This Blueberry Buckle Coffee Cake is what spring wants you to have with your morning coffee. Speckled with lemon zest, bursting with blueberries, and covered with a crunchy cinnamon sugar crumble, it’s the perfect excuse to eat dessert for breakfast.
One of the perks of this whole food blogging thing is awesome mail days. I get packages of food delivered to my door on a weekly basis. It’s always a thrill to see a box waiting for me outside the front door. That is…until I rush in, rip it open, and realize the husband ordered batteries on Woot again. Lame-sauce. (Just kidding honey! I love you!)
But occasionally I suppose this regular package delivery thing might raise a red flag.
Let me explain.
Last week as I groggily rolled over to hit snooze get out of bed, I noticed I had 4 missed calls on my phone, all from blocked numbers.
Then I noticed the voice mail. I grabbed my phone to play the message, still half asleep. The man on the other end of the line was unfamiliar, but he identified himself as an agent from the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigations and he wanted to talk to me…soon.
Needless to say, I popped out of bed. Nothing gets your heart rate going quite like a call from the Bureau of Criminal Investigations.
I returned the man’s phone call and quickly learned they had seized a package addressed to me because there were a few things that made it seem suspicious, one of which was, no doubt, our location. You see, we live on what you might call “the other side of the tracks.” We love our neighborhood and wouldn’t trade it, but there’s definitely some…errr… “extracurricular activity” going on. The investigators thought this package might contain some of the aforementioned extracurricular activity. They weren’t accusing me per say, but they thought someone might be using our address to ship drugs to our house then pick up the package while we were at work.
The agents asked me some questions about whether I was expecting a package, where it was from, and how much said package would likely weigh. Since I’m nearly always expecting a package I had a hard time explaining the situation to them. The more I talked, the more I realized how shady I must have sounded.
Me: “Ummmmm, you see, I’m a food blogger. I work with brands who send me product then I promote it on my blog.”
Them (probably) : Suuuuuuuuuure. You’re a “food blogger” who works with “brands” who send you “product.” Sounds legit.
As soon as I said product the Mr. thought for sure I was going to jail.
In the end, the agents asked if they could bring the package to our house and have me open it in front of them just to confirm it wasn’t drugs…errr…”product”. They showed up later that afternoon, and with just a teensy bit of fear in my heart, I sliced open the packing tape and ripped open the box only to discover…
25 pounds of Dixie Crystals Sugar.
That’s right. It was sugar. Brown sugar. Powdered sugar. Cane sugar. Even cinnamon sugar.
As it turns out, the agents were incredibly nice guys and we all had a good laugh about it. They asked me a few more questions about this food blogging business, and before they left I gave them my card and promised to bring them some treats made with the “goods.”
Let me tell you guys, this Blueberry Buckle Coffee Cake is THE GOODS.
I could not stop myself from eating it. Of course I had to have a slice warm out of the oven. Then one after the photo shoot. Then a little before dinner…and after dinner…and as a late night snack. Dare I say it’s…addictive?
This is coffee cake perfection. It’d make a lovely addition to your Easter brunch menu or you could serve it with a dollop of whipped cream for an elegant dessert. Lemony, sweet, fluffy, and packed with juicy blueberries, it screams SPRING IS HERE!
Be sure to check out my other great breakfast recipes, and while you’re at it, head on over to Dixie Crystals and give them a like on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and Instagram to get a steady stream of sugary goodness in your life!
This post is sponsored by Dixie Crystals. As always, all opinions are my own.
Blueberry Buckle Coffee Cake
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup (4 Tablespoons) butter, softened
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 2 Tablespoons flour
- 1 pint blueberries
For the topping:
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup flour
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 cup butter
Instructions
Recipe by NeighborFood
I’ve included a few process photos for you below, but honestly, this is one of the easiest cakes you’ll ever make. Start with a mixing bowl or your electric mixer. Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
Add the softened butter, milk, and egg to the bowl and beat on medium speed until the batter begins to form. It might have small lumps of butter in it after being beaten. That’s okay.
Grab a lemon and use a grater or zester to add about 1/2 of the zest of the lemon to the bowl. This smells so good!
Finally, toss the blueberries with a few Tablespoons of flour then throw them into the batter (gently). Use a spatula or wooden spoon to gently fold the blueberries into the batter (you don’t want the blueberries to all bust!). Pour the batter into the prepared pans.
I completely forgot to take a picture of the crumb topping, but I promise it’s super simple. Whisk together all the dry ingredients then use your fingers or a pastry cutter to work the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture is in coarse little crumbles. Spread the crumble on top and bake!
Oh man I had come over to check out the story after Nancy at Gotta Get Baked mentioned it…and it is truly hilarious! Hahaha. Although kind of scary to think that the other scenario (people using your address to ship drugs) actually happens in real life!
