A Tornado and A Whole Grain Blueberry Buckle Coffeecake

I am on the verge of getting behind, mostly because of all of the storms we have had here lately. Oy the excitement! I mean I usually like storms, but hiding out (alone mind you since John was at a conference) with 2 toddlers in a seriously icky flooding cellar/basement is NOT my idea of fun. And even after we came back up we were still under a tornado watch with loads of bad storms dumping rain on us, and that made me nervous since my bedroom is downstairs and the kids’ is upstairs, so I had them sleep with me overnight. Let me clarify in case the connection is not obvious—there is no siren out where we are, so I figure if I discover a tornado is coming, via my Cincinnati tv station (and we are northwest of Cinci) chances are it is almost on top of us and I will need to move fast. That is what happened earlier in the evening. So it was a pretty crazy evening. Alex started out a little scared but by the end she decided she loves “ornados” since she got to sleep in Mommy’s bed and all.

Anyway.

While shopping for dinner on Sunday (see? Sunday! That’s how behind I am—I made this 5 days ago!) I decided to pick up some blueberries. I have some of them earmarked for a dessert later this week (which, haha, has so far not happened), but in the meantime I was trying to decide what else to do with them. As much as I love crisps, I was trying to avoid making yet another one since that seemed so boring!

I decided to revisit a cookbook I have neglected somewhat lately, despite LOVING it when I first got it: King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking. And I am glad I did. Although I thoroughly explored certain chapters in this book—cookies and quick breads, for example—there are plenty more I have not touched. Their Blueberry Buckle Coffeecake was the perfect idea for breakfast while John is out of town at a conference and I don’t feel like having to think much in the morning.

One note about its appearance—I am embarrassed to admit I forgot the oats. It was a little buttery for me (which makes sense since it was missing the oats) and I am convinced it will only be better when made correctly. So don’t forget the oats!

Whole Grain Blueberry Buckle Coffeecake

Adapted from King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking

Ingredients

Streusel

¾ cup (5 ¼ oz) sugar

½ cup (1 ¾ oz) whole wheat pastry flour

¼ cup (1 oz) AP flour

¼ cup (7/8 oz) old-fashioned rolled oats

½ t cinnamon

¼ t salt

6 T (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, softened

Buckle

2 cups (8 oz) white whole wheat flour (or 8 oz whole wheat pastry flour, which I used)

½ cup (2 1/8 oz) AP flour

2 t baking powder

½ t salt

4 T (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup (7 oz) sugar

2 large eggs

½ cup (4 oz) milk

1 t vanilla

2 cups (10 oz) blueberries (washed and dried if using fresh)

First make the streusel and set aside: Whisk together the sugar, flours, oats, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl. Add the butter and mix to make medium sized crumbs.

Preheat the oven to 375 F. Grease and flour a 9 inch square pan (I used Baker’s Joy).

The buckle: Whisk together the flours, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl and set aside. Cream the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy, then add the eggs, one at a time, scraping the sides of the bowl inbetween. Stir in half of the dry ingredients, then the milk and vanilla. Scrape down the sides and then stir in the remaining dry ingredients. Fold in ¼ of the blueberries. Spread half of the batter into the prepared pan. Spread half of the blueberries over the batter and press them gently in. Then spread the remaining batter over this and distribute the rest of the blueberries over it. Press them gently in. Sprinkle the streusel evenly over the blueberries.

Bake the coffeecake until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean with a few crumbs attached, about 45-50 minutes. Let cool on a cooling rack in the pan before slicing and serving.