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 (188 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 eggs room temperature
- 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 baking soda
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup (60 g) 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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Can I use the milk left over from making home made butter for this recipe?
Hmm I'm not sure as I haven't tried it myself, but I think it should be fine! Let me know if you try it 🙂
The batter for this recipe is too thick and sticky to spread, even press down, into the muffin cups without sticking to spoon, spatula, or fingers. It was very messy. Layering the streussel, while making for a nice presentation, is messy and laborious. I wouldn't put this in my "must use again" recipes.
I'm sorry to hear that, Cheryl! Happy to help troubleshoot if you want to share any specifics about how you made them 🙂
Very delicious recipe
I am foolishy picky when it comes to cinnamon muffins, and I can honestly say these are the absolute best cinnamon streusel muffins! I have made them repeatedly for years! I cannot recommend them enough! **To anyone allergic to eggs, I can say, I messed up making these once, and despite making these constantly, and always rereading the recipe, I completely forgot the eggs once, and only remembered after I saw the eggs sitting on the counter and they were in the oven baking. They didn't rise as much, but still tasted absolutely delicious!! If I could've given 10 out of 5 stars I would've! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
Aw thank YOU, Denise!! This means a lot to me 🙂 I'm thrilled you love them so much and appreciate you sharing the eggless results - very helpful!
These are delicious!!! I've made many cinnamon crumb muffins before, but this recipe is by far my favorite. There's layers of the crumb mixture and it's so tasty! They just melt in your mouth. I will be making this recipe over and over!
Aw thank you, Sandy!! This means so much to me! Glad you love them!! 🥰
I have been making this recipe for the last almost 4 years. They come out perfect every time and they're delicious. I've made them in multiple homes with multiple ovens. Always perfect.
Omg you just made my day, Allie!! Thank you for sharing this ❤️
These muffins are INSANELY good!! I’ve made them 3 times and I’ve never commented on a recipe but I had to lol I get so many compliments from people and my boyfriend begs me to make them lol thanks so much!
Excellent - moist, spicy & delish! I used my Jumbo tin and lightly coated the cups with coconut oil - didn't have any paper muffin cups. Came out beautifully! 🙂
I'm so happy to hear that!! Thank you for taking the time to leave a review, I really appreciate it 🙂
I have made these muffins twice now and they are DELICIOUS!! This is my go to recipe from now on. Try them, you won't be disappointed
This made my day! Thank you, Robin!!
The Cinnamon Streusel Muffins were perfect. They turned out beautiful and, moist and so delicious. The amount of cinnamon that was distributed throughout the muffin was just perfect. This is a recipe I will be using again and again
Yay thank you, Alice!! I'm so happy you enjoyed them! 🙂