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
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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Culinary says
I’m so disappointed. They weren’t nearly sweet enough and mine turned out dry.
Laura Fuentes says
I’m sorry these didn’t turn out how you expected.
Shels says
My daughter wanted cinnamon muffins ….. she took them to school for her friends!!! Love this recipe!
Lisa says
I loved them!
SleepyCatzzz says
This was an excellent recipe, and I’ve been baking over 60 years. One tip on the crumble: make it up first and stick into the fridge. When ready for it, pull it out and crumble it in big, med, small crumbles. With the melted butter, it is too runny to do this, but it works great to crumble once the butter sets in the fridge.
Sof says
Extremely good and easy to bake!!