Cinnamon Streusel Muffins

by Sabrina Snyder

Published on

48 Comments

4.82 from 11 votes
12
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
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Cinnamon Streusel Muffins are deliciously moist vanilla cinnamon cakes topped with a crumble made of brown sugar and more cinnamon.
 
Warm baked goods like our classic Banana Bread recipe and Pumpkin Muffins are especially delicious in the cold winter months. Adding to our collection of Baked Good Recipes, this Cinnamon Streusel Muffin recipe is sure to be a new favorite.
Cinnamon Streusel Muffins
 
CINNAMON STREUSEL MUFFINS
 
Coffee Cake is one of those breakfast dishes that we usually reserve for when we have company staying with us. There’s nothing sweeter than nibbling on a mouth-watering pastry while catching up with a good friend or relative.
 
Cinnamon Streusel Muffins are basically small coffee cakes. They are a great for unexpected visitors, since they can be made in less than 45 minutes. They’re great for quick breakfasts or for office treats, no need to slice up large coffee cakes like my traditional NY Crumb Cake or Easy Cinnamon Roll Coffee Cake.
 
What sets these apart from regular Cinnamon Muffins is a crumbly streusel topping made with butter, flour, brown sugar, and ground cinnamon. You can easily customize this streusel recipe by adding rolled oats, spices like nutmeg, or using granulated sugar instead of brown sugar.
 
Make these melt-in-your-mouth by substituting rich and tangy buttermilk in your batter. You can also replace dry ingredients with gluten-free versions, increase the amount of spice, or add a cinnamon sugar swirl.
 
These streusel-topped Cinnamon Muffins go great with a cup of coffee and a thick pat of butter. If you have some on hand, the cinnamon streusel flavor would taste amazing with an orange marmalade or apple butter. Plus it will keep crumbs from falling all over!
 

MORE DELICIOUS MUFFIN RECIPES

HOW TO MAKE CINNAMON STREUSEL MUFFINS

  • Preheat oven to 375°F.
  • In a medium bowl, whisk together topping ingredients.
  • Cut in the butter then whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.
  • Cream the butter and sugar.
  • Add in eggs one at a time.
  • Add in milk and vanilla.
  • Add dry ingredients, stirring until just combined.
  • Scoop batter into prepared muffin tin.
  • Sprinkle over the streusel topping.
  • Bake for 20-22 minutes.

Pan of Cinnamon Streusel Muffins

VARIATIONS ON CINNAMON STREUSEL MUFFINS

  • Apple Cinnamon: Turn these into Apple Streusel Muffins by replacing half of the butter with applesauce and adding finely diced apples (or dried apple bits) to your batter.
  • Cheese Streusel: Give these streusel cinnamon muffins a decadent twist by mixing spoonfuls of softened cream cheese into your batter before baking. 
  • Pumpkin Spice: You can make these holiday themed by adding Pumpkin Pie Spice to your crumb topping. Scoop your batter into muffin cups and swirl in a small bit of Pumpkin Puree to add more flavor.
  • Mini Muffins: Use a mini muffin tin to make these into bite-sized treats. They will need less cooking time.
  • Nuts: Chopped pecans or walnuts can be added to the streusel topping for an added crunch. You can also sprinkle them into your mix before baking.
  • Gluten-Free: Make these streusel-topped muffins gluten free by swapping the flour for almond flour.
FAQs ABOUT CINNAMON STREUSEL MUFFINS
 
  • Why did my crumb topping sink? Crumbly toppings like streusel or crisps will sink if you use too much butter.
  • Why did my muffins sink? Two main reasons a muffin will sink is due to a bad leavening agent (like baking soda) or being under baked. To prevent this from happening, label your baking soda and baking powder when you open them. Test your oven temperature for consistency with an oven safe thermometer.
  • What is the difference between Strudel and Streusel? A strudel is a type of baked good where a streusel is what goes on top of a baked good. Strudels are layers of pastry wrapped around a filling like fruit. Streusels are a crumbly topping that you can put on breads, coffee cakes, muffins, or Strudels.
  • Why do my muffins get soggy when I store them? If your muffins are not completely cooled when you put them into an airtight container, the heat will cause moisture to collect. For best results, use a paper towel in the bottom of your container to absorb moisture. 

MORE DELICIOUS CINNAMON RECIPES

HOW TO STORE CINNAMON STREUSEL MUFFINS

  • Serve: Serve fresh from the oven, and leave up to 2 hours uncovered.
  • Store: Line a container or plastic bag with a paper towel and store for up to 4 days.
  • Freezer: Freeze for up to 2 months in an air-tight container. To reheat, thaw at room temperature or use a microwave on 50% power.

