Coffee cake is probably the best food invention. Someone made it totally normal to eat cake for breakfast, and since I was little coffee cake has always been a favorite of mine. I have several coffee cake recipes on my website but recently I’ve been experimenting with muffins and thought a coffee cake muffin would be amazing! At first I made these without the icing, which you can definitely skip, but I think it is truly the frosting on top of the cake 🙂
RECIPE TIPS
- Crumble: This crumble comes together really easily. You can either add all of the ingredients to a food processor and pulse until it resembles wet sand, or use a pastry cutter or fork to make it by hand. This process doesn’t need to be perfect so either will do! I like to make the crumble first and set it in the refrigerator to keep cool until needed.
- Resting: While recipe testing I also tested leaving the batter out before baking to see if that would change the rise on the muffins. What I found was that letting the batter sit on the counter for 1 hour really made a difference in how the muffins rose. I understand not everyone (including myself most days!) has time to let better sit around without baking. They will taste delicious either way!
- Muffin tins: This recipe makes 16 regular sized muffins so I use 2 normal muffin pans. This one is my absolute favorite! It bakes really evenly, is super durable and easy to clean. If you’re looking for a cheaper option, I also like these.
- Muffin liners: One way to make your muffins look like bakery style muffins is to use fancy muffin liners. Normal liners just line the pan, but the bakery style ones typically have pointed edges and go up higher than the pan. This is a great choice for these muffins because you’re filling them basically to the top, and then topping them with crumble. These are the newspaper liners I used in another recipe for Chocolate Chip Crumble Muffins, but I also like these plain ones.
These muffins are moist and packed with vanilla- cinnamon flavor. They’re topped with a buttery crumble and sweet icing, and honestly they might just be the perfect breakfast bite. If you end up trying the recipe, please leave a review and rating below!
Coffee Cake Muffins
These Coffee Cake Muffins are the perfect addition to any brunch or breakfast table! The base is a moist vanilla muffin with a cinnamon brown sugar layer in the center. They are topped with a buttery streusel and then a sweet icing!
Ingredients
For the muffins:
- ½ cup salted butter melted
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
- 2 eggs room temperature
- ⅓ cup sour cream
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 cup whole milk room temperature
For the filling:
- ⅔ cup light brown sugar
- 2 tsp cinnamon
For the crumble:
- ¼ cup salted butter room temperature
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp light brown sugar
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ¾ tsp cinnamon
For the icing:
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 2-4 tbsp milk or heavy cream
Instructions
For the crumble:
- In a medium sized bowl add the butter, granulated sugar, light brown sugar and all-purpose flour. Use a fork or pastry cutter to smash the butter into the dry ingredients and repeat until it's all incorporated, it will resemble a sandy texture. Set in the fridge until needed.
For the filling:
- In a small bowl combine light brown sugar and cinnamon. Stir to combine and set aside until needed.
For the muffins:
- In a large bowl combine the room temperature melted butter, granulated sugar, vanilla extract and vegetable oil. Whisk until combined. Add in the eggs and sour cream and whisk until just incorporated. Next add in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and milk and gently mix until the flour is totally incorporated. Do not over mix! Next cover the bowl with saran wrap and let sit at room temperature while the oven preheats to 425°
- Line 16 regular sized muffin tins with liners (I used these) Once the oven is preheated scoop about 2 tablespoons of batter into the liners. Top the batter with about 2 tsp of the filling, then top with more batter. The batter should almost be at the top of the pan (if using tall liners. if using short liners leave about 1/4 inch at the top for the crumble). Remove the crumble from the fridge and sprinkle on top.
- Bake the muffins at 425° for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, without opening the oven, change the baking temperature to 350° and bake for an additional 30-35 minutes, or until the muffins are completely cooked through. Remove from the oven and let cool completely before topping with the icing.
For the icing:
- In a small bowl combine all of the ingredients and whisk until smooth. Add additional milk to reach desired consistency. Drizzle on top of the cooled muffins. Serve & enjoy!
Can you make this in a loaf pan? What size would be best?
You can, I would suggest making it in two loaf pans!
I wish I could rate these higher than a 5! Not only did the muffin tops come out bakery-style perfect, but it also made my house smell amazing! These were such a fun treat that look like they took hours. I had some extra brown sugar/cinnamon filling that I also saved for my coffee. Another amazing recipe, Emily!
YAY! So glad you loved them as much as I do 🙂
I have not made this yet, but I have the ingredients sitting on my counter as we speak lol. I was curious what you would recommend as a substitute for the vegetable oil? We are steering away from seed oils but would love to be able to make this some time this morning!
I did a little digging and tried a 1:1 ratio of unrefined coconut oil – melted – instead of the vegetable oil and WOW! What an amazing recipe!