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Coffee Cake Muffins

Coffee cake muffins with bakery-height domes and a thick cinnamon streusel crown. A cinnamon brown sugar swirl runs through the center for a moist, tender crumb in every bite.
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 22 minutes
Total Time 42 minutes
Servings: 12 servings
Course: Breakfast, Snack
Cuisine: American
Calories: 410
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

For the streusel
  • 0.5 cup all-purpose flour
  • 0.3333 cup brown sugar light or dark
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 4 tbsp cold butter cubed
For the muffins
  • 2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 0.5 tsp baking soda
  • 0.5 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 0.6667 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs large
  • 0.5 cup sour cream
  • 0.3333 cup milk
  • 0.3333 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
For the cinnamon swirl
  • 2 tbsp brown sugar
  • 0.5 tsp cinnamon

Equipment

  • 1 sheet pan
  • 1 muffin tin

Method
 

Prep and bake
  1. Preheat oven to 375°F and line a muffin tin with paper liners, setting it up so the batter can go in immediately for strong domes (visual cue: muffin tin ready and liners fully seated).
  2. Make streusel by mixing all-purpose flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon, then cut in cold butter until crumbly—set aside (visual cue: mixture looks like coarse crumbs).
  3. Make the cinnamon swirl by mixing brown sugar and cinnamon together (visual cue: brown sugar forms an even cinnamon blend).
  4. Whisk all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a bowl (visual cue: evenly speckled dry mixture).
  5. In another bowl, beat sugar, eggs, sour cream, milk, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract, then fold into the flour mixture until just combined (visual cue: batter is thick and no dry streaks remain).
  6. Fill muffin cups 1/3 full, sprinkle a pinch of cinnamon swirl, fill to 2/3 with more batter, top each with streusel, and bake for 20–22 minutes at 375°F until golden (visual cue: tops spring back lightly and streusel looks crisp).

Notes

For bakery-height muffins, don’t overmix the batter—stop once the flour disappears, then portion quickly. Store airtight at room temperature up to 2 days or refrigerate up to 4 days; freeze baked muffins up to 2 months. For a lighter option, use low-fat sour cream (texture may be slightly softer but still works).