all year long.

This recipe is especially wonderful when fresh blueberries are in season, but I love that frozen blueberries make this cake possible all year long. I love it with coffee in the evening and the kids love it with some orange juice in the morning. This easy cake will become one of your favorite go-to recipes, trust me!

This was inspired by our Old Fashioned Blueberry Muffins, and pairs really well with any of our coffee drinks, but especially our White Chocolate Mocha.

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• How to make Blueberry Muffin Cake
• Substitutions
• Variations
• Storage
• Top tip
• Blueberry Muffin Cake

Ingredients

Using common on-hand ingredients is the secret to making this blueberry muffin cake in a flash. If you don't have fresh oranges, don't worry—just use orange juice or even lemon juice!

For the Cake

All-Purpose Flour - or gluten free flour blend, such as King Arthur Measure for Measure (my personal favorite)

Baking Powder & Baking Soda - using both raising agents gives this muffin cake lots of fluff and soft texture.

Salt - hello flavor!

Cinnamon - this is a subtle complement to the flavor of the orange and blueberry

Sugar

Fresh or Frozen Blueberries - either will work and no changes need to be made to the recipe. Just use what you have!

Eggs - lots of flavor and rise

Orange Juice - this can come squeezed fresh from oranges, or from a container. Or, if you don't have orange juice, substitute for lemon to give this cake some extra zing!

Unsalted Butter - salted butter can be used, just omit the extra amount of salt in the cake.

Plain Greek Yogurt - low fat or full fat, either works great. Yogurt gives cakes tons of moisture without weighing the cake down.

Orange Zest - this is optional, but will give you cake a nice "lift" in flavor.

For the Crumb Topping

All-Purpose Flour - again, feel free to use a gluten free flour blend substitute

Sugar

Cinnamon

Salted or Unsalted Butter - I prefer salted because I love salt, but use what you have on hand, it won't make a big difference in the crumb taste.

See recipe card for quantities.

How to make Blueberry Muffin Cake

In a small bowl, combine all crumb topping ingredients, except butter; mix well. Use your fingers to rub in the butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Alternately, use a food processor to quickly cut the butter into the flour mixture. Keep in fridge to stay cool until ready to use.

Heat oven to 375°F. Grease a 10 inch springform pan or 9"x13" baking dish; set aside.

In a large bowl, combine all-purpose flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon; mix well. Stir in blueberries.

In a separate medium bowl, beat eggs. Stir in orange juice, melted butter, yogurt and orange peel. 

Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir just until dry ingredients are moistened and no flour streaks remain. Spoon batter into greased spring form pan (or 9"x13" baking dish); sprinkle with all the crumb topping. 

Bake on center rack at 375°F for 35-40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan; remove sides of pan (if using springform). Serve warm or cooled.

Substitutions

This is a great recipe to adjust to your dietary needs. Here are a few suggestions:

• Gluten Free - simply replace the all-purpose flour with your favorite gluten free flour blend. I use King Arthur Measure for Measure and I always get consistent results.
• Dairy Free - making this cake dairy free is very simple! Just replace the butter with a vegan butter substitute and the yogurt with a coconut milk based yogurt or replace with your favorite milk alternative (I like oat milk).
• Vegan - to make this cake vegan, use the dairy free replacements above and then you'll also need to swap out the eggs with a vegan egg substitute. You can use one from the store, or swap the eggs for my favorite flax seed egg replacer. You can see our egg replacement chart in this recipe.

If you are strictly gluten free or have Celiac disease, please read all ingredients and be sure to use equipment that has not been used with regular flour foods. Especially if you bake for someone with allergies, just check with them for best practices before getting started.

Variations

Don't have a spring form pan? No problem. Just make it in a 9x13 baking dish and reduce time by 10-15 minutes, making sure to check the center for doneness. It should spring back when touched, and a toothpick should come out clean

Blueberries not in season? Try replacing blueberries with raspberries or gently chopped strawberries. Or, you can always use frozen berries, too!

Need a muffin cake that's gluten free? My favorite (and easiest) way to make any recipe gluten free is to replace all-purpose flour with King Arthur Flour Measure for Measure. Read here about why this is my gluten free flour blend of choice.

Storage

Storing this blueberry cake is really easy. I like to place the cake under a glass cake dome at room temperature. When covered, this cake will stay fresh up to 3 days.

To store in the refrigerator, allow cake to cool completely and then wrap tightly with foil or place in an air-tight container. Cake will stay fresh like this for up to 5 days.

This muffin cake can also be frozen! Simply allow cake to cool completely and then wrap in multiple layers of saran wrap and then a layer of foil. (It also works well to cut the cake in half and wrap each half with saran and then place in a gallon sized zip-top freezer bag for extra protection.)

Label and date the outside. It will stay fresh for up to 3 months. When ready to eat, simply remove cake and unwrap. Allow to sit at room temperature for 1-2 hours until the center has thawed. Enjoy within 3 days of defrosting.