Coffee Cake Muffins

Food is nostalgic. Many dishes from my childhood still to this day bring me back to the very time and place I was when enjoying them. On weekends in grade school, I would pride myself in making Betty Crocker Cinnamon Streusel muffins “from scratch” (aka- from the box). The mix included a little cinnamon packet I would knead with my fingers to evenly mix the sugary goodness inside before adding it to the muffins and baking. MAN, those muffins were good. I think I would switch it up between making those and the “flaky” Pillsbury biscuits.

Over this past year, Sunday has become our baking day. Our toddler loves to help bake and is eager to try whatever we’re making that week. A few weeks ago, I was thinking about those nostalgic cinnamon streusel muffins and decided to try making our own recipe, this time actually from scratch.

The best part of these muffins is the muffin top. Sugary sweet crumbs made with extra butter and cinnamon overflow onto the pans. The muffin itself is just like a piece of dense coffee cake. I even added a layer of cinnamon sugar crumbs to mimic the cinnamon packet from the box mix.

We hope you and your family enjoy these coffee cake muffins. Mother’s Day is this weekend, and these muffins would be a perfect accompaniment to a lavish brunch. Enjoy!

Coffee Cake Muffins

Prep Time: 20 minutes Cook Time: 20 minutes

Topping:

1 stick (1/2 cup) cold butter, cubed

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 cup flour

Muffins:

2 cups flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, softened

3/4 cups milk

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 375°. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners and set aside. Prepare topping first. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and cut, using two knives, until small clumps form. Mixture should be sticky enough that when pressed between your fingers, it sticks. Place in fridge while making muffin batter.

In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter, sugar, vanilla, and oil together . Add eggs one at a time and continue to mix. Slowly add the flour mixture and mix until combined.

Spoon batter into muffin tins and fill 1/3 of the way. Then, add one tablespoon of the topping crumbs. Add another 1/3 of batter, and top generously with topping crumbs.

Bake for about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center of the muffins. Cool for a few minutes in the pan, then transfer the muffins to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes 12 large muffins.