Cinnamon Streusel Muffins are one of my favorite dessert breakfasts! They're like sour cream coffee cake muffins with cinnamon streusel topping. These are perfect to grab when you're on the go! And by "on the go", I mean running from your kitchen to your office because you're late for a Zoom meeting…
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I like to pair these with a glass of milk, but they also go great with a cup of coffee or tea!
My favorite thing about these easy muffins is that they have crumbly layers of cinnamon sugar swirled in the middle! It's such a delicious surprise and makes them seem like more of a fancy bakery muffin - almost like a cinnamon roll, except much easier to make!
For a fruity fall variation of these muffins, check out my Honey Pear Muffins with Cinnamon Streusel! You might also find yourself loving my Glazed Orange Poppy Seed Muffins (they're a personal favorite)!
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It's hard to beat muffins with cinnamon, but these other muffin recipes are so quick and delicious too!
Ingredients
- To avoid dry, dense muffins, weigh the all-purpose flour in grams using a scale (see "metric" tab in recipe card below).
- You'll only need 2 large eggs to make these muffins! Place them on the counter to reach room temperature along with the other cold ingredients before getting started.
- Full-fat sour cream is the best to use in this recipe to make sure they're soft and fluffy!
- I use unsalted butter in order to control the amount of salt that's added to the batter. The amount of salt in salted butter can vary by brand.
- Vanilla extract gives these muffins their warm and delicious vanilla coffee cake flavor!
- Buttermilk adds a nice tangy flavor and weakens the gluten, yielding softer muffins!
- Light brown sugar sweetens the cinnamon streusel. Dark brown sugar can also be used if that's what you have in your pantry.
- Ground cinnamon goes into the cinnamon crumb topping, but you can sprinkle some into the batter for extra spice if you'd like 😉
See recipe card below for all ingredients and measurements (US and metric).
Substitutions & Variations
- Want a more fall version of these cinnamon crumb muffins? Try using pumpkin pie spice, apple pie spice, or chai spice in place of the cinnamon in the streusel topping!
- Don't have sour cream? Use an equal amount of plain full-fat Greek yogurt instead.
- Need to substitute the buttermilk? Try an equal amount of plain kefir. Or, make your own "buttermilk" by adding ¾ teaspoon of white vinegar or lemon juice to ¼ cup of whole milk.
- Turn them into big bakery-style muffins by using a jumbo muffin pan! Bake them at 425ºF for 5 minutes, and then reduce the temperature to 350ºF until they're done baking (another 15-20 minutes).
This recipe has not been tested with other substitutions. If you do replace any ingredients, please let us know how they turned out in the comments below!
Equipment
Bake these cinnamon swirl muffins in a 12-well muffin pan filled with liners.
A hand mixer or stand mixer with the paddle attachment is recommended to mix the batter, but isn't necessary.
How to Make Cinnamon Streusel Muffins
Quick Recipe Video
Step by Step Instructions
Step 1: Melt the butter and mix in the flour, light brown sugar and cinnamon. It will dry up into a crumbly mixture while you make the muffin batter.
Step 2: In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until its light and fluffy (about 3 minutes). Stir in the eggs, vanilla extract and sour cream.
Step 3: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Alternately stir the dry ingredients and buttermilk into the wet ingredients just until combined.
Step 4: Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed so that everything gets mixed together. The batter will be fairly thick.
Step 5: Drop about 1 teaspoon cinnamon streusel crumbs into the bottom of each muffin liner. Follow it up with about a tablespoon of muffin batter.
Step 6: Add 2 teaspoons of streusel and then more batter until the liner is about ¾ full. Cover with more streusel. Feel free to sprinkle a little turbinado sugar (or demerara sugar) on the tops for an extra sweet crunch!
Bake the cinnamon streusel muffins at 350°F until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (about 13-18 minutes). Let them cool in the muffin tin for a few minutes and then carefully transfer them to a wire rack.
Recipe FAQs
Streusel is a crumbly topping usually made of flour, sugar and a fat. In this recipe, it's made of flour, brown sugar, butter and cinnamon.
This could be from over-measuring the flour. I always recommend using a food scale to weigh it in grams (see "metric" in the recipe card below) for the most accurate measurements. Scooping and leveling in measuring cups is the next best method. Another reason could be if your oven has the convection setting on.
