Turn classic coffee cake into Coffee Cake Muffins for a single-serve grab-and-go treat! Make them for breakfast for special occasions or keep them a regular part of your weekly routine.
Someone recently asked if she could turn my Greek Yogurt Coffee Cake into muffins, and fireworks went off in my mind.
Not only did I agree that the coffee cake could easily be turned into muffins, but I enthusiastically wanted to try it myself.
You see, I’m a bit of a coffee cake addict.
I have to pick and choose when I bake one, because if the wind blows in a certain direction, I’ll eat the whole cake or injure myself trying.
Enter: this coffee cake muffin recipe.
My solution to a single portion of coffee cake, without doing my “I’ll just take one bite” dance, then find myself 20 bites later in wonderment of where all the cake went.
Could I eat more than one muffin? Sure. But there’s something about a pre-portioned controlled treat that sets boundaries for my wild nature.
Worse case scenario, I can toss the rest of the muffins in a zip lock bag, tuck them away in the freezer, and pretend this little affair never happened.
But I won’t bore you with my coffee cake comings and goings. Let’s get down to the details!
These cinnamon coffee cake muffins feature a delightful ribbon of cinnamon sugar in the center of the muffins and a buttery crumb on top of the muffins for succulent bakery-style coffee cake muffins.
Let’s discuss the simple ingredients for coffee cake muffins!
Ingredients for Coffee Cake Muffins:
Unsalted Butter: Arguably my favorite ingredient in the whole recipe, we use butter for the fat portion of these easy coffee cake muffins.
Not only does it lend buttery flavor, but it also creates a moist crumb, making the texture so nice and inviting. I recommend using softened butter, not melted butter for the best results.
Greek Yogurt: In addition to butter, we use some Greek yogurt for moist coffee cake muffins. It also adds the slightest tangy flavor, which adds nuance to the flavor palate.
I like using a high-fat Greek yogurt instead of low-fat, but you can pick whichever you prefer.
Eggs: A couple of eggs help the muffins rise and contribute to their fluffy texture. I haven’t tested the recipe using an egg-replacer such as flax eggs, although I imagine it would work.
I suspect the muffins will turn out fairly dense but still delicious with an egg replacement.
Granulated Sweetener: We need some form of granulated sweetener for these delicious cinnamon swirl muffins.
My two favorites are brown sugar and coconut sugar.
Regular white sugar and sugar-free sweetener both work great too. I do light brown sugar, but dark brown sugar works just as well.
Pure Vanilla Extract: A splash of vanilla extract adds warm flavor to these delightful muffins.
Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour (or Regular All-Purpose Flour): I make gluten-free muffins by using gluten-free all-purpose flour, but you can stick with regular all purpose flour too.
My favorite gluten-free flour blend is Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour because I find it always yields the best results in baked goods.
Baking Soda: The leavening agent to make fluffy coffee cake muffins. Baking soda helps the crumb cake muffins rise, gives them a nice crisp edge, and ensures they hold together nicely.
Sea Salt: Salt is an epic flavor enhancer! Don’t forget to use it.
Cinnamon Swirl Ingredients:
Brown Sugar (or Coconut Sugar): The hallmark of a classic coffee cake is the cinnamon and sugar vein running throughout the cake and the streusel topping.
Use the same kind of granulated sweetener here as you do in the cake. Again, my top two favorites are brown sugar or coconut sugar.
Ground Cinnamon: The all-star ingredient that makes a coffee cake recipe a coffee cake! Without cinnamon, we would have something entirely different.
It might as well be called cinnamon cake, since there is no actual coffee in coffee cake recipes!
Raw Walnuts: A little nutty crunch adds that fun little something extra to a baked treat, would you agree? If not, leave the walnuts out, and if so, enjoy! You can also use raw pecans here.
Sea Salt: Again, we must have salt to ensure this cake tastes like an actual dream. A little bit goes a long way in the crumbly streusel.
