Our Cinnamon Streusel Muffins bring all of the cozy flavors of a homemade coffee cake into a perfect handheld little package. These soft, fluffy muffins are made with sour cream, buttermilk and the most perfect crumbly streusel topping. These muffins are topped with a buttery cinnamon streusel, filled with sweet cinnamon chips, and feature a ribbon of cinnamon-sugar running through the center. If you're searching for an easy cinnamon streusel muffins recipe that delivers bakery-quality results, this is it.
These moist, tender muffins are perfect for lazy Sunday mornings with coffee or as a sweet afternoon treat any day of the week. If you're a fan of muffins covered with sweet, cinnamon streusel, be sure to check out our hazelnut and chocolate filled Nutella Muffins or our light and fluffy blueberry and White Chocolate Muffins.
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- these cinnamon streusel muffins taste like they came from a cozy coffee shop but you can make them at home
- these muffins are filled with cinnamon goodness - cinnamon streusel on the top, cinnamon chips and a ribbon of cinnamon swirl in the center of the muffin
- a pillowy soft muffin with the perfect amount of sweet, buttery streusel on the top of each muffin
- this recipe bakes up more quickly than an entire coffee cake so you can have sweet, cinnamon yumminess in your belly more quickly
- this easy recipe is made with simple ingredients and has a ton of cinnamon flavor
- no mixer required - mix this easy recipe up by hand
Ingredients You'll Need
- unsalted butter - adds moisture and flavor to the muffin batter
- sour cream - adds additional flavor and moisture to the muffin batter
- cinnamon chips - these are a special ingredient that sets these muffins apart! Hershey makes cinnamon chips that add sweet bursts of cinnamon throughout the muffin. Look for them in the baking aisle near chocolate chips, or order them online.
- buttermilk - guarantees moist muffins with delicious flavor - if you don't have fresh buttermilk in the refrigerator, check out our buttermilk substitutions below.
Substitutions and Variations
Sour Cream - you can replace the sour cream with your favorite vanilla or plain greek yogurt
Substitutions for Buttermilk
Buttermilk Powder - available in your local grocery store or online, simply follow the instructions on the can to make your own buttermilk at home.
Milk and Lemon Juice or Vinegar - combine 1.5 teaspoons lemon juice or white vinegar with ½ cup of milk. Whisk until well combined and use in place of buttermilk in the muffin recipe.
Gluten Free Streusel Muffins - swap out the all purpose flour for your favorite gluten free flour blend - I've had good luck with both Bob's Red Mill 1 for 1 and King Arthur Measure for Measure.
Add Nuts - mix in ½ cup of your favorite nuts - you can use pecans, walnuts or hazelnuts. Be sure to toast the nuts at 290° for 10 minutes before adding to the muffin batter.
Instructions
Be sure to see the recipe card for the full list of ingredients and detailed recipe instructions.
Combine the softened butter, flour, sugars and cinnamon. Mix with a fork until crumbly and well combined. Save for when you are putting the muffin batter together.
Combine dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Whisk to combine.
In a large measuring cup, combine the liquid ingredients and whisk until well combined.
Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Gently fold until just combined. Fold in the cinnamon chips.
Fill each muffin cup ½ way with the batter. Top with one teaspoon of the crumb topping.
Cover the streusel mix with an additional scoop of muffin batter.
Add a teaspoon of the sweet streusel topping to the top of each muffin. Gently press the streusel into the top of each muffin so that it sticks.
Bake muffins at 425° for five minutes. Lower the oven temperature to 375° and bake muffins for an additional 12-13 minutes. Remove muffins from the oven and allow to cook slightly before serving. Drizzle muffins with the vanilla glaze and enjoy.
Tips for Perfect Muffins
Use a cookie scoop - using a cookie scoop makes it super easy to add the layers of the cinnamon streusel muffins to the baking pan. I actually like to use two for this batch of muffins, one for the muffin batter and another for the streusel mixture.
Bake muffins at a higher temperature for the first five minutes - baking the muffins at 425° for the first five minutes of baking helps to create muffins that have nice height and are light and fluffy on the inside.
Don't over mix the batter - mix the batter until it just comes together. There may be a few lumps in the batter and that's okay. Over mixing the batter can cause your muffins to be chewy and dry.
