These Coffee Cake Muffins pack all of the flavor of a decadent coffee cake into a simple muffin recipe. They are the perfect thing to serve with your morning coffee or tea.
Weeknight-easy
Beginner-friendly
You’ll Learn: How to make a simple icing that takes this to the next level
Worth It: It builds a freezer stash for stress-free snack later
Bonus: Mini muffin option
coffees perfect match
Coffee cake is called coffee cake because it pairs perfectly with a cup of warm coffee, not because there is actually any coffee in the recipe. These coffee cake muffins are even better than traditional coffee cake because they are portable.
This coffee cake muffin recipe is sure to be a new family favorite. The soft muffin base is topped with a rich crumble and drizzled with a simple icing.
Wrap up one of these decadent muffins and bring it with you on the go to work or school. Enjoy it for breakfast or a snack.
What makes a coffee cake a coffee cake?
So if there isn’t any actual coffee in a coffee cake, what makes it a coffee cake? A coffee cake is when there is a layer of decadent cinnamon infused cake topped with a layer of streusel topping.
The two are baked together for a decadent and delicious combination. Sometimes the streusel layer is as thick as the cake layer and sometimes it is thinner.
Most of the time the coffee cake is drizzled with a thin and simple icing. This coffee cake muffin recipe has all of the same elements of a traditional coffee cake just in muffin form!
Kitchen tools
- Measuring spoons and measuring cups
- Mixing bowls
- Whisk and spatula
- 12-cup muffin pan and muffin cup or cupcake liners
- Wire rack for cooling
Serving Suggestions
Like I said before, these coffee cake muffins are the perfect thing to serve with a cup of coffee. I love to have one in the afternoon with an iced shaken espresso drink.
They would also be a wonderful addition to a brunch spread. I would serve them with a few of my brunch favorites like this sun dried tomato and spinach quiche, croissant breakfast casserole, oreo cinnamon rolls and air fryer breakfast potatoes.
For another fun muffin to try, make these peanut butter and jelly banana muffins next.
Ingredients
- Sour cream
- Milk
- Large eggs
- Granulated sugar
- Vegetable oil – avocado oil, vegetable oil, or coconut oil
- Vanilla extract
- All purpose flour
- Baking soda and baking powder
- Cinnamon
- Salt
- Brown sugar
- Room temperature unsalted butter
Ingredient substitutions
The sour cream helps to keep the muffins super moist. You can use a plain yogurt or Greek yogurt in place of the sour cream.
To make these coffee cake muffins gluten free, use an all purpose gluten-free flour blend instead of the standard flour.
It is important to use room temperature butter to make the crumble fluffy. Avoid using melted butter. If you want to make this recipe dairy free you can use a vegan butter and a dairy free yogurt.
can i make mini muffins?
Yes, you can make mini coffee cake muffins. The mini muffins are the perfect little treat to pop in your mouth when you need something sweet!
Use a mini muffin pan in place of a full sized muffin pan. The muffins will cook in about 15 minutes or so. Use a toothpick to check and see if the muffin batter is cooked all the way through.
What is the secret to moist muffins?
You want to make a muffin batter that is wet enough to make moist muffins, but not so wet that they do not cook through. I like to use a mixture or eggs, sour cream or yogurt and oil to keep these cinnamon coffee cake muffins moist, but still fluffy.
How to make coffee cake muffins
Step 1: Prepare muffin batter
To begin, preheat oven to 350F. Then, line 12 slots in a muffin tin with paper liners.
Next, in a large mixing bowl whisk together sour cream, milk, eggs, sugar, vegetable oil and vanilla. Add flour, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon to the bowl with the wet ingredients and fold in with a flat spatula.
Stir until no lumps remain. Then, scoop about ¼ cup of batter into each of the 12 muffin slots and set aside.
Step 2: prepare crumble topping mixture
To prepare crumb topping, combine brown sugar, all purpose flour, cinnamon and salt in a small mixing bowl. Place softened butter in the bowl and use the back of a fork to press butter into dry ingredients.
Continue mixing with the fork until the butter is fully incorporated into the dry ingredients and a sand like mixture remains.
Step 3: Top with crumb mixture and bake
Sprinkle crumb topping evenly over batter in the muffin tin. You will use about 1.5 tbsp of crumb mixture per muffin.
Then, place muffin tin in the oven and bake for 26-28 minutes. To check that the muffins are done, insert a toothpick into the center of the muffin and check that it is clean when it comes out.
Allow muffins to cool completely. Prepare the icing by mixing powdered sugar with milk and drizzle over completely cooled muffins. Make a vanilla glaze by adding a little bit of vanilla extract to the icing.
Storage, reheating and freezing
Allow muffins to cool completely and transfer to an airtight container. Store on the countertop for up to 4 days or in the fridge for up to one week.
If you want to reheat the muffins, slice in half and warm in butter in a skillet on the stovetop. You can also reheat in a toaster oven until just warmed through.
To freeze these muffins, place in a freezer safe container and freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost one muffin at a time, thaw and reheat to enjoy.
Check out these other muffin recipes
You can find the full recipe below. If you make this recipe, please rate and review it in the comments, or share it with me on Instagram!
You can find the full recipe below. If you make this recipe, please rate and review it in the comments, or share it with me on Instagram!
Email Recipe for Later
Recipe
Coffee Cake Muffins
Ingredients
Muffin Batter Ingredients:
- ½ cup sour cream
- ½ cup milk
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 and ½ cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp kosher salt
Crumb Topping Ingredients:
- ½ cup brown sugar – packed
- ½ cup all purpose flour
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp kosher salt
- ½ stick ¼ cup of butter, softened
Optional Icing Ingredients:
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F and line 12 slots in a muffin tin with liners.
- In a large mixing bowl whisk together sour cream, milk, eggs, sugar, vegetable oil and vanilla. Add flour, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon to the bowl and fold in with a flat spatula.
- Scoop about ¼ cup of batter into each of the 12 muffin slots and set aside.
- To prepare crumb topping, combine brown sugar, all purpose flour, cinnamon and salt in a small mixing bowl. Place softened butter in the bowl and use the back of a fork to press butter into dry ingredients. Continue mixing with the fork until the butter is fully incorporated into the dry ingredients and a sand like mixture remains.
- Separate crumb topping evenly over batter in the muffin tin – about 1.5 tbsp per muffin.
- Place muffin tin in the oven and bake for 26-28 minutes. To check that the muffins are done, insert a toothpick into the center of the muffin and check that it is clean when it comes out.
- Allow muffins to cool completely. Prepare the icing by mixing powdered sugar with milk and drizzle over completely cooled muffins
Recipe Notes
- Allow muffins to cool completely before adding icing
- Icing is optional – if making muffins ahead of time, apply icing just before serving
Nutrition Information
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
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