I’d say that summer is in full swing, except this is Texas, so it’s been summer for several months already. That said, blueberries are finally coming in abundance, and this cake is a great, easy way to satisfy a fruity sweet craving. It is a sweet cake (I’m not going to pretend to call this a bread) reminiscent of really good blueberry muffins. I used leftover streusel that I had in my freezer – I’d recommend making some and freezing whatever you don’t use for the next treat. I happened to make this after reading Stella Parks’ article on Serious Eats about not coating berries in flour, and have used that technique here. This recipe is a winner. You could easily serve this for breakfast/brunch or dessert.
Adapted from Diane Morrisey’s Blueberry Crunch Granola Bread. Makes 1 loaf.
For the cake:
1 cup blueberries (stick with volume measurement)
2 cups (8 ½ oz) flour
1 cup (7 oz) sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (8 oz) Greek yogurt
2 eggs
½ cup (1 stick or 4 oz) butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ cup (3 ½ oz) oats
For the streusel topping:
¾ cup (5 ¼ oz) sugar
¾ cup (3 ¼ oz) flour
1 tablespoon water
1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
¼ cup (½ stick or 2 oz) butter, softened
¼ cup nuts, such as almonds, walnuts, or pecans, chopped (optional)
Preheat oven to 350º F. Spray a 9×5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray.
Prepare the streusel: add ingredients to a small bowl and mix to combine.
Prepare the loaf: In a large bowl, whisk flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
In a separate bowl, mix yogurt, eggs, melted butter and vanilla together and then fold into the dry ingredients. Add the oats and gently combine.
Scrape a layer of batter into the loaf pan. It will be thick and a little sticky. Add the blueberries to the remaining batter and mix to combine. Spoon the rest of the mixture into the loaf pan. Top with streusel and optional chopped nuts.
Bake for 50-55 minutes and golden brown and when a toothpick inserted into the bread comes out clean.
Remove from oven and cool in the pan for 5 minutes then turn out to cool on a wire rack.