Blueberry Boy Bait

Name: Blueberry Boy Bait
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 1 h
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 2 cups flour; 1/2 cup white sugar; 1/2 cup brown sugar; 2 teaspoons baking powder; 1/4 teaspoon salt; 2/3 cup canola oil; 1 cup milk; 2 eggs, beaten; 3 cups blueberries; 1 tablespoon flour; 1 teaspoon cinnamon mixed with 1/4 cup white sugar

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Want to entice admirers into your kitchen? This sweet blueberry boy bait recipe, otherwise known as an easy blueberry snack cake, will bring them running!

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Why we love this recipe
What is Blueberry Boy Bait?
Ingredients you need
Ingredient notes and substitutions
How to make this recipe
Equipment we used for this recipe
Recipe FAQs
Other blueberry recipes we love!
We want to know what you think! 🤔
Blueberry Boy Bait

Why we love this recipe

I’ll explain the title of this recipe in a little bit, but the main thing that you need to know about it right from the start is that it is a light and lovely snacking cake that is filled to the brim with fresh and delicious blueberries and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar.

If you are ever standing in your kitchen trying to figure out what to make with blueberries, you’ve found it! This simple little cake mixes up in 15 minutes, and is just the right amount of sweet.

Oh, and if you need any pointers on how to select/store/prep blueberries, I’ve got all the info for you right here!

What is Blueberry Boy Bait?

Here’s some Blueberry Boy Bait history for you! Legend has it that this recipe first appeared as one of the 1954 winners of the Pillsbury Bake-Off contest. It was created by a teenage girl who said that whenever she wanted to attract some teenage boy admirers, all she had to do was whip up this cake.

My version uses a little less sugar, a mix of brown sugar and white sugar and swaps in canola oil for the shortening. And a few more blueberries!

Because I wanted to be guaranteed that this bait thing was going to work!

Ingredients you need

Ingredient notes and substitutions

Blueberries: Local fresh blueberries are of course the very best, but supermarket blueberries will also work just fine.
Brown sugar: You can use either light or dark brown sugar. Dark brown has more molasses in it, so it will have a slightly stronger brown sugar flavor.

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities and nutritional information.

How to make this recipe

STEP 1: Preheat your oven to 350 and grease a 9×13 inch baking dish with either butter or cooking spray.

Flour mixture in a mixing bowl with a whisk.

STEP 2: Combine 2 cups of flour, a half cup each of brown and white sugar, 2 teaspoons of baking powder and a quarter teaspoon of salt in a large bowl and whisk together until combined.

Blueberry boy bait batter in a mixing bowl.

STEP 3: Add 2/3 cup of canola oil, a cup of milk and 2 beaten eggs to the flour and give it all a good stir until it is nice and combined.

Blueberry boy bait batter in a baking pan.

STEP 4: Next! Gently toss two cups of the blueberries with one tablespoon of flour (this is going to keep them from all sinking to the bottom), then stir the blueberries into the batter and spread the batter in the prepared pan.

STEP 5: Sprinkle one more cup of blueberries on the top of the batter, then sprinkle with some cinnamon sugar.

Blueberry boy bait on a plate with a fork.

STEP 6: Bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan, then cut into squares and…will it work?

Well, all I can say is shortly after it came out of the oven, look who appeared in my kitchen.

So I’m pretty sure that all you have to do is bake it up and just stand back and wait for the boys (and girls!) to come running!

Equipment we used for this recipe

These are some of my favorite kitchen tools! These are Amazon affiliate links, which means I get a little something if you buy through my links at no extra cost to you. (Which helps pay for all that bacon I keep buying! 😄) And I only share things I use and love. I’m so grateful for your support!

9 x 13 Casserole: This baking pan is perfect for everything from blueberry boy bait to easy peach crumble and so much more.
Measuring Cup: We love these angled cups that let us see the measurements from both the inside and the outside.
Pyrex Mixing Bowls: These classic mixing bowls come in all different sizes.
Measuring Spoons: We love that this set of measuring spoons is not on a ring, so we can just pick the ones we want.

Recipe FAQs

This recipe makes a LOT! Can I cut it in half?

Yep! Use an 8×8 pan, cut all the ingredients in half, and check it for done-ness with the toothpick test after about 25 minutes.

Can I use frozen blueberries?

You can! Thaw them first in a strainer and let any excess liquid drain out before you use them.

How long does this keep?

Like any cake, especially those with fresh fruit, it’s best on the first day, but it will be fine stored in the fridge for a few days.

Have a question that I didn’t cover?

Leave your question (or comment or suggestion) in the Comments box below the recipe and I will answer pronto!

Other blueberry recipes we love!

Looking for more fruit-filled ideas? Here is our complete collection of fruit recipes!

We want to know what you think! 🤔

If you try this recipe, we would love to hear how it came out for you! I’d be super grateful if you could leave a star rating (you pick how many stars! 🌟 ) and your thoughts in the Comments section below the recipe.