Vegan Blueberry Coffee Cake
Soft and tender whole grain vegan coffee cake topped with juicy blueberries and a crisp streusel. Egg-free, dairy-free, and not too sweet!
Why We Love This Vegan Blueberry Coffee Cake
- Secretly Healthy: This coffee cake is whole grain, lower in oil and sugar, and still tastes amazing! It has a moist and tender cake, lots of juicy blueberries, and a sweet, crisp streusel.
- Egg and Dairy-Free: It’s completely plant-based without any special egg replacers. If you do a lot of vegan baking, you probably have all the ingredients in your pantry already.
- Perfect for Breakfast or Dessert: This cake is wholesome enough for breakfast and indulgent enough for dessert. I often have a piece for breakfast and dessert later in the day 😉 That being said, if you have it for breakfast, I do recommend serving it with some extra protein like a tofu scramble, frittata, zucchini slice, protein chia pudding, protein smoothie, or a high protein yogurt.
Key Ingredients
- Blueberries ⟶ I highly recommend fresh berries since frozen berries tend to release more water.
- Lemon ⟶ Some of the juice and zest to add a subtle citrus note that pairs wonderfully with the blueberries. You can omit if necessary, but replace the lemon juice with vinegar since the acid is necessary to activate the baking soda.
- White Whole Wheat Flour ⟶ I love baking with white whole wheat flour for a whole grain option that acts similar to all purpose flour. It has a softer texture and milder flavor than whole wheat flour.
- Almond Flour ⟶ This makes the cake more light and tender, and adds a bit of nutty flavor and crisp texture to the streusel.
- Applesauce ⟶ To help bind the cake and add a little extra moisture and natural sweetness. You can also use vegan yogurt.
- Sugar/Brown Sugar ⟶ You can use either in this coffee cake, but I prefer granulated sugar in the cake portion to keep the color lighter.
- Maple Syrup ⟶ A little bit of maple syrup in the streusel helps it stick together.
- Vegan Butter and Oil ⟶ Vegan butter in the streusel for flavor and crispness. Oil in the cake for a softer, moister crumb (but you can use vegan butter if you prefer).
How to Make
This is a brief overview. Jump to the recipe card for full details.
Make the streusel by mixing together the flours, sugar, and cinnamon. 
Pour in maple syrup and melted vegan butter. 
Stir until crumbly. Chill in the fridge while you prepare the cake – this helps the streusel harden so it will bake up crisp. 
Coat blueberries with flour – this helps soak up some of the water the blueberries will release as they cook. 
Rub lemon zest into sugar. This infuses the sugar with the oils in the lemon zest, enhancing the lemon flavor throughout the whole cake. 
Add remaining wet ingredients to the lemon sugar and whisk until combined and sugar dissolves. 
Sift the dry ingredients over the wet ingredients and fold to combine the batter. The batter should be thick so the blueberries don’t sink. 
Transfer the cake batter to a lined 8×8-inch baking pan. 
Scatter the blueberries evenly on top. 
Sprinkle the streusel (straight from the fridge) over. Bake 45-60 minutes.
Vegan Blueberry Coffee Cake FAQ
More Vegan Coffee Cakes
If you try out this recipe, don’t forget to leave a comment/rating down below and tag me in your photos on instagram @ellielikes.cooking. I love seeing all of your tasty recreations!
Vegan Blueberry Coffee Cake
Soft and tender whole grain vegan coffee cake topped with juicy blueberries and a crisp streusel. Egg-free, dairy-free, and not too sweet!
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Servings: 9
Ingredients
Streusel
- 30 grams (¼ cup) white whole wheat flour or all purpose flour
- 28 grams (¼ cup) almond flour
- 24 grams (2 tbsp) brown sugar or granulated sugar
- ¼ tsp cinnamon
- 20 grams (1½ tbsp) maple syrup room temperature
- 26 grams (2 tbsp) vegan butter melted and cooled
Blueberries
- 250 grams fresh blueberries rinsed and pat dry
- 2 tsp white whole wheat flour or all purpose flour
Cake
- 180 grams (1½ cups) white whole wheat flour or all purpose flour
- 42 grams (6 tbsp) almond flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 65 grams (⅓ cup) granulated sugar
- 2 tsp lemon zest
- 120 grams (½ cup) applesauce
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 39 grams (3 tbsp) neutral oil or melted vegan butter
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 100 ml unsweetened soy milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C. Line an 8×8-inch baking dish with parchment paper.
- Make the streusel: Mix white whole wheat flour, almond flour, sugar, and cinnamon. Break apart any clumps of sugar. Whisk together maple syrup and melted vegan butter, then pour over the flour mixture and stir with a fork until crumbly. Chill in the fridge while you prepare the cake batter.
- Toss blueberries with flour: Toss blueberries with 2 teaspoons of flour. If you notice excess flour on the bottom of the bowl, place the blueberries into a strainer to remove excess flour. Set aside.
- Mix dry ingredients: In a bowl, add white whole wheat flour, almond flour, baking powder, and baking soda and whisk to combine.
- Make lemon sugar: In a separate large mixing bowl, add granulated sugar and lemon zest. Use your fingers to rub the zest into the sugar.
- Mix wet ingredients: To the sugar, add applesauce, lemon juice, oil, vanilla extract, and soy milk. Whisk until well combined.
- Combine: Sift dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and use a spatula to fold the batter together. Be sure to scrape the bottom for any flour. Fold the batter until there is no dry flour left, but be careful not to overmix as this can result in a dense cake.
- Assemble: Remove the streusel from the fridge. Transfer the batter into your lined baking dish. Scatter the blueberries on top, then sprinkle the streusel over (use your fingers to break the streusel apart into smaller pieces, or keep them as large clumps if you like).
- Bake: Place onto the middle rack of your oven and bake for 45-60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Cool: Place the baking dish on a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes, then use the parchment paper to carefully remove the cake from the pan. Place the cake (with parchment paper) directly onto the wire rack to finish cooling.
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