Coffee Cake Muffins

These coffee cake muffins combine everything I love about traditional coffee cake – that buttery, cinnamon-streaked middle and sweet crumb topping – but in a more practical form. They’re easier to serve and store than a full cake, and you can freeze extras for later.

The sour cream in the batter keeps them tender and moist for days, while the brown sugar streusel gets slightly crisp on top. I make these when I need something special for weekend breakfasts or when friends come over for coffee. They’re also great to drop off at a neighbor’s house or bring to work – just more manageable than hauling around a whole coffee cake.

What you need for Coffee Cake Muffins

How to make Coffee Cake Muffins

Let me walk you through making these moist, streusel-topped muffins that taste just like your favorite coffee cake.

1. Start by preheating your oven to 375°F and lining a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners. The slightly higher temperature helps create those nicely domed tops we’re looking for.

2. Let’s make the streusel first since we want it ready to go. In a medium bowl, mix brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Pour in the melted butter and use a fork to mix until you get a crumbly texture that looks like wet sand and clumps together when squeezed. If you’re using pecans, stir them in now. Set this aside while we make the muffin batter.

3. For the muffins, whisk together all the dry ingredients in a medium bowl – flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. This helps distribute the leaveners evenly so the muffins will rise properly.

4. In a large bowl (or your stand mixer if you’re using one), beat the softened butter until it’s creamy – about 30 seconds. Add the sugar and beat until it’s light and fluffy, for about 2-3 minutes. You’ll see the color become noticeably lighter – that’s what we want.

5. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each one. Scrape down the sides of the bowl – this step is important for even mixing. Beat in the vanilla extract.

6. Here’s where we’ll alternate adding our wet and dry ingredients: Start with about a third of your flour mixture, then half the sour cream mixed with the milk, another third of flour, the rest of the sour cream mixture, and end with the last of the flour. Mix just until each addition disappears – overworking the batter will make tough muffins.

7. Divide the batter between your muffin cups – they should be about ¾ full. I find an ice cream scoop works perfectly for this. Give the pan a couple of gentle taps on the counter to settle the batter.

8. Now for the fun part – top each muffin generously with the streusel mixture, using your fingers to clump it together as you sprinkle it on. Don’t be shy here – a good coffee cake muffin needs plenty of topping!

9. Bake for 18-20 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through. You’ll know they’re done when the tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs. The tops should spring back when lightly pressed.

10. Let the muffins cool in the pan for about 5 minutes – they’re quite delicate when hot. Then carefully transfer them to a dish to cool completely. The tops will be crunchy and the insides tender and soft.

These are best enjoyed the day they’re made, but they’ll stay fresh for a couple of days in an airtight container. Just don’t stack them, or that lovely streusel topping will get crushed!