Blueberry Coffee Cake (aka Boy Bait)
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This tender blueberry coffee cake topped with a crunchy cinnamon streusel is cleverly named for its habit-forming effect on boys.
This old-fashioned blueberry coffee cake comes with a darling name and story. In 1954, a 15-year-old girl from Chicago named Renny Powell submitted a blueberry coffee cake recipe to the Pillsbury $100,000 Recipe & Baking Contest (the precursor to today’s Pillsbury Bake-Off). Renny took second place in the junior division for her recipe, cleverly named “Boy Bait” for its habit-forming effect on young men.
Tender, easy to make, and jam-packed with berries, boy bait has been popular ever since. My version is updated with lemon zest to complement the flavor of the blueberries and a crunchy cinnamon streusel topping. You certainly don’t need to be a teenage boy to enjoy it, but I can attest that this 14-year-old loves it — so maybe Renny was onto something?
What You’ll Need To Make Blueberry Coffee Cake
Fresh blueberries are ideal for this coffee cake, but frozen will work, too. If you’re using frozen berries, stir them into the batter without thawing, otherwise they’ll turn the batter purple. If you have extra blueberries on hand, or find them on sale at the market, you might also enjoy my blueberry pancakes, blueberry cobbler, or lemon blueberry pound cake – all family favorites!
How To Make Blueberry Coffee Cake
To begin, make the streusel topping by combining the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and salt in a small bowl.
Using your fingers, mix until no lumps of brown sugar remain, then add the cold butter.
Rub in the butter with your fingertips until the mixture reaches a crumbly state. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Next, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and granulated sugar until creamy, about 2 minutes.
Add the eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl and beating well after each addition.
Beat in the vanilla extract and lemon zest.
Gradually add the flour mixture, alternating with the milk, beating on low speed to combine.
The batter will be quite thick.
Add the berries to the batter.
Fold gently with a spatula until evenly distributed. Do not over-mix.
Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and spread evenly.
Sprinkle the streusel topping evenly over the batter.
Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until golden brown around the edges and a cake tester comes out clean.
Let cool in the pan on a rack for about 20 minutes, then serve right from the pan. Enjoy!
You May Also Like
- Best Blueberry Muffins
- Blueberry Cornbread Muffins
- Lemon Blueberry Pound Cake
- Sour Cream Coffee Cake with Cinnamon-Walnut Swirl
- Blueberry Cobbler
- Crumb Cake
Blueberry Coffee Cake (AKA Blueberry Boy Bait)
Ingredients
For the Streusel Topping
- 6 tablespoons (packed) light brown sugar
- ½ cup all-purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, cut into ½-inch (13-mm) chunks
For the Cake
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon (packed) lemon zest, from 1 lemon
- ½ cup milk
- 2 cups fresh blueberries (frozen may be used but do not defrost)
Instructions
- Make the streusel topping: Combine the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and salt in a small bowl. Using your fingers, mix until no lumps of brown sugar remain. Rub in the butter with your fingertips until it reaches a crumbly state. Refrigerate until ready to use.
- Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C) and set an oven rack in the middle position. Grease a 9-inch (23-cm) square pan with butter or nonstick cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and granulated sugar until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl and beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract and lemon zest.
- Gradually add the flour mixture, alternating with the milk, beating on low speed to combine. Add the berries to the batter and fold gently with a spatula until evenly distributed. Do not over-mix.
- Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and spread evenly. Sprinkle the streusel topping evenly over the batter. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until golden brown around the edges and a cake tester comes out clean. Let cool in the pan on a rack for about 20 minutes, then serve right from the pan.
- This cake is best served on the day it is made. Leftovers will keep well for a few days wrapped in foil and stored at room temperature.
Notes
Nutrition Information
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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The recipe was okay, “Boy bait?” What is this, the 50s? Ewww. Gross.
This recipe is from the 50s. It was originally entered in a 1954 Pillsbury baking contest, where a teenage girl named it and entered it to win a cash prize and have her recipe printed in a Pillsbury cookbook.
I for one loved this recipe. It is my go to and I always get rave reviews. Thanks for posting this recipe 🤗
Something tells me you didn’t actually make the recipe, Kathleen. 😉
BTW, this cake is delicious.
Very easy and everyone loved it! Thanks for another great one, Jenn!
Kathleen, I’m really puzzled by your reaction- what’s the problem with it?
Interesting.
Anyway, this is a wonderful recipe, name, topping, and texture…outstanding!
I don’t know why I waited to bake this!
Thanks again…
Lisa
The cake came out excellent! I cannot put my finger on what’s different about this recipe, I’ve baked many coffee cakes before with varied results. Maybe it was just meant to be! I loved a touch of salt in the topping and a little lemon flavor of the cake. Made with frozen blueberries and was done in 40 min plus 5 more with the oven turned off. No worries about streusel getting less crunchy tomorrow, there won’t be much left! Thank you Jenn for a fantastic recipe!
How do you store this cake to keep the top crunchy? The following day my coffee cake topping lost it’s crunch.
Hi Jay, This cake is best served on the day it is made. Leftovers will keep well for a few days wrapped in foil and stored at room temperature. The topping will naturally lose its crispiness but you could always pop leftovers in the oven (very briefly) to crisp up the top.
Hi Jay, I have a banana bread recipe with a crunchy top and the recipe creator said to keep it crunchy do not wrap it but cover the exposed slice with a piece of foil. Works really well!
Hi Jay, you can keep it on the counter uncovered but place a piece of saran or foil on the exposed cut side. Works great! This recipe is my favorite boy bait recipe! Jenn is the best!
This cake is absolutely delicious, for the streusel topping I used less flour and added oatmeal, I used 2/3 cup sugar in the cake mix and 1/4 cup melted butter mixed with 1/4 unsweetened applesauce, and lemon extract because I didn’t have zest…I found the batter a little too thick so added a bit more milk than called for…WOW, turned out amazing, the top was really crispy, a true coffee cake just the way we like it…mmmmm
What size pan do you suggest using for this? Thanks!
Hi Elana, You’ll need a 9-inch/23-cm baking pan. Hope you enjoy!
This is the bomb of coffee cakes. Dusted it lightly with powdered sugar since I served it on a special occasion. The lemon zest adds just the right touch. I’ll be making this on repeat. Thank you for another amazing recipe!
Made this wonderful blueberry coffee cake. Sorry I didn’t get a chance to take a picture. My family ate half of it before I remembered to get one. 🤣
I will definitely make this again. Followed everything in the recipe and even added juice from half a lemon into the batter before baking. (Just to increase the lemon flavor)
Absolutely delicious! Thanks again for another winning recipe.
Didn’t encounter any of the issues that others ran into. It was full of flavor and so satisfying!! Made in an 8×8 glass pan and had to bump the time up to about 53 minutes for the middle to fully cook. Boyfriend also LOVED IT!
The only error in this recipe is that it is supposed to be 12-16 servings. It is 9, at best! 😁
I will be making this recipe this weekend. I’d like to know why it’s called a Blueberry Coffee Cake when there is no coffee in the cake.
Hi Noreen, Sorry for any confusion. Coffee cake doesn’t actually contain any coffee; it’s just called that as it would be nice served with a cup of coffee. Hope that clarifies!