Fluffy coffee cake muffins topped off with a mountain of buttery, crumbly streusel!
These breakfast treats are simple to make and the mile high pile of streusel is absolutely addictive, good luck eating just one!
I should really probably just call these Coffee Cake Muffins “Streusel Muffins”, instead. Because that’s what we’re really here for, right? All that streusel.
I mean, I don’t want to sell the actual muffins short, they’re definitely incredible. They’re light, fluffy, perfectly sweetened, flavored with a hint of cinnamon, and made with a combination of butter and oil (for the best flavor and texture — a technique that I use in my banana muffins as well), but it’s the streusel that has me reaching for a second and then a third and then just maybeee picking off the muffin top of a fourth.
I might have a streusel obsession. How about you?
If you do, you’re going to love these coffee cake muffins as much as I do. Before we can get to the streusel, though, let’s briefly go over how to make the muffins bases.
If you take a look back at some of my most popular muffin recipes (for example, my chocolate chip muffins or blueberry muffins), you’ll probably notice that the base for each of these is extremely similar. After lots of muffin fails, I determined a few key winning tips that make for some of the best muffins possible.
First, we start with a combination of butter and oil. Oil makes muffins nice and soft and fluffy, while butter has a great flavor that oil is lacking, but tends to make muffins a bit too dense. By using half of each instead of committing to just one 100%, we get soft and fluffy coffee cake muffins that also have a great, buttery flavor.
You may also notice that I add cornstarch to the dry ingredients. In my experience, this also helps to make the muffins nice and soft (a technique I also use in my secret ingredient chocolate chip cookies!).
Alright, now let’s talk about how we make all that streusel.
While many streusel recipes start with cold butter, today’s begins with melted butter, which is a technique that I use with my cinnamon coffee cake. I also think it’s much easier to make streusel this way rather than by using a pastry cutter, so that’s another reason this technique is a win for me.
How Do I Make Streusel for Coffee Cake Muffins
Firsts, melt your butter. Cut it into pieces before popping it into the microwave so that it melts evenly and doesn’t explode all over your microwave. Speaking of which, I need to clean my microwave.
Maybe cover the bowl with a piece of wax paper to prevent any potential messes.
Let the butter cool for a bit while you stir together your flour, sugar, and cinnamon. While we want it to be melted, you also want to be sure the butter isn’t scorching hot before you add it to the dry ingredients. Use a fork to work the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs (like in the photo above), don’t overwork it or you’ll end up with a paste rather than a crumble. The best part of the streusel is those buttery, sugary clumps!
I use my hands to pile up the streusel evenly over the muffin batter, and gently press down to snuggle that streusel into the coffee cake muffin batter.
Bake everything on 375 and enjoy!
PS: when I share coffee cake recipes I often get a lot of questions about where the coffee is in the recipe. I’m not sure if coffee cake is more of an American thing, but coffee cake is typically just a treat that’s served as a nice complement to your coffee, not one that’s made with coffee. I hope that helps clear things up!
How to Make Coffee Cake Muffins
Coffee Cake Muffins
Ingredients
Muffins
- ¼ cup (57 g) melted butter
- ¼ cup (60 ml) canola oil may substitute vegetable oil
- ¾ cup (150 g) sugar
- ¼ cup (50 g) brown sugar tightly packed
- 1 large egg + 1 egg white room temperature preferred
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup (120 ml) buttermilk room temperature preferred
- 1 ¾ cup (220 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons corn starch (cornflour in UK)
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
Streusel topping:
- 1 ¼ cup (156 g) all-purpose flour
- ½ cup (100 g) light brown sugar tightly packed
- ⅓ cup (66 g) sugar
- ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 6 Tablespoons (85 g) butter melted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375F (190C) and line a 12-count muffin tin with paper liners. Set aside.
- Combine your melted butter and canola oil in a large bowl. Stir well.¼ cup (57 g) melted butter, ¼ cup (60 ml) canola oil
- Add sugar and stir to combine.¾ cup (150 g) sugar, ¼ cup (50 g) brown sugar
- Add egg, egg white, and vanilla extract. Stir very well, until all ingredients are thoroughly combined. Add buttermilk and stir.1 large egg + 1 egg white, 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract, ½ cup (120 ml) buttermilk
- In a separate, medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, corn starch, cinnamon and salt.1 ¾ cup (220 g) all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 2 teaspoons corn starch, ½ teaspoon cinnamon, ½ teaspoon salt
- Using a spatula, gently fold the dry ingredients into the wet, taking care not to over-mix the batter (which will make your muffins dense and tougher).
- Evenly divide the batter into prepared muffin tin, filling each liner about ⅔ of the way full. Set aside and prepare your streusel topping.
Streusel
- Prepare your streusel by whisking together flour, sugars and cinnamon.1 ¼ cup (156 g) all-purpose flour, ½ cup (100 g) light brown sugar tightly packed, ⅓ cup (66 g) sugar, ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Pour the melted butter into the mixture and, using a fork, stir until crumbles form.6 Tablespoons (85 g) butter
- Using your hands, evenly divide streusel over muffin batter, piling the streusel over the batter and gently pressing the topping into the batter.
