Today is Justin’s birthday (yay, happy birthday Justin!!) One of his favorite desserts/brunch foods is Blueberry Buckle. Has anyone else heard of this, or is it just a Michigan thing? I had never heard of it before meeting Justin. It’s very similar to coffee cake, but with berries. He requested it special for his birthday, so I set out to the farmer’s market last weekend to get the main ingredient. Alas, there were no blueberries, only blackberries. I wanted it to be very fresh and flavorful, so I went with the blackberries instead of getting blueberries at a grocery store from somewhere far away. He didn’t mind.
It’s a recipe that started with his Grandma Kuk, and was then revised to be healthier by his mom. I have revised it even further to be even healthier (oh, there’s always a way!). I have such a sweet tooth, and I love baked goods, but if I made them with the full amount of butter and used only white flour, I would have to exercise a lot more than I do. It’s a fun challenge to try and make a not very healthy recipe much healthier by adding whole grains or using a lower fat substitute for butter and oil.
I substituted plain low-fat yogurt for the butter in the cake part of the recipe, but I used butter (actually, Earth Balance) for the crunch topping. Some things aren’t worth trying to make healthier, and crunch topping is one of them. If you haven’t noticed, I like to add nuts and oats to just about anything I can. I didn’t want to do that to this recipe, since I already strayed from the original by using blackberries, but I found a way. I used a blend of almond flour, whole wheat flour, and oat flour. It was just a little experimentation, but it turned out well. You could just use a blend of whole wheat flour and white flour, or even all whole wheat flour, and it would still taste great. And feel free to use whatever berries you have. This recipe is fun to play around with. Hope you like it, because Justin and I sure do!
Blackberry Buckle
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Cake Part:
1 cup turbinado sugar
2 cups full fat yogurt
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon baking powder
3 cups blackberries (or any other type of berry)
Crunch Topping (mix with two knives until crumbly):
1/2 cup turbinado sugar
2/3 cup almond flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/3 cup butter
Directions:
The night before, mix together whole wheat flour and yogurt. Let sit at room temperature until the next day when you are ready to bake.
Add sugar to flour/yogurt mixture and blend with a handheld mixer, or transfer to a stand mixer. Add eggs and blend. Stir in milk. Add dry ingredients. Blend in berries. Put in greased 12X9 inch pan. Top with crunch topping. Bake at 375 degrees for 40-50 minutes until fork inserted comes out clean. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.