Peanut Butter Coffee Cake with Homemade Blueberry Preserves
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For peanut butter lovers, not likers
The taste of peanut butter shines in this Peanut Butter Coffee Cake. It has peanut butter in the batter and in the streusel for extra peanut butter goodness. The middle is filled with homemade blueberry preserves and the pieces of blueberries plus peanuts in the streusel give this cake a very nice bite! The consistency of the cake itself is like a quick bread but still super soft and fluffy. I can’t believe it’s already gone from my kitchen!
I’m not kidding when I tell you this cake if for peanut butter lovers, not likers. And I don’t want to scare away peanut butter neutral people because everyone is welcome to bake and eat this cake. It’s just that it’s really surprising how the peanut butter flavor shines in every bite, it doesn’t fade away as other ingredients may do after baked. Imagine eating a Reese’s Peanut Butter cup, now imagine that in coffee cake form!
This coffee cake is so easy to prepare, it’s made with basic pantry and baking ingredients and it’s ready to eat as soon as you take it out of the oven, no need to make frostings or layering. That’s why coffee cakes are so good! No complications, just pure goodness! This one is based on my Ricotta Blueberry Almond Cake. If you have done that one, you’ll find similarities in some of the steps and cues.
The super plushy and fluffy texture doesn’t just happen. For that I used not only butter but also a bit of vegetable oil to keep the cake moist and good for days. I also used peanut butter, of course, which not only brings its delicious and nutty flavor, but also brings more fat to the cake. And lastly, a bit of sour cream, which helps also in keeping the cake soft and tender with its acidity. The blueberry preserves also bring humidity to the cake, especially in the center, that’s why it’s important to use the exact measurements for all the ingredients and bake this cake for about an hour, maybe a few minutes more.
The blueberry preserves were some leftovers from my Blueberry Doughnuts (I told you you’d find a way to use them fast!). You may use store bought but make sure it’s preserved like the one from Bonne Maman, which is thick and has little pieces of fruit in it. Jellies and jam won’t work because they are thinner and will be absorbed by the cake batter.
Read on everything you need to know when making this delicious coffee cake that is waiting for you in a very near future morning:
How can you make a Peanut Butter Coffee Cake:
Start by taking out only the butter you’ll need for making the streussel. The thing is that for the cake you need butter that’s barely softened, not completely at room temparature. If you take out the butter for the cake at this point it will probably be too warm when it’s time to make the cake. If your kitchen is cold, then take the butter out since the beginning of the prep. You can always keep an eye on it and if it suddenly feels a bit warm or it’s starting to look oily and you are not ready for it, you can pop it back in the fridge for a few minutes.
Make the streussel and put it in the fridge or in a cold area until you make the cake.
For preparing the pan, I used butter and did the trick of sprinkling turbinado sugar on the inside of the cake. This is compeltely optional but helps in creating a crunchier and toastier edge, it’s a nice contrasting texture with the rest of the cake. You can use butter alone, baking spray or lining the pan with parchment paper.
Next, prepare all the ingredients acording to the recipe. The batter of this coffee cake is done so fast that you won’t be able to be roaming through the kitchen looking up for ingredients.
Beat the butter just for a couple of minutes to make it soft. And beat with the sugar just a bit more to make a grainy paste. You don’t want to incorporate too much air in the batter because then it won’t bake properly. Everything here is light and gentle.
After you mix the wet ingredients add the flour mixture and beat until barely mixed. Finish mixing gently with a wooden spoon or silicon spatula to not overwork the gluten. This is another trick to ensure a super soft and tender coffee cake.
Transfer about ⅔ of the batter to the preapred pan. Spoon the blueberry preserves at different spots over the batter. Then, spoon the remaining batter on top of the preserves spots, like covering each of them, and gently stretch the batter to even it out with the back of the spoon, being careful not to mix the batter with the preserves as much as possible. The idea is not to have to stretch much the batter to prevent it from mixing with the preserves. If you just scrape the remaining batter in the middle and try to smooth it out to the wall of the pan, it will definitely get mixed up with the preserves.
Cover the cake with the streusel and sprinkle just a bit of turbinado or Demerara sugar if desired for a bit of crunch.
Bake for 60 to 65 minutes. Then let the cake cool down completely in the pan. If you try to cut it before it will crumble.
Store leftover cake in a plastic sealed bag or airtight container. It can be outside for one day but after that store it in the fridge and reheat in a countertop oven at 350° for 5 to 7 minutes.
Shop the Post
My large pretty mixing bowl with a butterfly on front from the video is from Jerrell Guy collection for Anthropologie.
My 9” springform cake pan, which I also use for all my cheesecakes!
If using parchment paper, I always prefer pre-cut and these pre-cut parchment papers are exactly the ones I use.
My Electric Kitchen Aid handheld mixer.
Always nice to have a set of strainers with different sizes. This is a set with 3 strainers, including a very large one like the one I used.
If not doing the homemade blueberry preserves, you can use one like this from Bonne Maman.
I hope you love this coffee cake as much as we did here, even if you aren’t a peanut butter lover. Maybe this cake will convert you! Now I want to hear how badly you want to make this cake!!! Until the next recipe!