I’m so glad you stopped by Erika! It was such a crazy experience. Definitely the strangest thing that’s happened to me since I started blogging. At least I got a great story out of the deal! 🙂
OH MY GOSH!!! Best. Story. Ever. I’m glad this is written down for posterity. I’m surprised they didn’t open a package to taste just to MAKE SURE it wasn’t cocaine.
Haha! I know right?! I mean, that would be the best cover up ever.
You’re such a troublemaker! I loved the story the first time you told us, but it’s still hilarious reading about it. I think you should grease their palms with some of this cake. No more trouble from now on!
Lmao. This is one of my favourite stories of all time. Because I love ya, I’m truly glad that you’re not sitting in prison right now, waiting for trial. I’ll fly down there and defend you! It’s my duty as a lawyer and fellow blogger. As for the cake, dang girl! It looks so fluffy and moist and light, bursting with fresh pops of blueberry. This cake would bribe any judge or jury to let you off 😉
Nancy, I am so glad I’ve got you in my corner. I wouldn’t want anyone else defending me!
This is the most inviting blueberry buckle I’ve ever seen. I want pop on by and eat a piece with you. I can’t believe the whole FBI thing happened. Pinning!
I so wish you could pop by and share some cake! You are always welcome. 🙂
My Mom’s from Maine, and we used to have Blueberry Buckle all the time. But, for some reason, I haven’t made it in ages. Now, I know what I’m doing as soon as our blueberries come in!
Great story! had myself a little chuckle. Love this blueberry buckle, looks amazing!
I don’t think we will ever let you live this story down 😀 Glad you weren’t sent to jail; otherwise we wouldn’t have this wonderful coffee cake 😉
That story just made my day. How INSANE. So glad you got sugar instead of, you know, other “goods” by accident. 😉 This coffee cake looks scrumptious!
It’s definitely the most bizarre/hilarious thing to come out of this whole food blogging business. I’m just glad I didn’t have to write this post from jail! Ha!
Best story ever. And yes, the more you said “products,” the more you sounded like Heisenberg, Breaking Bad-style. I’m all about any excuse to eat dessert for breakfast, but this looks especially amazing. Blueberries and lemons? You know I’m all over that!
I wonder if investigators are even more suspicious after the whole Breaking Bad thing. They’re probably looking at every high school science teacher with a raised eyebrow. Ha!
That looks absolutely amazing! I would love to have a piece right now!
Blueberry and lemon is one of my favorite spring combinations. I have yet to make a buckle cake but it’s on my list!
Who ever would have thought that Food Blogging would cause you to have a run-in with the LAW!!!??? How funny! Great recipe too!
Not me that’s for sure! But at least I got a great story out of the deal!
Best Sunday Supper anecdote EVER!
This looks so good, it should be criminal… lol wakka wakka. But serious, Yumm-o!!
LOL!!!!
HA! Yes! So glad I’m not the only one making corny jokes about all this. Nailed it!
I adore lemon and blueberry together…and I love easy-tomake coffee cakes! I need to make this one relaxing weekend morning to surprise hubby!
Great story and great cake too!
This is seriously, the BEST #SundaySupper Post ever!!! And this coffee cake needs to make it’s way to my house very soon!
Well thanks Isabel! It was definitely the funniest thing that’s happened to me as a result of food blogging!
Your cake looks lovely, Courtney!
haha love that you shared the story! so classic! and LOVE your blueberry buckle coffee cake!!!
Hahah that is a really funny story. I always wonder what the mailman and UPS guy think when they brings me packages every week!
And I’m usually in sweats and covered in flour or powdered sugar. I’m sure they’re suspicious of me!
Haha that is such a great story! And this coffee cake, omg it looks incredible. I’ll take a piece now please.
I love your story! It made me laugh so hard :). But I bet it was a little frightening in the moment. You probably needed an extra piece of this coffee cake to relax!
Oh definitely! An extra two or three! 🙂
This is just a fabulous #foodbloggerproblems story! But I am sure this cake IS addictive!
It doesn’t get any more #foodbloggerproblems than this! HA!
This has got to be one of the funniest food blogger stories ever! I’m sure the investigators would love a slice of your beautiful blueberry buckle…I know I would!!!
Oh Courtney I’ll never forget this story! And you had me at Coffee Cake never mind blueberries and lemon!! Two of my favs!
Hilarious about the package delivery. I can just see you opening that package with those investigators standing by.
Food blogger perks in the mail are always exciting, but you had quite the experience. That’s pretty hilarious! This coffee cake looks delicious! The blueberries look perfect and juicy, with a touch of lemon – definitely the taste of Spring!