Coffee Cake Muffins

My fondest memory of coffee cake dates back to middle school. We’d all line up at the cafeteria during break time and they’d serve us this huge square chunk of the warmest, most fluffy coffee cake I’ve ever had.

So this recipe was inspired by the giant muffins I always find myself lusting after at the coffee shop or corner bakery. You know the ones I’m talking about, right? With the crumbs and the glaze and the cinnamon swirl and THE CRUMBS. The ones that smell so buttery it makes your heart flutter and your knees buckle! Yeah, those. They’re so good!

But these are better! Like, so much better.

And I’ll let you in on a little secret: coffee cake muffins are the ULTIMATE brunch recipe! And I say with that with great confidence, because every time I bring these to an event the only thing I go home with is crumbs… and requests for the recipe!

Now it’s been a while since I’ve had coffee cake. I don’t make it that often because when I do, well, I tend to eat the entire pan. Yeah, there’s absolutely no self control here.

That’s why I decided to make this in convenient, single-serving, portion-controlled muffins. That way I can eat 1 and send the rest off with Jason to share with his classmates.

INGREDIENTS
MUFFINS

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• pinch salt
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla

CRUMB TOPPING

• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar, packed
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted

CINNAMON SWIRL

• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

VANILLA GLAZE

• 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons cream (if using milk, use 1 tablespoon)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line muffin tin with paper liners, set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Make a well in the center and set aside.
3. In a smaller bowl, or large measuring cup, whisk milk, butter, eggs and vanilla until smooth. Pour wet mixture into the dry bowl and mix (with a hand blender or by hand) until you have a thick but smooth batter.
4. For the crumb topping, stir together the flour, sugars, and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Add the melted butter and stir with a fork until the mixture is crumbly and resembles wet sand.
5. For the cinnamon swirl, combine the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.
6. Begin to assemble the batter inside the lined muffin tin by scooping 2 tablespoons of batter into each muffin cavity. Place a teaspoon of cinnamon sugar mixture on top, give it a quick swirl, and top with more muffin batter, filling the tin 3/4 to the top.
7. Sprinkle about a heaping tablespoon of crumb topping on top of each muffin top, covering the tops.
8. Bake muffins for 15-17 minutes until the crumbly tops are golden and when a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow muffins to cool down to room temperature in the pan prior to transferring them to a wire rack to glaze.
9. Once cooled, drizzle a little glaze over cooled muffins.

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