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Peanut Butter Coffee Cake with Homemade Blueberry Preserves
Ingredients
Homemade Blueberry Preserves
◯ Blueberries, fresh or frozen – 1 ½ cups, 187g
◯ Natural granulated sugar – ¼ cup, 50g
◯ Freshly squeezed lemon juice – 1 TBSP, 10g
◯ Unbleached all - purpose flour – 1 TBSP, 10g
Peanut Butter Streusel
◯ Unbleached all-purpose flour - ⅓ cup, 53g
◯ Dark brown sugar - ¼ cup, 42g
◯ Natural granulated sugar - 1 TBSP, 11g
◯ Creamy natural Peanut Butter (I used Skippy Natural Peanut Butter, you may use Smart Balance as well) - ⅓ cup, 92g
◯ Organic salted butter (preferably European style for its fat content, like Kerrygold or Finlandia) - 1 TBSP, 17g
Peanut Butter Coffee Cake
◯ Unbleached all-purpose flour, preferably unbleached – 2 cups, 303 g
◯ Baking powder – 1 Tsp, 4 g
◯ Fine sea salt – ½ Tsp, 3 g
◯ Organic salted butter, barely softened (see notes) – 8 TBSP (1 stick), 113g
◯ Natural granulated sugar – 1 ½ cup, 319 g
◯ Organic eggs, barely at room temperature – 2, 98 g total
◯ Vanilla extract – 1 Tsp, 4g
◯ Vegetable oil – ¼ cup, 2 oz, 65mL
◯ Sour cream - ¼ cup, 71g
◯ Creamy natural peanut butter - ½ cup, 120g
◯ Turbinado or a course grain sugar for the inside of the pan and top of the cake and a few whole fresh or frozen blueberries for the top of the cake (both optional) - about 1 ½ TBSP of each
Details
Yield:
a 9” springform pan, 8 to 10 slices
Total time:
1.5 hour, plus ideally a couple of hours for chilling the preserves.
Active time: 5 minutes to make the preserves, 5 minutes to make the streusel, 20 minutes to make the cake batter.
Baking time:
60 to 65 minutes
Equipment:
9” springform or regular cake pan, stand mixer or electric hand mixer, large strainer or sifter
Steps
To make the blueberry preserves:
In a small saucepan combine the 1 ½ cup of blueberries, the ¼ cup of sugar and the 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and bring to a gentle boil over medium heat. Cook for about 7 minutes. Remove from heat and mix in the 1 tablespoon of flour. Return to heat and cook until achieving a thick consistency, 2 to 3 minutes more. Remove from heat and keep moving for 30 seconds more. Let it cool completely. If possible, chill before filling the cake.
You can make this a few days in advance.
To make the peanut butter streusel:
In a bowl or soup plate combine the ⅓ cup of flour, the ¼ cup of brown sugar and the tablespoon of natural granulated sugar.
Add the ⅓ cup of peanut butter and the tablespoon of butter and using two butter knifes or forks cut them into the flour-sugar mixture. After roughly mixing use your fingers to make sure all the flour-sugar mixture is well coated with the peanut butter and regular butter. Set in the fridge until ready to use.
To make the peanut butter coffee cake:
Preheat oven at 350°. Grease with plenty of butter a 9” springform baking pan or regular cake pan. If desired, sprinkle a bit of turbinado sugar on the inside wall of the pan. Alternatively, you may spray the pan with plenty of baking spray or line with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl mix the 2 cups of flour, the 1 teaspoon of baking powder and the ½ teaspoon of salt with a hand whisk.
Beat in medium-slow speed (#2 and #3 in the KitchenAid) the 8 tablespoons of barely softened butter in slowest speed for about 30 seconds either in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl using a hand held electric mixer with the beaters attached. You just want to cream it a little bit. Add the 1½ cup of sugar and beat for about a minute, until the butter and sugar form a thick grainy paste. Add the 2 eggs, one at a time. Add the 1 teaspoon of vanilla, the ¼ cup of oil, the ¼ cup of sour cream and the ½ cup of peanut butter and mix until combined.
Place a large sieve on top of the bowl (if you have one) and sift the flour mixture on top. Beat the batter in the slowest speed until almost completely mixed, then finish mixing any large streaks of flour with a wooden spoon or silicon spatula. Be sure to scrap the sides and bottom of the bowl.
Transfer about ⅔ of the batter to the prepared pan. Smooth batter out, make sure there's no gap between the batter and the inside walls of the pan. Spoon the blueberry preserves at different spots over the batter. Then, spoon the remaining batter on top of the preserves spots, like covering each of them, and gently strech the batter to even it out with the back of the spoon, being careful not to mix the batter with the preserves as much as possible. The idea is not to have to stretch much the batter to prevent it from mixing with the preserves. Again, smooth it out as much as possible leaving no gap between batter and pan.
Sprinkle the peanut butter streusel on top in an even layer. Sprinkle a bit of turbinado or any course grain sugar and some whole fresh or frozen blueberries if desired.
Transfer pan to oven and bake for 60 to 65 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean after you inserted it through the center of the cake. The cake will feel very soft at the center.
Retire from oven and let it cool completely in the pan before removing from it. Store in a cool area the first day then wrap it in cling paper, sealable plastic bags or an airtight container and store it in the fridge, it will be good for a week.
