These coffee cake muffins have everything you love about classic coffee cake in an easy grab-and-go muffin. They're soft, cinnamon-spiced, topped with a buttery streusel crumble, and finished with an optional vanilla glaze.
Easy Coffee Cake Muffins
During a trip to LA in 2013, my daughter and I stopped at a little coffee shop in Long Beach, where she ordered the most incredible cinnamon coffee cake muffin. The buttery cinnamon crumble and soft muffin stuck with us, and I've been recreating them at home ever since. I enjoyed its fruity-filled counterpart, which I later shared in my blueberry coffee cake muffins recipe. Both are perfect with a cup of coffee and always disappear quickly.
Coffee Cake Muffin Ingredients
These are made entirely with staple ingredients. Flour, white and brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt make up the dry ingredients, while eggs, milk, melted butter, and vanilla keep the muffins soft and flavorful. The streusel uses the same flour, sugars, cinnamon, and butter, and the optional glaze is simply powdered sugar mixed with a little milk.
How to Make Coffee Cake Muffins
- Make the streusel topping.
Mix the streusel ingredients in a separate bowl by hand. It should resemble coarse sand. Then, pinch some of it to create larger crumble pieces for a bakery-style topping. Set it aside while you make the batter. - Make the muffin batter.
Mix the wet and dry ingredients separately, then combine them just until the batter comes together. A thick batter and a few small lumps are perfectly normal and help the muffins bake up soft and tender.
- Fill the muffin cups and distribute the streusel.
Fill each lined muffin cup nearly to the top, then generously cover each one with the streusel. Gently pressing it into the batter helps the crumble stay on the muffins instead of falling off after baking. - Bake.
Bake until the tops are golden, and a toothpick comes out clean. Let the muffins cool completely before glazing so the icing stays on top instead of melting into the muffins.
- Glaze and enjoy.
Whisk together the glaze ingredients and drizzle it over the cooled muffins. It's optional, but it adds just the right amount of sweetness without overpowering the cinnamon crumble.
Laura's Tips for Coffee Cake Muffins
Either works. I usually use paper liners for easy cleanup, but you can also grease the muffin pan well if you prefer baking without liners.
Gently press the streusel into the batter before baking. As the muffins rise, the topping bakes into the surface instead of sliding off when you peel back the liner or take a bite.
The streusel should look like coarse sand before you sprinkle it over the muffins. If it looks too smooth, pinch some of it between your fingers to create larger crumble pieces.
Absolutely. Freeze the muffins without the glaze for up to 3 months. Thaw them at room temperature, then glaze them if you'd like before serving.
No. The buttery cinnamon streusel adds plenty of sweetness, so the glaze is completely optional.
Cooled coffee cake muffins can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature (on the counter) for 2 days, in the fridge for up to a week, and frozen for up to 3 months. I recommend warming them up in the microwave for 15 seconds before enjoying them.
Cinnamon Coffee Cake Muffins
Watch how it’s made:
Ingredients
Muffins:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup sugar, white
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1 ¼ cups milk
- ½ cup melted butter, or neutral oil
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
Streusel crumble:
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup sugar
- ¼ cup butter, melted
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- Glaze:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2-3 tablespoons milk
Instructions
Prep:
- Preheat the oven to 350F with the top rack in the middle position. Line a 12-muffin pan with liners. You can also grease it.
- Make the streusel crumble topping in a bowl by combining the flour, brown and white sugars, and melted butter. Mix it well; use your hands to combine it until it resembles coarse sand. Then, pinch some between your fingers to create larger clumps.
Make the muffin batter:
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Mix well with a whisk to distribute the ingredients.
- In a medium bowl, combine the eggs, milk, melted (and cooled) butter, and vanilla. Pour the liquid mixture into the dry ingredients bowl and gently mix until combined. The batter is thick.
- Scoop the batter into the muffin cups, filling each nearly to the top. Distribute the crumble topping generously over each muffin, then make a second pass to distribute the remaining topping, gently pressing it down so the crumbs stay on the muffins as they rise during baking.
Bake:
- Bake the muffins for 20 to 22 minutes, until the tops are golden and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the middle. Remove the muffin pan from the oven and let the muffins cool completely before taking them out.
Glaze:
- Mix the glaze ingredients in a bowl. Once the muffins are completely cool, lightly drizzle the glaze over the tops. This step is optional.
Store:
- Muffins can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature (on the counter) for 1 day, in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
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Sebastian Hortiguela says
These muffins are called coffee cake muffins yet have no coffee in them?
Laura Fuentes says
The name “Coffee Cake Muffins” refers to the crumbly texture of the muffin, which is like the classic coffee cake.
Madelyn s says
This recipe is so good. I’ve tried so many and this one is by far the best. I added a few tablespoons more of brown sugar but could have done without it because the toppings make it sweeter. Just make it, you won’t regret it.
T Mac says
Coffee Cake generally doesn’t have coffee in it. Its called Coffee Cake because that’s the beverage of choice to be paired with it.
Alyssa says
Bookmarked! These were delicious. I’m glad I read through comments first because I didn’t notice from the recipe card that these make 8, not 12 — a good thing for our tiny family of 2! The muffins themselves are not too sweet, so I definitely wouldn’t leave out the streusel topping, icing, or cinnamon swirl. These turned out so cute and were so easy to put together!
Jill says
These muffins are fabulous. Only change I’d recommend is doubling the crumb topping.
Sarah says
When I made this recipe, I made a few modifications that really gave the muffins something extra for me. I did 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup white sugar, added 1/4 tsp nutmeg and 1/4 tsp cloves.
For the cinnammon swirl, I added it into each individual muffin cup rather than in the bowl before pouring.
For the streusel, add a pinch of nutmeg and cut the butter in rather than melt it in.
Riley says
I made the muffin recipe with crumble (added walnuts) and it was amazing. Muffin recipe provides perfectly tasting and moist base. I can’t wait to try with the glaze and swirl next time!