- Bake on 375F for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
- Allow to cool before serving.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Christina
I just have a quick question in regards to the crumb topping every time I make it with the melted butter. It comes out hard. Do you have an explanation for that? This is the second time I’ve asked, but I haven’t gotten a reply. Thanks so much.
Sam
Hi Christina! I’m sorry I didn’t get back to you sooner, but no I’m not sure unless the butter is too warm. If the butter is too warm and melts the sugar it’ll sort of candy the streusel and make it too hard. That would be my best guess as too what’s happening here. 🙁
Maria B Rugolo
Question please: I have made your coffee cake many times over to rave reviews. I’m going to make these muffins and wondered if sprinkling cinnamon sugar between the cupcake batter (as is done in the coffee cake) would make this muffins more like your coffee cake?
Sam
Hi Maria! They have a pretty different texture. The coffee cake is a bit more dense so this had to be altered to be fluffier. They have a bit of a different flavor as a result. That being said, you could add the cinnamon sugar in if you’d like. 🙂
Karen
Hi! I’m quite confused as to why this is called coffee cake muffins when there is no coffee in the ingredients? Excited to try this recipe!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Karen! Coffee cake gets its name because it is meant to be enjoyed with coffee, not because it contains coffee. 😊
Paula
I have a friend who is gluten free. Can this recipe be made replacing the all purpose flour with 1-1 gf flour? Thank you,
Sam
Hi Paula! While I haven’t tried it myself, I think it should work. Let me know how it turns out if you try it! 🙂
Mary
I screwed these up, but all my fault. Tips: Do not overfill the muffin cups. Allow plenty of room at the top for streusel and press it in well. Don’t overbake! If you think you need an extra minute, set the timer!
Sam
O no! I’m so sorry this happened, Mary! I hope they turn out better next time. 🙁
Janice Ellsworth
I am new to your wonderful site. My daughter raves about it!
I want to put chocolate chips in the coffee cake muffins. Minis or regular size? How much? Will it change the baking time?
Thank you!
Sam
Hi Janice! You should be able to add chocolate chips without any issue here. The addition will be a to taste addition. It shouldn’t change the bake time or temperature. Enjoy! 🙂
Jill
Delicious coffee cake muffins Sam. My nephew wants blueberry muffins but your blueberry coffee cake looks amazing. Thanks for another great recipe.
Sam
Thank you so much, Jill! I’m so glad you enjoyed them. 🙂
Barbara Owens
Hi. I made the muffins exactly like the recipe and I am pleased with how perfect they were. Thank you.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Wonderful! We’re so happy you enjoyed, Barbara ❤️
Jenny
Delicious! I needed a quick baked good on a Sunday and these did the trick. The only thing I changed was I upped the cinnamon to 1 tsp in the batter. I thought that maybe there was too much crumble when I started mixing it up, but I went ahead and piled it all on anyway. My recommendation: Definitely use it all! I am saving this recipe 🙂 Thanks Sam!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much, Jenny! You can never have enough topping! 🙂
Stefanie Gabel
Is there any way I can make these the night before and bake in the morning?
Once made, how should they be stored?
Thank you!
Sam
Hi Stefanie! I haven’t tried it so I’m not sure. If you do want to try it I would recommend storing in the refrigerator covered tightly. Let me know how it goes if you try it. 🙂
Jasmine
Hi, can I make these in a donut pan.
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Jasmine! I honestly have not tried that! They SHOULD be ok, but the bake time will be different than what is listed. If you try it, I’d love to know how they turn out! 🙂
Jasmine
Hi, I made these in a donut pan today, and they were so delicious. Thank you for another great recipe.
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed them, Jasmine! 🙂
Sally
Hi, I love these muffins and have made them several times. Do you think I could make this as a cake?
Sam
Hi Sally! I actually have a coffee cake recipe you could try. 🙂
MaryPili
This recipe is really good, I put more cinnamon because I love it and they are delicious. I totally recomended with a cup of coffee or tea…. Thank you
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much! 🙂
Joleen
Can you freeze these?
Sam
Hi Joleen! I haven’t frozen them but I don’t see any issue freezing them. 🙂
Denise Clarkson
Hi Sam, just put these in the oven and hoping they turn out as good as yours look. My question is about the amount of streusel is more then you need. I don’t want to waste it, can it be kept for a while in the fridge?
Sam
Hi Denise! That should work fine stored in an air tight container. I like A LOT of topping so I always load mine up. 🙂
Denise Clarkson
They were delicious Sam, and next time I will use more for the topping.
Sam K.
Can I…uhhhh…request a YouTube video for this recipe? Your coffee cake recipe was absolutely delicious. I think these would be too. #datstreusel
Sam
I will definitely put it on the list of videos to make. 🙂