This comforting wild blueberry gingerbread dessert is a delicious compromise between sweet blueberry quick bread and rich traditional dairy-free gingerbread. Like most baked goods, it’s lovely when warm, but don’t be afraid to make this one ahead. The flavors and sweetness deepen and the texture becomes delightfully moist when allowed to sit for a few hours or overnight.
Wild Blueberry Gingerbread that’s Deliciously Moist, Tender & Fluffy
I specifically use wild blueberries in this cake for several reasons. Most importantly, their smaller size disperses and suspends better in the batter. (Don’t you hate it when all of the berries sink to the bottom?!) This provides little bursts of berry goodness in every bite. Wild blueberries also have a stronger flavor making this a true blueberry gingerbread, rather than a cake dotted with random moist fruit (you know the ones). You can buy wild blueberries year round, in the freezer section. I usually pick them up at Trader Joe’s.
Free Wild Blueberry Recipe Ebook
I created this dairy-free wild blueberry gingerbread (recipe below!) for the Wild Wonderland Recipe Book, which is completely FREE! Just click here or on the image below to download. The ebook contains wild blueberry recipes from my kitchen, Hannah Kaminsky (the vegan dessert queen), and Regan Jones (renowned foodie dietician).
Special Diet Notes: Wild Blueberry Gingerbread
By ingredients, this wild blueberry gingerbread recipe is dairy-free / non-dairy, peanut-free, soy-free, tree nut-free, and vegetarian.
For egg-free and vegan wild blueberry gingerbread, see the notes in the recipe. I tested with egg replacer, which created delicious results that were a bit more moist than the original.
For refined sugar-free wild blueberry gingerbread, you can substitute coconut sugar for the sugar. The finished cake is a little less sweet and has a slightly deeper flavor.
- 1½ cups frozen wild blueberries
- 2 tablespoons + 3 cups all-purpose flour or white-wheat flour, divided
- 1½ teaspoons baking soda (high altitude adjustment: 1-1/4 teaspoons above 3000 ft; 1 teaspoon above 6000 ft)
- 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ¾ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¾ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1½ cups sugar (see below for options)
- ¾ cup rice bran, grapeseed, or canola oil
- 2 large eggs (see below for egg-free option)
- 6 tablespoons blackstrap molasses
- 1½ tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup + 2 tablespoons water
- Powdered confectioners’ sugar, for topping
- Preheat your oven to 350ºF and grease and flour a 9x13-inch baking dish.
- Place the blueberries and 2 tablespoons flour in a medium bowl and toss to evenly coat each blueberry.
- Place the remaining 3 cups flour in a large bowl, and whisk in the baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt.
- In a mixing bowl, blend the sugar, oil, egg, molasses, and vinegar until smooth.
- Stir in half of the flour mixture, followed by the water, and then the remaining flour mixture. Do not over mix, a few small lumps are okay.
- Gently stir in the blueberries with any residual flour.
- Pour the batter into your prepared baking pan, making sure to scrape out as much as you can.
- Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Let cool before cutting into slices. Plate and sift powdered sugar over top of each piece.
Egg-Free / Vegan: Omit the eggs, increase the water to 1-1/2 cups, and blend 1 tablespoon egg replacer (such as Energ-G) and 2 tablespoons cornstarch in with the wet ingredients until smooth. For vegan and non-GMO, be sure to use organic sugar or the coconut sugar alternative.
4 Comments
I’ve never even thought of blueberries and gingerbread and I love both! This is a genius combo I cannot wait to try!
Would love to hear if anyone has tried making the blueberry gingerbread with gluten free flour.
Thank you .
Looks delicious, my friend makes blueberry gingerbread, can’t wait to try this one!
This looks fantastic. What a brilliant combo for this time of year