Room temperature ingredients work best - room temperature ingredients lead to better overall structure of the muffins. A batter made with room temperature ingredients will bake more evenly.
Press streusel gently so it sticks - gently press the streusel topping into the top of the muffin batter so that it sticks to the muffins when they bake.
Bake in Every Other Mold - When making in a 12 cup muffin tin, arrange the cupcake liners in every other mold. This allows the heat to wrap evenly around each muffin guaranteeing even baking for all of the muffins in the muffin tin. See Step - for a picture of what this looks like.
How to Store Streusel Muffins
Room Temperature: Store baked muffins at room temperature in an airtight container for 2-3 days. The sour cream and buttermilk keep these muffins moist for a couple of days.
Refrigerator: If you've added the vanilla glaze, you can store the muffins in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Bring to room temperature or warm slightly before serving for the best texture and flavor.
Freezer: These muffins freeze beautifully! Skip the glaze and wrap each muffin individually in plastic wrap, then place them all in a freezer-safe bag or container. Freeze for up to 3 months.
To Reheat from Frozen:
- Remove the plastic wrap and warm the microwave for 30-45 seconds
- Or thaw overnight in the refrigerator and warm in a 300°F oven for 5-7 minutes
- Once the muffins are warm or defrosted, drizzle with the vanilla glaze
Pro Tip: Freeze the muffins and the glaze separately. This prevents the glaze from becoming soggy on top of the muffins and allows you to drizzle fresh glaze on after reheating for that just-baked taste.
Recipe FAQs About
A streusel topping has sugar and a decent amount of flour in it. This creates a sweet, crumbly topping for the muffins. A crumb topping has more sugar and less flour, creating a more crumbly topping for baked goods.
Your streusel topping may not be crumbly because your butter was melted/too warm or you didn't mix the topping well enough to distribute the butter. To make sure that you have crumbly streusel topping, work room temperature butter into the dry ingredients with two forks until the topping looks crumbly and no large chunks of butter remain.
Yes, the streusel topping keeps well in the fridge for several days or can be frozen - you can definitely make it ahead of time!
Related Muffin Recipes
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Cinnamon Streusel Muffins
Ingredients
For the Streusel (you'll use this for the middle of the muffins and for the crumbly topping)
- ¼ cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- ⅛ cup sugar
- ¼ cup light brown sugar
- ½ cup all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
For the Muffins
- ½ cup unsalted butter melted and cooled
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- 1.5 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup sour cream at room temperature
- ½ cup buttermilk at room temperature
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- 1.5 teaspoons vanilla
- ½ cup cinnamon chips
For the Vanilla Glaze
- 1 cup confectioners sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 tablespoon milk
Instructions
For the Streusel (you'll use this for the middle of the muffins and for the crumbly topping)
- Combine the softened butter, flour, sugars and cinnamon Mix with a fork until crumbly and well combined. Store the streusel in the refrigerator while you are mixing up the muffin batter.
For the Muffin Batter
- Preheat oven to 425°. In a small mixing bowl melt the butter. Allow to cool for a few minutes.
- Line your muffin pan (12 cups) with cupcake wrappers.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk to combine.
- In a large measuring cup, combine the cooled butter, sour cream, buttermilk, eggs and vanilla. Whisk until well combined.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Mix until just combined. Be sure not to overmix.
- Gently fold in the cinnamon chips.
- Use a large cookie scoop to add batter to the muffin pan. Fill each muffin cup half way.
- Place a teaspoon of the streusel on the first scoop of muffin batter. Top with another scoop of batter.
- Place a spoonful of streusel topping on the top of each muffin. Press down just a little bit so that the streusel sticks to the batter.
- Bake muffins at 425° for 5 minutes. Lower the temperature to 375° and bake for an additional 16-18 minutes or until the edges are golden brown and the middles are baked through.
- Remove muffins from the oven and allow the muffins to cool.
For the Vanilla Glaze
- Combine the powdered sugar, vanilla and milk in a measuring cup. Whisk until smooth. Drizzle vanilla glaze over muffins and enjoy.
Britt says
These are delicious and perfect for Sunday morning breakfast.