These cinnamon streusel muffins make the best breakfast or afternoon snack! The coffee cake muffins have a sweet brown sugar-cinnamon swirl in the center, and crunchy cinnamon streusel on top.
And the batter for these streusel muffins is based on my recipe for German lightning cake called Blitzkuchen, so be sure to check that out if you love coffee cake!
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Each cinnamon streusel muffin is topped with a crumbly brown sugar streusel for a fun crunchy texture in each bite. And each moist muffin has a hidden cinnamon swirl in the middle.
Plus the flavor of the cinnamon swirl in the center reminds me of cinnamon rolls, another beloved breakfast. 🙂
If you love the crunchy cinnamon streusel topping on these muffins, then I highly recommend also baking a batch of my pumpkin streusel muffins. And if you're as obsessed with streusel as me, don't miss my German poppy seed cake, almond cherry coffee cake, and German applesauce cake.
Growing up in Germany, I fell in love with all things covered in streusel. 😀
And these cinnamon streusel muffins are perfect for breakfast with coffee, tea, or chai. Or they're also great in the afternoon for Kaffee und Kuchen or a little coffee and cake break!
And for more delicious muffin recipes, try my chocolate zucchini muffins or cruffins (aka croissant muffins!)
Cinnamon Streusel Muffins
Equipment
- measuring cups and spoons
- mixing bowls
- Large Spoon or Spatula
Ingredients
Streusel Topping
- ¾ cup all purpose flour
- ⅓ cup brown sugar (both light and dark brown sugar work)
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 4 Tablespoon unsalted butter softened to room temperature
Cinnamon Swirl
- ½ cup brown sugar (both light and dark brown sugar work)
- 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Muffins
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup buttermilk (or substitute regular milk)
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt (use table salt or fine sea salt)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a muffin tin with muffin/cupcake liners.
- Prepare the streusel by combining the all purpose flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and softened butter in a mixing bowl. Use a large spoon, silicone spatula, or your hands to mix the mixture until it's crumbly. Set aside.
- Prepare the cinnamon swirl by mixing the brown sugar and ground cinnamon in a small bowl with a spoon. Set aside.
- To make the muffin batter, beat the softened butter and sugar until it is pale and fluffy, after a few minutes. Either use a large mixing bowl with a hand mixer or a stand mixer with the paddle attachment.
- Add the egg and vanilla. Beat the mixture again until it’s well combined, after about 1 minute. Add the milk and mix for 30 seconds.
- Add the all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Mix with a large spoon or silicone spatula until you no longer see dry pockets of flour. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure everything is well mixed.
- Use a cookie scoop or a large spoon to drop muffin batter into each muffin cup to fill it only about one-third to one-half full. (Don’t add too much batter yet, otherwise you won’t have enough to add on top of the cinnamon swirl.)
- Sprinkle the brown sugar-cinnamon mixture evenly distributed between all the muffins.
- Distribute the remaining muffin batter evenly into each muffin cup, until each one is about ¾ full. (Since the batter is thick, it's best to spoon it on top, then use spoons or your fingers to spread it evenly on the cinnamon swirl mixture.)
- Sprinkle the streusel topping on top of the muffins.
- Bake the muffins for 18 to 22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffins comes out without any wet batter stuck to it.Enjoy!!
Notes
- Fill the muffins only ¾ full. Filling them less with result in sad, short muffins. And filling them all the way to the top with batter could cause them to overflow as they bake, creating wide, flat tops.
- If you don’t have buttermilk, you can make it at home by mixing ¾ cup milk with 1 tablespoon lemon juice or white vinegar and let it sit for 10 minutes to curdle.
- Store cooled muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up the 3 days.
Nutrition
Ingredients and Notes
- All purpose flour
- Brown sugar - both light brown sugar and dark brown sugar work
- Ground cinnamon - You could substitute pumpkin pie spice or apple pie spice blends
- Unsalted butter - Make sure you allow your butter to soften to room temperature
- Granulated sugar
- Eggs - Let your eggs sit out for 30 minutes to come to room temperature
- Vanilla extract
- Buttermilk - Or substitute regular milk or dairy free milk like oat milk or almond milk
- Baking powder and Baking soda
- Salt - I recommend using non-iodized table salt or fine sea salt, not kosher salt
How to Make this Recipe
Below is the process to make this recipe. For the full step-by-step directions and ingredient quantities, scroll down to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
1. Prepare the streusel by mixing the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and softened butter in a mixing bowl. Set aside.
2. Prepare the cinnamon swirl by mixing the brown sugar and ground cinnamon in a small bowl with a spoon. Set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl, beat the softened butter and sugar until it is pale and fluffy, after a few minutes.
5. Mix in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
7. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture evenly distributed between all the muffins.
9. Sprinkle the streusel crumb topping on top of the muffins.
4. Add the eggs and vanilla. Beat the mixture again until it’s well combined. Add the milk and mix for 30 seconds.
6. In a muffin tin, drop muffin batter into each cup to fill it about ⅓ to ½ full.
8. Distribute the remaining muffin batter evenly into each muffin cup, until each one is about ¾ full.
10. Bake the muffins for 18 to 22 minutes at 350°F.
Carissa's Kitchen Tip
The muffins are done baking once a toothpick or wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out with wet crumbs stuck to it, but no wet batter.
Recipe Tips
- Filling Muffins: Fill your liners ¾ full. Filling them less with result in sad, short muffins. And filling them all the way to the top with batter could cause them to overflow as they bake.
- Muffin Batter: I recommend using a cookie scoop to portion the batter into the muffin cups, so there's less risk of spilling the batter.
- Homemade Buttermilk: If you don’t have buttermilk, you can make it at home by mixing ¾ cup milk with 1 tablespoon lemon juice or white vinegar. Let it sit for 10 minutes to curdle.
I’ve tried making buttermilk at home with dairy free milk, and it doesn’t work as well.
Variations
- Powdered Sugar: For an extra fancy finish, you can dust your muffins with powdered sugar.
- Glaze: If you’re serving these at breakfast, they are delicious with espresso glaze!
- Yogurt: Some recipes for cinnamon streusel muffins include sour cream or Greek yogurt in the batter, which make muffins extra soft. However, after recipe testing, I prefer these muffins to have a little firmer texture, so they don’t fall apart when you try to eat them.
Storage
- Room Temperature: Store cooled muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up the 3 days.
- Fridge: I don't recommend storing cinnamon streusel muffins in the fridge, since the streusel could get soft.
- Freezer: Wrap cooled muffins individually in plastic wrap then in aluminum foil and store in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Related Recipes
Looking for more tasty German breakfast recipes? Try these:
Lina
Tried this, it was tasty 🙂
Carissa Erzen
I'm so glad to hear that! I absolutely love these streusel muffins 🙂
Maxi
Cute cupcakes and taste really good