These coffee cake muffins with crumb topping are soft, cinnamon-spiced, and totally irresistible. With a buttery streusel on top and a tender, fluffy centre, they bring all the cozy vibes of classic coffee cake—just in a muffin-sized package!
If you're in the mood for muffins, look no further than this coffee cake muffin recipe.
With just a few simple ingredients, you can replicate the classic flavour of coffee cake, conveniently baked as individual muffins.
Why it works
With this recipe, we've achieved the perfect coffee cake muffins by ensuring that they:
1. have the correct moisture
2. are topped with a delicious crumbly streusel
To create muffins with a moist, tender crumb, we used a mix of liquids. Unsweetened applesauce and plain Greek yogurt do the bulk of the work here, adding moisture and a delightful tanginess that bakery style muffins sometimes get from buttermilk.
In lieu of buttermilk, we added some softened butter to impart a buttery flavour – without making the muffins too dense.
For the muffin topping, we started with a brown sugar crumb and then added a generous amount of cinnamon to really nail the taste of classic coffee cake. A cinnamon sugar layer inserted into the centre of the muffins really ties it all together, resulting in some of the best muffins we've yet to try!
Ingredients and substitutions
For the cinnamon crumb topping
- Light or dark brown sugar
- Self-rising flour: Alternatively, use ¾ cups purpose flour + 1 ⅛ teaspoon baking powder + just under ¼ teaspoon salt added
- Ground cinnamon
- Butter: You can swap this for an equal amount of melted vegan butter or coconut oil
For the muffin batter
- Self-rising flour (spooned & levelled): Substitute for 1 and ⅓ cups all-purpose flour + 2 teaspoons baking powder + just over ¼ teaspoon salt added
- Baking soda
- Butter: Can substitute vegetable oil instead
- Applesauce: Can be substituted with mashed banana, though it will take on a banana flavour
- Light or dark brown sugar
- Eggs
- Vanilla extract
- Plain Greek yogurt: either low-fat or full-fat
- Almond milk: whole milk, skim milk or any other non-dairy milk will also work
Equipment needed
Muffin pan: We used a standard-size muffin pan for this recipe. For bakery-style coffee cake muffins, use a larger muffin tin and increase the cooking time by 2-3 minutes. For mini muffins, use a miniature muffin pan and decrease the baking time by 2-5 minutes.
Muffin liners: We used paper liners, but you can also skip the liners and use baking paper squares instead, or just lightly grease the muffin pan and skip the liners altogether.
Whisk: We used a whisk to mix dry ingredients, but you can also use a fork.
Mixer: Either a handheld mixer or a stand mixer will work.
Print📖 Recipe
Coffee Cake Muffins with Crumb Topping Recipe
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 12 reagular-sized muffins 1x
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
These coffee cake muffins with crumb topping are soft, cinnamon-spiced, and totally irresistible. With a buttery streusel on top and a tender, fluffy centre, they bring all the cozy vibes of classic coffee cake—just in a muffin-sized package!
Ingredients
Cinnamon crumb mixture
- ⅓ cup packed dark or light brown sugar
- ¼ cup + 2 Tablespoons self-rising flour
- 1 ¼ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 2 Tablespoons butter, melted
Muffin batter
- 1 and ⅓ cups self-rising flour (spooned & levelled)
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- ¼ cup unsweetened applesauce
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup plain Greek yogurt (can use low-fat or full-fat)
- 2 Tablespoons almond milk or other non-dairy milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Line a muffin tin with paper liners or lightly grease it.
Crumb mixture
- Prepare the cinnamon crumb mixture. In a medium bowl, combine the brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Add the melted butter and mix with a pastry cutter or two forks until the mixture forms pea-sized moist crumbs. It's okay if some crumbs are larger. Cover the bowl with foil or plastic wrap and refrigerate this mixture until needed.
Muffin batter
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set this dry mixture aside.
- In another large bowl, use a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment to beat together the butter, applesauce, and sugar until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes.
- Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as necessary. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix on medium-high speed until well combined. Add the Greek yogurt and mix until combined. The mixture may appear lumpy, but that's okay.
- Gradually add the dry mixture to the wet ingredients, mixing on low speed until just combined. Stir in the almond milk until just incorporated. Avoid over-mixing; the batter should be thick.
- Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tin, filling the muffin cups about halfway. Sprinkle about 1 tablespoon of the crumb mixture evenly on top of the batter.
- Spoon the remaining batter over the crumb layer so that it is in the centre of the muffin. Then top each muffin with the remaining crumb mixture.
- Place the muffin tin in the preheated oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the top of the muffin comes out clean. You may need to adjust this baking time, depending on the size of your muffin pan. For mini muffins, start checking for doneness around 12 minutes. For jumbo minutes, they may not be fully baked until closer to 30-35 minutes.
- Once the muffins are baked, allow them to cool in the tin for about 10 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Enjoy the muffins warm or at room temperature. The best way to store leftovers is in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the refrigerator for up to a week.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Love this recipe? Leave a rating and review to help others find it! We'd love to hear from you.
Ashley says
Yum!!!! Love these. 💕
Simply Fresh Foodie says
Glad you like them! 🙂
Michael P says
These mufffins are great! I'm not a huge baker, but these were very easy to make. I love a sweet breakfast and can't stop eating these with my morning coffee. Thanks!
Simply Fresh Foodie says
These would pair perfectly with coffee. Enjoy!