You'll love these easy Cinnamon Streusel Muffins with swirl cinnamon sugar centers. They are moist, sweet, and are every cinnamon lover's dream!
Do you ever walk past coffee shops and the whiff of something cinnamon-y and magical pulls you in? Well, now you can recreate that magic at home with this cinnamon streusel muffins recipe that pairs perfectly with a cup of coffee.
After tinkering in my kitchen with some simple ingredients, I think I've baked the best cinnamon streusel muffins ever! With a buttery cinnamon streusel on top and a delightful cinnamon swirl in the center, these moist muffins scream comfort.
Imagine This: A quiet morning, a warm easy breakfast of these fresh muffins, and maybe a drizzle of maple syrup. Oh, and don't forget a cup of coffee or your favorite brew to wash it down. Perfection, right?
Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Moist Muffins: These muffins have the perfect moist texture, thanks to the balanced blend of wet ingredients.
- Cinnamon Flavor: Each muffin is bursting with sweet cinnamon flavor, evoking the warm, comforting essence of homemade cinnamon rolls.
- Crumb Topping: The streusel topping is a game-changer! The buttery cinnamon streusel creates a delightful contrast with the tender crumb of the muffin.
- Versatile Treat: Enjoy these muffins as a quick breakfast, a delightful snack, or even a dessert after dinner.
- Easy Recipe: With simple ingredients and a straightforward method, you'll have a batch of delicious muffins ready in no time.
- Perfect Combination: These muffins pair wonderfully with a cup of coffee or a tall glass of milk, making them the ultimate comfort food.
Ingredients and Variations
- Muffin Base: In a large bowl, sift together care or all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, a good sprinkle of ground cinnamon, and salt. Use plant-based, semi-skimmed, or whole milk for your wet ingredients. You will also need room temperature eggs and neutral-flavored oil such as canola or sunflower oil.
- Cinnamon Muffin Center Blend: For that addictive center of each muffin, blend granulated or caster sugar with an aromatic quality cinnamon in a small bowl.
- Streusel Topping: This brown sugar crumb topping is where the magic truly lies. Combine AP flour, a mix of granulated and brown sugar, melted butter, and just the right amount of cinnamon to create that crumbly streusel topping texture we all love.
How to Make Cinnamon Streusel Muffins
- Preparation: Preheat your oven to 220°C (428F). Ensure you've got your muffin tin lined with muffin liners. You can also use silicone muffin molds.
- Muffin Batter: Using an electric mixer with the paddle attachment on medium speed, blend sugar and vegetable oil in a large mixing bowl for about 2 minutes. Introduce eggs one at a time, ensuring each is thoroughly mixed. Alternate adding the dry mixture and milk, ensuring a smooth, not over-mixed batter.
- Cinnamon Sugar: In a medium bowl, mix ground cinnamon and sugar until combined.
- Streusel Topping: For the dreamy cinnamon streusel topping, melt butter, and whisk in the rest of the ingredients till you've got a beautiful brown sugar crumble.
- Assembly: It's a layer game! A scoop of batter, a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar, another scoop of batter (until ¾ full), and finally, a generous helping of the streusel on the top of each muffin. Repeat with the remaining batter till you've got a tray of potential deliciousness.
- Baking: Begin at 220°C (428F) for 8 minutes, then without opening the oven, drop to 175°C (350F) for another 8-12 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center of the muffin comes out clean. Transfer to a cooling rack before serving.
Tips for the Best Bakery-Style Muffins
- Do not overmix the batter after adding the dry ingredients. Overmixing will result in gluten formation leading to a dense sponge.
- That bakery-style high-rise is achieved by starting with high heat. Trust the process!
- Post-bake, transfer them to a wire rack. Cooling in the tin will make them soggy and take away their perfect texture.
- If you're a plan-ahead kind of person, wrap the muffin tin in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. Bake the next day for a fresh treat.
Serving, Storing, and Making Ahead
Serve these muffins warm with a knob of butter or at room temperature as breakfast, brunch, or an afternoon treat!
To store these muffins, wrap them in plastic wrap or pop them into an airtight container. They'll stay fresh for 2-3 days, but I bet they won't last that long!
You can prepare the batter for these muffins and chill overnight.
Variations and Substitutes for Cinnamon Streusel Muffins
- Gluten-Free Delight: Swap the all-purpose flour with gluten-free flour or almond flour. Keep in mind that the texture might change a little bit.
- Blueberry Boost: Turn these into blueberry muffins by adding a handful of fresh blueberries into the batter before baking. The perfect combination of fruitiness with the sweet cinnamon is a real treat.
- Go Nuts: A sprinkle of chopped nuts gives a crunchy contrast!
- Vegan Variants: Replace the whole milk with almond milk or another plant-based milk, and use a flax egg instead of a regular egg.
- Sweetness Twist: Instead of the granulated sugar in the muffin base, use light brown sugar for a more caramel-like sweetness. For the topping, instead of melted butter, cold butter can give a different texture to your crumb topping. A drizzle of vanilla extract can also add a lovely aroma.
- Minimize It: Love bite-sized treats? Turn these into mini muffins! Just remember to adjust the bake time as they will take less time to cook.
Other Streusel Muffin Recipes
Cinnamon Streusel Muffins
You'll love these easy Cinnamon Streusel Muffins with swirl cinnamon sugar centers. They are moist, sweet, and are every cinnamon lover's dream!
Ingredients
Cinnamon Muffins
- 250 g cake flour or AP flour (2 cups)
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp. salt
- ¼ tsp. baking soda
- 120 mL vegetable oil e.g., canola oil (½ cup)
- 150 g granulated sugar (¾ cup)
- 2 medium-sized eggs
- 80 mL milk semi-skimmed, whole, or plant-based (⅓ cup)
Cinnamon Sugar
- 50 g granulated sugar (¼ cup)
- 1 tbsp. ground cinnamon
Cinnamon Streusel
- 2 tbsp. unsalted butter melted
- 4-5 tbsp. all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp. brown sugar
- 1 tbsp. granulated sugar
- 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 220°C (428F) and line a muffin tin with muffin liners (or lightly spray with oil).
- Sift and mix flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in a medium-sized bowl and set aside.
- Place vegetable oil and sugar in a large mixing bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or use a handheld mixer). Mix on medium speed until combined.
- Add eggs, one by one, and mix well after each addition.
- Slowly add dry ingredients in two parts, alternating with milk and mix until just combined. Do not over mix.
- Prepare cinnamon sugar: Place sugar and ground cinnamon in a small bowl and stir until combined.
- Prepare streusel topping: Melt butter in a microwave-safe bowl. Add sifted flour, granulated and brown sugar and ground cinnamon and whisk to combine until streusel crumbs are formed.
- Assembly: Place 1 tablespoon of batter at the bottom of each muffin liner. Top with 1 teaspoon of cinnamon sugar followed by another tablespoon of batter or until muffin liners are ¾ full. Sprinkle with streusel topping. Repeat to use up remaining batter. Sprinkle any remaining cinnamon sugar on top of the muffins.
- Bake for 8 minutes at 220°C (428F). Without opening the oven, decrease the temperature to 175°C (350F) and bake for another 8-12 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Baking time depends on muffin size and oven.
- Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes in muffin pan, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
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