Blueberry muffins are my faaaaavorite muffins ever.
And a few weeks ago, I found a local shop nearby that sells the bessssssst blueberry muffins IN THE WORLD.
If you think you know what a good blueberry muffin tastes like, you my friend are sadly mistaken. Unless you got it at Edwin’s!
(And sadly, I have already tried to bribe them for the recipe which they would not give me. I spent an abnormal amount of time crying over this).
The thing that makes Edwin’s blueberry muffins so incredible is the TOP. It is a crunchy umbrella of muffin sprinkled with blueberries that tastes like a cookie. The texture — the buttery flavor — is insanity. Now, normally I am tooootally Elaine Benes and only care about the top of the muffin (Top of the Muffin… To You!). The stump is so forgettable, am I right? But their muffin stump is every bit as good as that irresistible cookie-like top. In fact, the stump is even more moist, fluffy and light and studded with alllll of those incredible, juicy blueberries.
So after I spent a week awhile in my dark bedroom listening to The Smiths and crying over the world’s cruelty, I emerged with the idea to attempt to recreate Edwin’s glorious blueberry muffin. However, I wanted to switch things up and make something different — rebellious, of course — so I decided to make the muffin into a cake. No discarded stumps, no shortage of all those plump bursts of berry. And for that dreamy cookie top? Why not top aforementioned cake with a cookie?
Ohhhhh mama.
Coincidentally, the U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council happened to invite me to participate in a unique contest they’re having featuring, you guessed it — those little blue dynamos called blueberries. The contest asks bloggers to pair blueberries with a handful of different ingredients for a chance to win the grand prize of $2,000! The ingredients you could pair with were balsamic, rosemary, banana & coconut. And since I am a huuuuuge fan of all things coconut, I decided to use the tropical, fruity flavor as the crumbly, buttery cookie to top my genius cake.
Did I already say ‘ohhhhh mamamaaaaaaaa‘? Because damn.
Make this cake!!!
*cake recipe adapted from Averie’s Blueberry Yogurt Cake
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 cup buttermilk
- ½ cup coconut oil
- 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 & ½ tsps vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- Pinch of salt
- 1 & ½ cups blueberries (frozen, or fresh -- I used frozen and used them straight from the freezer. No need to thaw or their color may leak more throughout the batter).
- FOR COCONUT COOKIE CRUMBLE:
- ¼ cup all purpose flour
- ¼ cup ground coconut cookies (like the crunchy kind by Pepperidge Farm)
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ⅓ cup old-fashioned quick-cooking oats
- ½ cup sweetened flaked coconut
- Pinch salt
- ¼ cup cold butter, cut into small cubes
- White chocolate chips, if desired (optional)
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Liberally grease a 9x9" baking pan with cooking spray and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, combine the coconut cookie crumble ingredients. Using a fork, pastry blender or your fingers, gently work the cubed cold butter into the dry mixture until coarse crumbs form. Make sure you incorporate all of the powder that tends to gather around the bottom of the bowl.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and the white sugar until pale in color and combined. Gradually stir in the buttermilk, coconut oil, lemon juice and vanilla until the mixture comes together. Stir in the flour, pinch of salt and the baking powder until the batter comes together. Gently fold in the blueberries.
- Pour the batter into the pan in an even layer. Evenly top with the coconut cookie crumble. Tent the pan loosely with foil and bake in the hot oven for approx. 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out mostly clean. Sprinkle the top with the white chocolate chips, if you'd like. Cool the cake completely before cutting into squares. Store in the fridge in an airtight container.
Now, let me preface this by saying this is not Edwin’s blueberry muffin. Edwin’s baked goods have a special place in my heart forever and ever (along with puppies, Betsey Johnson purses and excessive body glitter), but this cake is in an entirely different realm of its own. The subtle coconut flavor woven throughout the light, airy texture pairs beautifully with the juicy burst of blueberries — enhanced in flavor from the bright acidity of the lemon juice (fresh is best .. just don’t tell my neighbor I swiped some lemons from her tree!). And that crumble — helppp meeeeee. It’s AWESOME. The ground up coconut cookies act in place of some of the flour for the crumble, giving it more of a coconut flavor and a nutty, buttery aroma. Paired with the sweetened coconut flakes, there’s a great crunchy, chewy texture happening here that tastes like there’s a giant coconut oatmeal cookie sitting on top of this freshly-baked cake. And if you’re a sweet tooth like myself, consider sprinkling some white chocolate chips on top right outta the oven — it totally makes this cake even sweeter!!
There is still a few more days to enter the Blueberry Council’s contest, so get cooking & enter away! And of course, wish me luck for the grand prize 🙂
Have a happy day!!
xo, Hayley
Kayle (The Cooking Actress) says
GOOOD LUCK! I bet you’ll win because…obviously…this is GENIUS!
Cynthia Burrell says
Good Luck!! This looks and sounds delicious!! Can’t wait to make it! Looking forward to seeing your post about winning the contest! 🙂
Averie @ Averie Cooks says
Thanks for linking to my cake recipe and I hope you win because that means I kind of win, too… LOL Your cake looks awesome and the cookie crumble is the icing on this cake, I tell you! Delish! 🙂
Julianne @ Beyond Frosting says
Blueberry and coconut is out of this WORLD! I love the cookie crumble on top. Amazing!
Tieghan says
These are incredible! How on earth could you not win??!? Good luck!!
Stephanie @ Back For Seconds says
OH mama is right! This cake looks incredible, Hayley! I’ve got my fingers crossed you win the grand prize 🙂
tanya says
I love that you sat in a dark room listening to The Smith’s, that’s just perfect! I think you have a winner here Hayley! And if you DON”T win with this cake, I’ll have to rough somebody up!
Stephanie @ Eat. Drink. Love. says
I want to stuff my face with these!! Hope you win!
Nicole @ Young, Broke and Hungry says
With this recipe, there is no contest! This cake looks amazing.
Jess @ On Sugar Mountain says
Oooo I wish you ALL THE LUCK! Though this cake seems like a #1 recipe to me; I want to shove my face into it (is that weird? oh well) and eat it all! 😀
Wendy | Around My Family Table says
You are a girl after my foodie heart- Top of the Muffin to You! These look delish!
KElly @ hidden fruits and veggies says
COCONUT COOKIE CRUMBLE! I don’t normally like blueberries unless they’re in a muffin, but I think I can make an exception for blueberry muffin cake- YUM!
School Cookie Cutters says
Coconut goes with muffin so very well! I think that Santa will love these cookies 🙂 Thanks for sharing.
thoughtsappear says
I made this for Thanksgiving, and it was delicious! So delicious that I woke up this morning to find my cat had gotten into the leftovers. She’s such a punk….
Laura says
This sounds so delicious and I can’t wait to try it!