Blueberry Crumble Coffeecake (Vegan)

If you think a cake can’t taste great without white flour, butter, oil,, eggs, and refined sugar, think again because it’s all about finding alternative nutritious ingredients to replace the undesirables.  Instead of white flour, consider oats and almond flour.; instead of butter, oil, and refined sugar, choose date paste (dates and water);  instead of eggs, select ground flaxseed meal. Using these alternative ingredients not only produces a nutritious cake but also a delicious one…promise!

This Blueberry Crumble Coffeecake uses oats and almond flour as a foundation to which a date paste (made from dates and hot water) is added as a sweetener along with a blueberry filling made with blueberries, maple syrup, ,and vanilla extract which adds a juicy, sweet, fruity layer to the center of the cake.  Moist, delicious and super nutritious (full of fiber, vitamins, and minerals), the recipe below was inspired by Sprouting Zen’s recipe for Homemade Strawberry Crumble Cake Bars.

It is important to note this cake is not overly sweet but it’s sweet enough. The dates, blueberries, and the small amount of maple syrup give the cake a slight sweetness but not too much that you can’t enjoy this cake for breakfast (after all, it’s a coffeecake), especially with a cup of tea or coffee.

Blueberry Crumble Coffeecake

Ingredients:

• 3 cups whole grain rolled oats (not instant and not steel cut)
• 1-1/2 cups almond flour
• 1 tablespoon flaxseed meal
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 6 ounces Medjool dates (approximately 9 large), pitted
• 1-1/2 cups hot water
• 16 ounces (454 grams) blueberries (about 3 half pints)
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Place the pitted dates and hot tap water in a strong blender (Vitamix works great) and allow to soak for 10 minutes.

Spray a 9 inch non-stick springform pan lightly with spray oil.

Place the blueberries in a pan with the maple syrup and vanilla and cook 5-6 minutes on medium heat, stirring occasionally until the blueberries just start to break down to form what looks like a thick blueberry filled syrup. Don’t overcook (the shape of the blueberries should still be visible). Remove from heat and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the rolled oats, almond flour, flaxseed meal, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Blend with a whisk.

Create the date paste by turning on the Vitamix or high speed blender to pulverize the dates in the hot water (this takes about 15 seconds).

Pour the date paste into the dry ingredients and blend using a mixing spoon. The batter will be thick.

Place 3/4 of the batter into the springform pan and spread the batter out using the back of the mixing spoon.

Pour the blueberry mixture over the batter in the springform pan.

Take the remaining batter and drop small pieces of the batter all over the top of the blueberry mixture.

Bake for 40 minutes.  Remove from the oven and set aside for 10 minutes.

Run a knife gently around the inside of the springform pan. Remove the side of the springform pan. Set aside for 20 minutes.

Gently insert a wide spatula under the cake and gently slide the cake onto a serving or cake platter.

Slice and serve.