Recipe Adaptations:
- If you don’t own a stand mixer, use a large mixing bowl and mix the batter using an electric hand mixer.
- Add 1 pint of blueberries plus an extra 1/4 cup of flour to make blueberry muffins. Other fresh fruit can be added too as long as it is chopped small.
- Chocolate fan? Add 2/3 cup of chocolate chips to these delicious muffins.
- Use 1/2 cup of sour cream instead of Greek yogurt for sour cream coffee cake muffins.
- To give some coffee flavor to enhance the best coffee cake muffins, add 2 tablespoons of espresso powder to the muffin base.
Now that we’ve covered the basic ingredients for coffee cake muffins, let’s make them!
How to Make Coffee Cake Muffins:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a muffin tin with muffin papers.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter, sugar, and vanilla extract until well-combined.
Scrape the sides of the mixing bowl using a rubber spatula. Add in the eggs and beat on medium speed until all of the wet ingredients are combined. Again, scrape the sides of the bowl with the rubber spatula.
In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda and salt (dry ingredients). Transfer the flour mixture to the bowl with the wet mixture and beat on low speed until the flour is mostly mixed in, then increase the speed to medium or medium high speed until the ingredients are combined.
Add the Greek yogurt to the muffin batter and mix on medium to medium high speed until incorporated into the cake batter.
In a small bowl or measuring cup, mix together the chopped walnuts, brown sugar, cinnamon and a pinch of salt.
Transfer ⅔ of the crumble topping mixture to the bowl with the cake batter and use a rubber spatula to gently fold it in, just until barely incorporated into the dough (don’t over mix).
Fill the paper lined muffin cups ¾ of the way up and sprinkle the top of the batter with the remaining walnut mixture.
Bake on the center rack of the preheated oven for 18-22 minutes, or until the muffins test clean. Move the muffin tray to a wire rack to cool completely.
A great way of determining if a cake is cooked through is by taking its internal temperature using a digital thermometer. Simply insert a thermometer into the center of a muffin. The ideal final temperature for muffins is between 190 and 205 degrees Fahrenheit.
Allow muffins to cool completely before unwrapping one to eat. If you try peeling muffin liners off while muffins are still warm, you’ll lose muffin to the paper.
Oddly enough, once the muffins have set up and cooled, you can microwave them to give them a little warmth and the paper liners come off easily.
I do suggest enjoying these muffins warm for maximum pleasure. You can even enjoy them with a pat of butter in the middle if you know how to party.
Storage Tips:
- Room Temperature: You can store muffins for up to 2 days at room temperature on the counter. If you do so, I recommend moving them to an airtight container so that they don’t get stale.
- Refrigerator: Transfer muffins to an airtight container or a zip lock bag and store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
- Freezer: Freeze muffins in a large zip lock bag for up to 3 months. To reheat, place one muffin on a small plate and microwave for 25-35 seconds, or until the muffin is warm.
How Many Muffins Does This Recipe Make?
If you fill the muffin holes up most of the way, like I do, the recipe makes 9 large muffins. You can easily bake 10 to 12 smaller muffins if you’d like.
I recommend baking a double batch if you intend on serving many people, or if you want plenty of leftovers available.
And that’s it! A delicious breakfast or dessert recipe to enjoy when the craving for something cinnamony and homemade strikes.
I love these muffins alongside a cup of coffee. That is, after all, what the recipe is designed for!
The moist texture in the center of the muffin and crumb topping on top of the muffin makes just the perfect coffee cake muffins.
You can utilize this recipe as a grab-and-go snack or treat, afternoon snack, or as a brunch recipe for serving guests. I love the idea of baking a batch during the holiday season to enjoy alongside a protein breakfast option for a little something special.
If you’re a coffee cake fanatic like me, also try my Almond Flour Cranberry Orange Coffee Cake, which happens to be my personal favorite coffee cake recipe.
