🫐🍞 My Blueberry Cream Cheese Loaf Bread tastes like one big blueberry muffin top and is more like a dense cake-meets-muffin top than bread. It’s fall-apart tender, soft, and super moist while staying springy, bouncy, and oozing with blueberries!

Quick & Easy Blueberry Cream Cheese Loaf
I love blueberry muffins like my skinny blueberry muffins and classic blueberry muffins, but my favorite part is by far the muffin tops. Those sweet, super-moist crowns that adorn muffins but are gone in about three bites.
So I decided to bake a whole loaf of bread that tastes like one big muffin top, making it even better with a cream cheese layer inspired by my reader-favorite cream cheese-filled banana bread and cream cheese-filled pumpkin bread.
- Perfect for breakfast, brunch, or dessert, the bread tastes more like a dense cake. It’s super springy, bouncy, and soft, never dry.
- The recipe makes two loaves, one 9-by-5-inch and one 8-by-4-inch, just like my Carrot Cake Loaf recipe. It’s perfect for sharing!
- The blueberries soften as they bake, releasing their juices and infusing each bite with incredible fruity flavor.
This is amazing! So easy to make and delicious. We used fresh blueberries, and wouldn’t change a thing about the recipe. It was nice to have an extra smaller loaf to share.
Melissa


Ingredients You’ll Need
This blueberry bread recipe comes together with pretty much the same ingredients used for muffins. Here’s a list of everything you’ll need:
- Cream Cheese: Use full-fat, brick-style cream cheese for the best results. Let it sit out of the refrigerator to soften. The softer the cream cheese is, the easier it will be to mix. If yours isn’t quite soft enough, heat in the microwave for 5 seconds
- Sugar: I use granulated sugar to sweeten the cream cheese mixture and bread. I also include light brown sugar in the bread batter for extra sweetness, moisture, and a subtle molasses taste
- Blueberries: Fresh or frozen berries both work well. No need to thaw them first
- Flour: All-purpose flour forms the base of the quick bread
- Unsalted Butter, Buttermilk, and Oil: These add moisture and richness to the bread. Use a neutral oil like canola oil or vegetable oil for the best results
- Eggs
- Leaveners: Both baking powder and baking soda help the bread rise as it bakes
- Salt: This is optional. I omitted it, because the buttermilk is already salted
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make a Blueberry Cream Cheese Loaf
- Prepare the wet ingredients. Combine cream cheese and granulated sugar in a bowl. Then, toss the blueberries with flour in a second mixing bowl. Combine melted butter, buttermilk, oil, eggs, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla in a third bowl.
- Add the dry ingrdients. Once the butter mixture is smooth, whisk in flour, leaveners, and salt just until combined. Be careful not to overmix! Gently fold in the blueberries.
- Layer. Portion the batter evenly between two prepared pans. Distribute the cream cheese mixture evenly, and pour the remaining blueberry batter on top.
- Bake the loaves until the top is set, and the center is golden brown. A toothpick inserted into the center may not come out clean because of the cream cheese filling. If the bread is browning fast on top before the center is cooked through, tent with foil in the last 15 minutes of cooking.
- Cool the bread in the pan slightly. Then, transfer the loaves to a wire rack to cool completely, and enjoy!


