This healthy Dairy-Free Blueberry Coffee Cake Recipe is the perfect breakfast for a special occasion! It is gluten-free and feeds a crowd!
When we plan our menus for Thanksgiving or Christmas, we usually put most of our efforts towards the big dinner! However if you’re like me {and my three kids}, even on days when you know you’re going to eat a TON of food later, you still need to have something for breakfast!
This dairy-free Blueberry Coffee Cake is the perfect, healthier dish to serve your family as a special holiday breakfast!
I love making every moment of the holidays memorable, which means I do NOT want to start out a special day with your average, run-of-the-mill breakfast. No matter what the occasion–a birthday, Valentine’s day, Easter, or Christmas–you’d better believe my kids start counting down weeks early {or months when it comes to their own Birthdays😂}!
So when they come bounding down the stairs with their springy morning hair in their adorable pajamas all excited that the day is here, I want to have a super-special breakfast surprise waiting for them…like this healthy blueberry coffee cake recipe!
We all love this Blueberry Coffee Cake! It is special enough to signal that this morning is different than all the rest {I mean, c’mon…cake for breakfast?!}, but healthy enough that it doesn’t derail our entire day with a sugar rush and regret! 😉
It is dairy-free, low in sugar, and can easily be made gluten-free with great results!
A Make-Ahead Coffee Cake Recipe!
I usually bake this Blueberry Coffee Cake the night before I plan to serve it! If you haven’t picked up on this as a reader of my blog yet…I am all about make-ahead recipes!
So, on a holiday like Christmas…where the best part of the day is first thing in the morning…having breakfast, like this healthy blueberry coffee cake recipe, ready to go the night before is so helpful!
Serve it for breakfast or dessert!
Holidays are definitely not the only occasions that I make this Blueberry Coffee Cake! It is at the top of my short-list of breakfast recipes when we host out-of-town guests! And this cake is not just for breakfast…you can totally serve it as a delicious dessert too! 🙂
Dairy-Free Blueberry Coffee Cake: Substitutions
There are many acceptable substitutions in this recipe. I have tried most of them with great results:
- All-Purpose Flour: can be substituted with equal amounts of your favorite gluten-free all-purpose flour blend.
- Coconut Oil: If you are allergic to coconut products you can substitute equal amounts of regular butter or vegan butter (like earth balance).
- Coconut Milk: Can be substituted with any non-dairy or regular dairy milk (the higher the fat content the richer the taste).
- Granulated Sugar: You can use coconut sugar or your favorite unrefined granulated sugar.
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Dairy-Free Blueberry Coffee Cake
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour or gluten-free all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp sea salt
- 3 TBS coconut oil* melted
- 1 cup full fat coconut milk** room temperature
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
- 2 eggs room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups frozen blueberries
- 1 TBS cinnamon sugar
For the Glaze:
- ½ cup full fat coconut milk
- 2 TBS powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a 9” round cake pan with parchment paper and lightly grease. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt; set aside.
- In a large, microwave-safe glass bowl melt the coconut oil.
- Whisk in coconut milk until combined.
- Add sugar, apple sauce, eggs, and vanilla extract and whisk until completely combined.
- Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until just combined.
- Gently fold the blueberries into the batter until evenly mixed.
- Pour batter into prepared cake pan.
- Evenly sprinkle the top of your mixture with cinnamon sugar.
- Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Remove the cake from the oven and let cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes.
- Use parchment paper to lift cake out of the pan and continue cooling on the rack.
- Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator! Can be served warm, room temperature or cold!
Notes
**any non-dairy or regular dairy milk can be used here
Nutrition
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Heather
This was super yummy! I used coconut sugar instead of regular white sugar and I replaced the powdered sugar for the glaze with maple sugar (since I didn’t have any swerve powdered sugar on hand). I used gluten free AP as well. To make the cinnamon sugar I mixed some cinnamon and coconut sugar togetber. I’m surprised at how delicious this was! Thank you for a great recipe. It’s a keeper!
Laura
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Heather!
Angela Maciel
This is the best cake i’ve ever made 🙂
Alicia Mora
Hey Laura. I was wondering if there’s anything I can use to substitute the applesauce. Sadly, I can’t find it in my local stores. Thanks
Alison
Laura this looks so amazing… could I sub flax eggs or maybe just add more applesauce for the eggs to make it vegan?
Laura
Hey Alison! I have not tried substituting the eggs to make a vegan version so I can’t say one way or another if it would work well. Would you use gluten-free all-purpose flour or regular all-purpose flour? I’d be more likely to take a chance on using an egg substitute if I was using regular flour….but that’s just me! If you do try it you’ll have to let me know how it goes!