Looking for more muffin ideas? Here are some reader favorites.
Explore More Muffin Recipes:
- Healthy Double Chocolate Pumpkin Muffins
- Almond Flour Banana Muffins
- Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins
- Almond Flour Pumpkin Muffins
- Blueberry Protein Muffins
Handheld cake to go!
Coffee Cake Muffins
Equipment
Ingredients
Cinnamon Coffee Cake Muffins
- ½ cup (1 stick, 113g) unsalted butter softened to room temperature*
- ½ cup (112g) brown sugar packed
- 1.5 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- 1 cup (125g) all-purpose flour or gluten-free all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp sea salt
- 1 (5-oz) container Greek yogurt at room temperature*
Cinnamon Swirl:
- 1 cup (100g) walnuts chopped
- ½ cup (112g) brown sugar
- 1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
- 1 pinch sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a muffin tin with muffin papers.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter, sugar, and vanilla extract until well-combined. Scrape the sides of the mixing bowl using a rubber spatula. Add in the eggs one at a time and beat on medium speed until all of the wet ingredients are combined. Again, scrape the sides of the bowl with the rubber spatula.
- In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda and salt (dry ingredients). Transfer the flour mixture to the bowl with the wet mixture and beat on low speed until the flour is mostly mixed in, then increase the speed to medium or medium high speed until the ingredients are combined.
- Add the Greek yogurt to the muffin batter and mix on medium to medium high speed until incorporated into the cake batter.
- In a small bowl or measuring cup, mix together the chopped walnuts, brown sugar, cinnamon and a pinch of salt.
- Transfer ⅔ of the crumble topping mixture to the bowl with the cake batter and use a rubber spatula to gently fold it in, just until barely incorporated into the dough (don’t over mix).
- Fill the paper lined muffin cups ¾ of the way up and sprinkle the top of the batter with the remaining walnut mixture.
- Bake on the center rack of the preheated oven for 18-22 minutes, or until the muffins test clean. Move the muffin tray to a wire rack to cool completely.
- A great way of determining if a cake is cooked through is by taking its internal temperature using a digital thermometer. Simply insert a thermometer into the center of a muffin. The ideal final temperature for muffins is between 190 and 205 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Allow muffins to cool completely before unwrapping one to eat. If you try peeling muffin liners off while muffins are still warm, you’ll lose muffin to the paper.
Notes
Nutrition
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Could you use the Smart Balance sticks instead of butter? And coconut milk yogurt instead of Greek? Need dairy free.
Hi Krista! Those changes should work just great! I haven’t tested the recipe myself with smart balance and dairy-free yogurt, but I imagine it will still work. Let me know if you try it! xo
Just wondering, can I use milk instead of Greek yogurt in the coffee cake muffin recipe?
Hi Sandra! Doing so might change the texture a bit, but I think it would still work out. I’d use 1/3 cup of milk and see what the batter looked like. If it seems like it needs some more liquid, I’d add a few tablespoons more. Hope this helps! Let me know if you try it!
Where does the coffee taste come from if there is no coffee in the ingredients. Just wondering
Coffee cake doesn’t contain any coffee. It’s called that because it’s typically served with coffee. The sweetness balances the bitter.
Hi Jenneth! Coffee cake doesn’t include coffee 🙂 It is called coffee cake because it was originally designed to go alongside a mug of coffee 🙂
Hi what can I use in the coffee muffins in place of eggs….
Hi there! You should be able to do 2 flax eggs (2 tbsp ground flaxseed + 6 tablespoons of water. Stir and allow it to sit for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally). Because this recipe uses gluten-free all-purpose flour, there is enough starch and leavening agent where you should be able to get away with not using eggs. That said, the muffins probably will not turn out as fluffy. Happy baking!
what flavor greek yogurt do you use. plain or vanilla
Hi Leah! I use plain Greek yogurt, but you can use a flavored version if you’d like. Vanilla would be great too! xo