Cinnamon Streusel Muffins

If you're a lover of all things cinnamon, this cinnamon streusel muffin recipe will be right up your alley. These soft and tender muffins have a cinnamon sugar swirl and a thick, crunchy streusel topping, so there's no shortage of sweet sugar 'n spice flavor. They're the perfect pairing for a warm cup of coffee, and you can have them in the oven in 30 minutes or less!

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Why You'll LOVE This Recipe for Cinnamon Streusel Muffins

• Simple Ingredients - For this recipe, you just need the basics, like flour, sugar, and butter. There's a good chance your kitchen is already stocked with all of the necessary ingredients, but if not, your nearest grocery store should carry whatever you're lacking!
• Low Effort - This recipe isn't quite as quick as the one I use for my cinnamon chip muffins, but it's still worlds easier than whipping up a batch of cinnamon buns from scratch. And when that little bit of extra effort means that your muffins come with a sweet cinnamon streusel topping, trust me when I say it's worth it.
• Cinnamon-Sugar Goodness! - The soft, fluffy texture of these muffins combined with the cinnamon swirl in the center and cinnamony crunch on top makes them completely irresistible!

Muffin Ingredients

For a full list of everything you'll need to make these crumb top muffins, jump down to the recipe card below. But first, here are some good-to-know details!

• All-Purpose Flour: You can also substitute with a gluten-free all-purpose blend! My go-tos are King Arthur, Cup 4 Cup, and Bob's Red Mill.
• Brown Sugar: Dark brown or light brown sugar will both work just fine.
• Butter: This is one of those flexible recipes where you can use salted or unsalted butter. Go with what you have on hand, but make sure it's softened to room temperature.
• Sour cream or plain Greek yogurt: Sour cream gives these a slightly richer flavor - think coffee cake muffins! - but yogurt works well too. Whichever you decide to use, opt for full fat so your muffins turn out soft and tender. It's also important to make sure it's at room temperature so it doesn't chill the softened butter.
• Buttermilk: Again, room temp! If you don't have any, you can make your own buttermilk with lime, lemon, or white vinegar.
• Eggs: This is the last ingredient that needs to be at room temperature before you start making your muffins. Use large eggs if possible.
• Vanilla Extract: As always - but especially when you're working with a vanilla-based batter - using real vanilla extract will give you the best flavor.

Prep an Easy Cinnamon Streusel:

1. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Add the melted butter and mix in until all of the dry ingredients are evenly moistened and the mixture is clumpy. Place in the refrigerator to chill while prepping the muffins.

Make the Cinnamon Swirl Filling:

1. In a small bowl, whisk together the granulated sugar, brown sugar, and ground cinnamon. Set aside.

2. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or using a large bowl and handheld electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy.

4. Reduce mixer speed to medium. Beat in the eggs one at a time until smoothly incorporated, wiping down the bowl and beater as needed. Beat in the sour cream and vanilla extract.

5. Add a third of the flour mixture to the butter and sugar mixture, mixing in on low speed until mostly incorporated. Continuing on low speed, mix in half of the buttermilk, the second third of the flour mixture, and finally the remaining half of the buttermilk, mixing each addition in until mostly combined. Finish folding the batter together with a spatula, just until everything is evenly combined. The batter will be fairly thick.

1. Fill the prepared muffin cups about halfway with batter, gently pressing the batter down into each cup to ensure the bottoms are completely covered. I like to spoon the batter with a cookie scoop and use my fingertip to press it down. Divide the cinnamon-swirl mixture evenly over the muffin batter in each cup.
2. Top with the remaining batter to cover the cinnamon completely. The muffin cups will be full. Use a toothpick to swirl the batter in each cup, and then gently smooth out the tops of the muffins with your fingertip. This process can feel a bit messy; it does not need to be perfect!

3. Sprinkle the streusel mixture over the muffins, breaking up any especially large clumps with your fingers in the process.

4. Bake muffins in the preheated oven for 7 minutes. Then, reduce heat to 350ºF and bake for another 15-18 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of one comes out clean or with only a few moist crumbs. Place the pan over a wire cooling rack and allow muffins to cool to room temperature before removing.

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