Alyssa
Alison, did you ever try replacing eggs with more applesauce or flax eggs? If so, how’d it turn out?
Julia Mueller
It has been aaaaages since I’ve baked coffee cake, and I’m loving this lightened up, blueberry-studded recipe. My mouth is watering just thinking about enjoying a slice for breakfast! 😀
Laura
Sounds like you need to have a date with coffee cake sometime soon!
Alisa Fleming
I hope you win, this coffee cake looks AMAZING! I’m a huge wild blueberry fan and think my husband would love the gluten-free version of this.
Taylor Kiser
This looks so delicious! I would love to wake up to this for breakfast!
Laura
It’s a great part of waking up!
Chrissa- Physical KItchness
SO DANG YUM! You had me at blueberries and dairy free. I’m totes scheduling this to pin!!
Laura
Thanks Chrissa!
Sarah @ BucketListTummy
Oh my, this looks so good. I may have to make this tomorrow morning, sounds like the perfect Sunday brunch!
Laura
Thank you Sarah! I hope you all love it!
Rony Jahid
Wow blueberry & coffee! too good combination. I love blueberry, so this cake will be one of my favorite cake. Awesome idea Laura!
Emily Weir
Yummmm! This looks perfect for Thanksgiving morning, especially if you can make it the night before. And easy to eat while in front of the TV watching the Macy’s parade.
Laura
Yes!! I can’t wait for that parade this year!
Beverley @ Born to Sweat
these photos are gorgeous! i loveee that action shot of pouring the icing on. you’re making me wish is was summer again so i can sit and stuff my face with bloobs
Laura
Thanks Beverly! I love that frozen blueberries are available all year! Nothing quite beats a fresh one straight from the tree….BUT I’ll take frozen in a pinch! 😉
Rebecca | NOURISHED. the blog
Laura, this looks amazing. Your photos are beautiful and I love the gluten free option too. I would definitely eat this cake for breakfast any day!!
Laura
Thank you Rebecca! 🙂 I agree…cake for breakfast is always a great idea!
Liz @ pumpkin & peanut butter
What a beautiful holiday breakfast! And I loved your comment about how it’s not to sweet to derail your whole day with sugar rushes and regret LOL! The first grade teacher in me TOTALLY understands that one 😉
Laura
LOL Thank you Liz!!! My other holiday breakfast is cinnamon rolls….and THOSE are sugar bombs for sure! So on a day like Christmas when I know it’s cookies galore…this cake totally wins!
Maria | Hälsa Nutrition
This looks delicious! I love your tips on cooking ahead of time so that you can spend more relaxed quality time with the family — I am getting better at that, but still working on it! 🙂
Laura
It’s hard to plan in advance I think! And yes it means lots of time in the kitchen the day before…but I really love being able to just warm things in the oven and call it done! 😉 My dad always spends all day long on Thanksgiving in the kitchen…and we’re all super grateful for it because he is an amazing cook…but I feel bad that he misses out on family time! Although he loves it!
Bethany @ athletic avocado
No way I could pass cake for breakfast, especially when it looks as amazing as this blueberry coffee cake does! Love that it’s secretly healthy!
Laura
Thank you Bethany! 🙂
Karly
Wow! This looks incredible. Rich and light at the same time… SO perfect for a weekend breakfast!
Laura
Thank you Karly! 🙂
Sonali- The Foodie Physician
Laura, this looks amazing! I love those gorgeous pour shots! Good luck in the contest, this definitely looks like a winner to me 🙂
Laura
Aww thanks Sonali! I had fun taking those shots with my hubby! 😉
Sarah- A Whisk and Two Wands
This looks so good!!! Love blueberries and coffee cake is perfect for a relaxing weekend morning. Can’t wait to try it!
Laura
Thank you Sarah! I agree I love berries in coffee cake!
Kelly Jones
This looks delicious! I absolutely love blueberry cake and love the healthy modifications you’ve made.
Laura
Thank you Kelly!!! 🙂
Kerri Olkjer
Your pics have me drooling! This will be perfect to make ahead for Christmas morning with the gluten-free flour swap.
Laura
This cake (pictured) was made with gluten-free flour! It still turns out delicious!
Deanna Segrave-Daly
I want to stop working right now and make this!!
Laura
LOL Coffee cake is definitely a reason to pause working!
Julie @ Running in a Skirt
I love everything about this!!! It is so gorgeous and blueberries are a favorite of mine year round. Gorgeous!
Laura
I LOVE that blueberries are available all year round frozen! 🙂