This could be from inaccurate measuring (more liquid or less dry ingredients than required). It could also be from overmixing the batter.
This recipe should give you about 12 delicious cinnamon crumble muffins!
Love these muffins?
Well then you'll love my sourdough coffee cake, too! It uses ½ cup of leftover sourdough starter so it doesn't go to waste 😊
Storage
Room Temperature: You can continue to enjoy these cinnamon muffins with streusel topping for 2-3 days after baking if they're stored in an airtight container.
Freezing Instructions: Make sure the cinnamon muffins have cooled completely and then cover them tightly in plastic wrap and a freezer-safe bag. Store them in the freezer for up to 1 month. Don't forget to write "Cinnamon Streusel Muffins" and the date on the bag! When you're ready to enjoy them, heat them in the microwave for 30-60 seconds. This is a great way to have a quick breakfast always on hand!
Did you try this recipe? We'd love to see it! Tag @brokenovenbaking on Instagram and Facebook & leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review below!
📖 Recipe
Cinnamon Streusel Muffins
Equipment
- Muffin pan
- Mixing bowls
- Measuring spoons
- Spatula
- Whisk
- Hand mixer optional
Ingredients
Cinnamon Streusel
- 8 tablespoons (112 g) unsalted butter measured then melted
- 1½ cups (187.5 g) all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup (150 g) light brown sugar packed
- 1½ tablespoons ground cinnamon
Muffins
- ¾ cup (170 g) unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- 2 large (2 large) eggs room temperature
- 2 teaspoons (2 teaspoons) vanilla extract
- ⅔ cup (160 g) sour cream room temperature
- 2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour weighed in grams or spooned and leveled
- ½ teaspoon (½ teaspoon) baking soda
- 1½ teaspoons (1½ teaspoons) baking powder
- ½ teaspoon (½ teaspoon) salt
- ¼ cup (59.15 ml) buttermilk *see notes below
Instructions
Cinnamon Streusel Topping
- Mix together the flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon.
- Melt the butter and stir it into the mixture. Let it sit and dry out while making the batter.
Muffins
- Preheat oven to 350°F and line a cupcake pan with liners (or spray with oil if you don't have liners).
- In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (~3 minutes). Add the eggs, one at a time, followed by the vanilla and sour cream. Mix well.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
- Gently stir half of the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, then mix in the buttermilk. Add the remaining dry ingredients and mix until only a few flour streaks are visible. The batter will be pretty thick.
- Pour 1 teaspoon of the cinnamon streusel into the bottom of each cupcake liner. Then, add a tablespoon of muffin batter over the top of it, followed by 2 teaspoons of streusel.Repeat until the muffin liner is about ¾ full. Try to spread the batter out so it's smooth and then finish by covering the tops completely with streusel. (Optional: sprinkle a little turbinado sugar on the tops too!)
- Bake for 13-18 minutes or until the tops are lightly tan and a toothpick inserted in the center of one comes out clean.
- Allow the muffins to cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes, and then carefully transfer them to a cooling rack.
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Taylor says
LITERALLY a fool-proof recipe. I messed up several things (and I didn’t even have enough sour cream), and these muffins still turned out amazing! I’ve never encountered such a solid recipe that was so thoughtfully crafted and tested. Love this! I really appreciate the extra note about how to make your own buttercream. Thanks so much <3
Kayla Burton says
This just made my week 🥹 thank you, Taylor!! I'm so happy you enjoyed the recipe and they turned out well!
Parker says
Literally the best recipe ever!! Made a batch of these and they were all gone within 24 hours😂 making another batch tomorrow and for Thanksgiving!
Catherine says
This recipe is so delicious! I used Gluten free Flour and they came out great ! Was wondering if there was a way to make them dairy free?
Thank you
Kayla Burton says
Thank you, Catherine!! I'm so glad you like them 🙂 I haven't tested dairy-free ingredients but would love to hear how it goes if you do!
Angela says
These are seriously tasty muffins. Everyone loved them!
Kayla Burton says
Yay I'm so happy to hear that!! Thanks, Angela!
Lori says
Loved these!!
Barbara Bar says
The muffins turned out great, could I thin the batter a bit or not recommended ?
Denice Ornelaz-Perez says
Any chance plain greek yogurt would work as a substitute for sour cream?
Kayla Burton says
Hi Denice! Yes, plain Greek yogurt should work just fine 🙂 enjoy!