Cinnamon Streusel Muffins

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Dinner, then Dessert

Cinnamon Streusel Muffins

Cinnamon Streusel Muffins are deliciously moist vanilla cinnamon cakes topped with a crumble made of brown sugar and more cinnamon.
Yield 12
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Author Sabrina Snyder
Cinnamon Coffee Cake Muffins
PrintRate

Ingredients
 

Cinnamon Streusel Topping:

  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar , packed
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter , cut into small pieces

Muffin Batter:

  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter , softened
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/2 cup whole milk
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line a 12 cup muffin tin with muffin cups.
  • In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, brown sugar and cinnamon from the topping part of the recipe then cut the butter in until it resembles small chunks the size of peas.
  • Put the mixture in the fridge while you make the muffin batter.
  • In a stand mixer cream together the butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 1-2 minutes.
  • Add in the eggs one at a time until fully mixed in then add in the milk and vanilla extract.
  • Add in the flour, baking powder and salt until just combined.
  • Using an ice cream scoop or ¼ cup measure, put the batter into the muffin liners then sprinkle the crumb topping over the top of the batter, pressing the crumble in slightly.
  • Bake for 20-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Nutrition

Calories: 287kcal | Carbohydrates: 42g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 56mg | Sodium: 119mg | Potassium: 126mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 22g | Vitamin A: 383IU | Calcium: 55mg | Iron: 1mg

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Cinnamon Streusel Muffins Collage

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the cookbook Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients, published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

See more posts by Sabrina

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. If you enjoyed the recipe and would like to publish it on your own site, please re-write it in your own words, and link back to my site and recipe page. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  1. Great muffins!
    If I make batter and topping ahead of time, is it ok in fridge sealed and to bake the next day?

    Reply

  2. First I absolutely love the idea of these muffins. And while they do taste great, they turned out more like vanilla muffins with a basic cinnamon streusel. I would recommend adding cinnamon to the muffin batter and before adding the topping I would mix some butter, milk, icing sugar and cinnamon creating a drizzle/icing and add some on top of each muffin (save some for later) and using a toothpick to swirl it through the muffin batter than add your streusel topping. Once baked drizzle with your icing and you’ll find this recipe to be improved in my opinion.

    Reply

    1. Yes. If your muffins are not completely cooled when you put them into an airtight container, the heat will cause moisture to collect. For best results, use a paper towel in the bottom of your container to absorb moisture. 

      Reply

    2. Trying to figure out what I did wrong. They turned out more like vanilla cupcakes with cinnamon streusel on top. The muffin is completely pale in color and no cinnamon peaking out like the photo. I noticed the muffin batter didn’t include cinnamon or brown sugar so maybe I’m just missing something to make the batter appear like the photo? :/ Still tasty though.

      Reply

  8. Hello! Just checking if I can use Demerara sugar to substitute brown sugar in the recipe. Thank you!

    Reply

    1. Hi the blog has this info as follows :Serve: Serve fresh from the oven, and leave up to 2 hours uncovered.
      Store: Line a container or plastic bag with a paper towel and store for up to 4 days.
      Freezer: Freeze for up to 2 months in an air-tight container. To reheat, thaw at room temperature or use a microwave on 50% power.

      Reply

  10. Muffin taste was pretty bland and the streusel topping needed a lot more butter and brown sugar. Even though I pressed it into the dough as directed most of it fell off during baking.

    Reply

  12. I doubled the cinnamon (at least, maybe 1.5x-2x) and added a couple extra tablespoons of brown sugar in the topping, and did what other reviewers have done, adding in topping when I put the batter in the muffin tins. Add half the batter, a good heaping teaspoon of streusel, then the other half of the batter for each cup. Top generously, and these were delicious! Nice, crunchy top, soft muffin inside. Mine were not at all dense, as others have suggested.
    The only real change I suggest is to add more cinnamon and brown sugar to the streusel.

    Reply

  13. I’m sorry I’ll have to agree with many of the other bakers, these are distasteful. They are very bland from the muffin to the topping and I added apple spice and more cinnamon. The muffin itself is very dense just not what I’d consider a soft yummy muffin. I’m also a baker and followed the recipe to the tee. Will not be using again.

    Reply

  15. Hi I made these today and my husband loved them! I modified the recipe a little by adding a little more than called for cinnamon to the crumble and I also added a couple of teaspoons of cinnamon to the batter. Finally, I made a little powder sugar and milk glaze on them when they cooled! Awesome!

    Reply

  19. HELP! I accidentally forgot to put the crumbles on top of the muffin batter before baking! Can this batch be salvaged

    Reply

  24. Yum! I love coffee cake and I LOVE not having to share. 🙂 These muffins are perfect and tasty and awesome domed tops. Great for company and great to freeze for quick snacks.

    Reply

  25. Omg yes to everything about this recipe!! These perfect little cakes turned out great, and they were so easy to make too!

    Reply