Sourdough Discard Coffee Cake
, Updated Sep 28, 2025
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This delicious Sourdough Discard Coffee Cake is a great way to use your sourdough discard! An irresistible coffee cake studded with blueberries and topped with cinnamon streusel.
Got sourdough discard to use up? Try my Sourdough Cheese Scones
If you bake sourdough, you probably have a jar of starter discard in your fridge. Don’t toss it — bake it into this Blueberry Sourdough Discard Coffee Cake instead! The discard adds a subtle tang and moisture to the cake, which pairs beautifully with the sweet cinnamon swirl, juicy blueberries, and buttery crumb topping.
This cake is part breakfast, part dessert, and part waste-reducing genius. It’s the perfect treat to share at brunch, enjoy with a cup of coffee, or stash in the freezer for when the craving hits.
What’s Coffee Cake?
Coffee cake isn’t about coffee in the cake — it’s a cake meant to be eaten with coffee. The classic American-style version is known for its tender crumb, cinnamon swirl, and streusel topping. Here, the addition of sourdough discard gives a slight tang (similar to buttermilk) and makes the cake extra moist. Juicy blueberries are folded through the batter for a fruity twist that sets this version apart.
Here’s What You’ll Need
This is an easy cake using the “all in one” method. You can use a hand mixer or a stand mixer to make the batter. Make sure the ingredients are at room temperature. You will be using generous amount of unfed sourdough starter (a.k.a sourdough discard), plus the usual suspects such as flour, sugar, butter, eggs, raising agents, cinnamon and, of course, blueberries.
Fresh or Frozen Blueberries?
This cake works best with fresh blueberries. Toss them with a little flour before adding to the batter so that they are evenly distributed. Frozen blueberries are easier to find and cheaper so I often use them instead of fresh. You can use them straight from the freezer or thaw them first.
It is tempting to load this cake with berries, but this would make the batter too moist. I like to half fill the cake tin with batter, stud it with a layer of blueberries, add the remaining batter, streusel more blueberries (to create the buckle). You can also use other fruit in place of the blueberries, such as raspberries or blackberries.
How to Make Sourdough Discard Coffee Cake
Make the Streusel Crumb Topping
- Put the flour, sugar, butter, cinnamon and salt in a small bowl. Use your fingers to rub together until the mixture looks like crumbs. Squish some of the crumbs together to make bigger clumps of the topping. Set aside while you prepare the cake.
Make the Cake
- Put the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a large mixing bowl. Stir together to mix the dry ingredients. Add the softened butter, eggs, sourdough starter, milk and vanilla extract.
- Start mixing on low speed then increase speed to maximum and beat well until the batter is smooth. Make sure to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl with a spatula halfway through.
- Spread half the cake batter in a lined square 9 inch cake tin. Scatter with blueberries and a little Demerara sugar.
- Top with the remaining batter, gently spreading over the fruit so as not to dislodge it and leveling. Add the crumb topping and scatter with the remaining blueberries. Sprinkle with remaining Demerara sugar and a sprinkling of cinnamon.
- Bake for 50 minutes to an hour. The cake is ready when well risen and golden and the crumb topping is crisp. The internal temperature should be around 210°F (90°C) if checked with a digital thermometer.
- Cool the cake in the tin for 20 minutes then lift onto a wire rack to cool completely, lifting by the overhanging paper.
- Mix the icing sugar and the juice of half a lemon together, adding more juice as needed until you have a pourable glaze the consistency of maple syrup or honey. Use a spoon to drizzle the glaze over the cake.
Slice the cake into squares and serve with a cup of coffee or tea. You can also serve warm with a little whipped cream, custard, or vanilla ice cream for dessert.
Leftovers and Storage
This blueberry coffee cake keeps well in a cake tin or similar container for 2-3 days, out of direct sunlight.
You can also freeze the cake, in slices, for up to two months without the glaze. Wrap each slice well in two layers of wrap and a layer of foil. Thaw overnight in the fridge before serving.