Blueberry Cream Cheese Loaf
Ingredients
- 8 ounces cream cheese, well softened (whipped or light are okay, I use Trader Joe’s Whipped Light)
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted
- ¾ cup buttermilk
- ¼ cup to 1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil, see below
- 2 large eggs
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- ¼ cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- pinch salt, optional (buttermilk is already a salted milk and I omitted adding salt)
- 1 ½ teaspoons lemon zest, optional for lemon-flavored bread (I omitted)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F; spray loaf pans with floured cooking spray; set aside. I used one 9-by-5-inch loaf pan and one 8-by-4-inch loaf pan. Or try two 9×5 inch pans, a 10- to 12-cup Bundt or tube cake pan, 9-inch springform pan and bake as a coffee cake, or muffin pans. Do not use two 8×4 pans; batter will not all fit.
- In a medium bowl, combine the cream cheese, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, and whisk vigorously to combine. The softer the cream cheese is, the easier this will be. If yours isn’t quite soft enough, heat in the microwave for 5 seconds. Set bowl aside.
- In another medium bowl, combine blueberries, 1 tablespoon flour, and toss gently to coat. This helps prevent blueberries from sinking to the bottom of the pan while baking. If using frozen berries, keep them frozen or very cold rather than thawing them in advance because they stay intact better and bleed less when still frozen or very cold.
- In a large microwave-safe bowl, melt the butter, about 1 minute on high power. Add the buttermilk, oil (I use 1/2 cup canola oil and the second day and beyond it’s perfect. The first day it’s a bit oily, but I don’t mind it and it dries out on the second day and longterm results are great. If you prefer drier bread, use 1/4 to 1/3 cup noting bread will dry out more as it ages), eggs, 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, and whisk vigorously until combined.
- Add 2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder, optional salt, and stir to incorporate; don’t overmix. Gently fold in the blueberries. Eyeball it and pour about one-quarter of the batter into each of the two prepared pans, with the 9×5 getting slightly more than the 8×4; batter should come up about one-third of the way up the side of each pan.
- Distribute the cream cheese mixture between the two pans, with the larger pan getting slightly more. Smooth it lightly with a spatula. Distribute remaining blueberry batter roughly evenly between the two pans, with the larger pan getting slightly more. Smooth it lightly with a spatula.
- Bake the two loaves (9×5 and 8×4) for 45 to 65 minutes, or until top is set in the center and golden; a toothpick may or may not come out clean because it could hit a patch of cream cheese. Baking times will vary greatly by pan sizes used. I baked the 8×4 loaf for 48 minutes and the 9×5 for 60 minutes. Muffins or mini loaves could bake in as short as 20 minutes, a big Bundt cake may need 60 to 65 minutes. Allow bread to cool in pans for at least 15 minutes before removing and transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling. If bread is browning fast on top before center is cooking through, tent with foil in last 15 minutes of cooking.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Oh holy deliciousness! I cannot believe how incredibly moist and cake like this bread looks! I have a bag of frozen blueberries that I just took out to thaw over night because you can bet your boots that I am making this bread tomorrow. My kids LOVE cake breads and they love blueberry muffins!
I had to laugh when you asked if we like muffin tops, because immediately I thought of that unsightly bulge that comes from too many sweet things and too tight jeans combined! LOL! But, this kind of muffin top? Sign me up! I always used to eat the tops off muffins when my mom would buy the cases of them from Costco back when I lived at home. I love that you made 2 entire loaves that way. I cannot wait to make this! :-)
Use frozen blueberries. Like, still frozen. You can put them back in the freezer :) The thing is that when frozen blueberries thaw, they get kind of watery and also will leech out into the dough. In one part of the post (in the recipe section I believe) I wrote that if using frozen, just keeping them frozen is fine – and probably perferred. Not that it really matters but just a little tip for you. Adding them frozen or very cold to the batter is fine and it all works out. Regardless you are going to love love love this bread, Michele! Please LMK how it goes and what you used in it, etc and can’t wait to hear the reports! :)
I love muffin tops so if this is like a muffin top, I’m all over it!
Beautiful, I can practically taste the blueberries from here!
This is brilliant. Granted I’m a fool for anything with blueberries, but this is certainly one of your most original ideas – ever. Well done!
You are too young to remember the “Seinfeld” episode where Elaine decides to market muffin tops. My friend Cathy and I had the same idea in the early 1980’s – LOL! Lovelt post. best, Liz
I saw this all over Pinterest today and had a “wow” moment. You knocked it out of the park with this one, Averie!
You saw it all over? That’s great. It’s on FG but the numbers on it frankly aren’t great. Something bread-like will never compete with red velvet, gooey brownies, or chocolate I’ve determined but this far trumped anything I’ve had in awhile. If only they could taste it! :)
I’d be addicted to this Averie! I’m doing a loaf cake tomorrow night, inspired by that carrot cake loaf, using the pans. :) LOVE!
I have a few more loaf-ey things coming. Can’t wait to see yours!
Muffin tops are the only part of the muffin I enjoy! I have to try this asap!
Look at those bursting blueberries! I can imagine this bread is melt in your mouth perfect just by staring at the photos. Gorgeous! And I agree, breads are always better the next day! :)
Sometimes they are for me and sometimes..meh, you never know. But this one was definitely a keeper on days 2 & 3!
This bread is definitely worth trying, all those berries and cream cheese. Perfect with a cup of coffee or tea.
Come see my Valentine”s day preserve. You might like it too. :)
I am with you on the muffin tops. It’s usually the best part of the muffin. Love your twist on the idea! More deliciousness!
Such a pretty bread, I love the blueberry and cream cheese combo!
This looks gorgeous Averie, I love the idea of the cream cheese running through the bread :-)
The top is my favorite part of a muffin. My ex used to to hate it when I would only leave the unsavory bottom for him! Two loaves of this bread wouldn’t be enough. It looks so melt in your mouth good and that cream cheese swirl?! Oh mama.
Now this is a muffin top I WANT! :)
Yum yum!! I just bought some frozen blueberries and all of these recipes look absolutely delish!! :)