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Blueberry Sourdough Discard Coffee Cake
Video
Ingredients
Streusel Topping
- 6 tbsp flour (plain/all purpose)
- 6 tbsp Demerara Sugar
- 5 tbsp unsalted butter softened
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon plus extra for sprinkling over cake
- Pinch salt
For the Cake
- 2 cups (240g) flour , all-purpose / plain
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 cup (200g) sugar
- 1 stick (115g) unsalted butter softened
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup (230g) sourdough starter (unfed / discard)
- ¼ cup (60ml) whole milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups (200g) fresh or frozen blueberries divided
- 2 tbsp demerara sugar to sprinkle
Glaze
- 1 cup (100g) powdered sugar (= icing sugar)
- Lemon juice , as needed (or use water or milk)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract or paste
Instructions
Make the Streusel Crumb Topping
- Put the flour, sugar, butter, cinnamon and salt in a small bowl. Use your fingers to rub together until the mixture looks like crumbs. Squish some of the crumbs together to make bigger clumps. Set aside while you prepare the cake.6 tbsp flour, 6 tbsp Demerara Sugar, 5 tbsp unsalted butter, 2 tsp ground cinnamon , Pinch salt
Make the Cake
- Preheat the oven to 340°C (170°C). Spray a 9 inch square psn with cake release (or grease with a little butter) and line with baking paper.
- Put the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a large mixing bowl. Stir together to mix the dry ingredients.2 cups (240g) flour , 1 ½ tsp baking powder, ½ tsp baking soda, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, ¼ tsp salt, 1 cup (200g) sugar
- Add the softened butter, eggs, sourdough starter, milk and vanilla extract. Start beating on low speed then increase speed to maximum and beat well until the batter is smooth. Make sure to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl with a spatula halfway through.1 stick (115g) unsalted butter, 2 eggs, 1 cup (230g) sourdough starter , ¼ cup (60ml) whole milk, 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Spread half the cake batter in the prepared tin. Scatter with half the blueberries and a little Demerara sugar.2 cups (200g) fresh or frozen blueberries
- Top with the remaining batter, carefully spreading over the fruit.
- Add the crumb topping and scatter the remaining blueberries. Sprinkle with the Demerara sugar and a sprinkling of cinnamon.2 tbsp demerara sugar
- Bake for 50 minutes to an hour, tenting the cake with foil if it is browning too quickly. The cake is ready when well risen and golden and the crumb topping is crisp.
- Cool the cake in the tin for 20 minutes then lift onto a wire rack to cool completely, lifting by the overhanging paper.
Make the glaze
- Mix the icing sugar and juice of half a lemon in a bowl, adding more lemon juice as needed until you have a pourable glaze the consistency of maple syrup or honey. Use a spoon to drizzle the glaze over the cake.1 cup (100g) powdered sugar, Lemon juice, 1 tsp vanilla extract or paste
- Slice the cake into squares and serve with a cup of coffee or tea. You can also serve warm with a little whipped cream, custard, or vanilla ice cream for dessert.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is always approximate, and will depend on quality of ingredients and serving sizes.
Although this was delicious, the center didn’t cook thoroughly. The directions stated to bake at 340C/170C. I assumed this is a typo and baked it at 350F for 1 hour. Not sure what I did wrong.
Hi Roy – the baking time is a guide as ovens can vary greatly. Always use a tester to check if it needs further baking.
While I didn’t have the fancy sugar, I loved this recipe. I substituted dark brown sugar. I used pastry flour (Bobs Red Mill) which gave the cake a delicate texture. I overcooked just a bit, but still very good. I will make again.
Very Good results from this sourdough discard cake. I had many mango on hand and used them for the fruit. YUMMY! I will use this as my go to for a crumb cake in the future. Very light.
Just made this and it’s in the oven baking. Easy recipe to make. Can’t wait to try it! I am always so happy to find recipes that use sourdough discard as I don’t like to waste it. (I made one substitution, using ground almonds for the streusel crumb topping rather than AP flour to add a bit of protein.)
Thanks for sharing this looks very yummy 🙂