Coffee Cake Muffins

This recipe for the best coffee cake muffins with sour cream and a crumb topping is the perfect, easy way to start your day!

As a kid, I loved it when my mom made a coffee cake. Warm and cinnamon-y and sweet, with a layer of streusel topping–breakfast doesn’t really get much better than that.

The downside to coffee cakes is that they take a while to bake, which can get tricky with busy morning schedules. Hence… coffee cake muffins. They take a lot less time to bake, and also have built-in portion

Everything is made better with a sweet crumb topping, especially when it’s moist, soft coffee cake muffins. These muffins are tender and soft (the sour cream helps out with that!) and lightly sweet. I can’t think of a better start to the day than cozying up with a coffee cake muffin and a cup of something hot and steaming. Or maybe a with the best Amish coffee cake from Jenn at Ever After in the Woods.

Steps for making Coffee Cake Muffins

• Make the streusel topping–Make this before mixing the batter, as the rising agent in the batter is activated once it becomes wet and will be best if baked right away.
• Cream the wet ingredients together
• Stir in the dry ingredients to make the batter
• Put the muffin batter into the muffin cups–you can line a 12 cup muffin tin with paper muffin liners, or grease it well with cooking spray.
• Sprinkle the struesel crumb topping over each muffin cup
• Bake the muffins — at 375 for 18-20 minutes
• Eat and Enjoy! —These muffins are delicious and best when fresh and warm, but also taste great the next day.

How do You Make Muffins Moist and Fluffy?

• Allow your refrigerated ingredients (butter, eggs, and sour cream) to come to room temperature before making your muffin batter
• Don’t overmix the flour! This develops the gluten, making your muffins tough and more bread-like. You want to stop mixing as soon as you can’t see any visible streaks of flour in the batter.
• Allow the muffins to cool slightly before removing them from the muffin tin or eating them. This allows the structure of the crumb to set up a little bit before they’re being moved around. It also saves the inside of your mouth from a burn or two.

Ingredients For the Muffins

• 3/4 cups (171 g) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups (300 g) granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup (185 g) sour cream (not fat-free)
• 2 1/4 cups (315 g) all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Crumb Topping Ingredients

• 1 cup (140 g) all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup (50 g) white sugar
• 1/2 cup (100 g) brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• A pinch of salt
• 6 tablespoons salted butter, melted and cooled
• 1/4 cup sliced almonds

How to Make Coffee Cake Muffins

Making the Crumb Topping

In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, white and brown sugars, cinnamon, and salt. Slowly pour in the melted butter while stirring, creating a clumpy, slightly sandy mixture.

Add the sliced almonds if using and stir them in. Set aside the crumb topping to use later.

Making the Muffin Batter

Preheat the oven to 375° and prepare a 12 cup muffin tin. You can either line it with paper muffin cups and only spray the top edges of the muffin tin, or you can skip the paper liners and spray the muffin cups as well.

In a mixing bowl, cream together the softened butter and granulated sugar for 2-3 minutes with an electric mixer. The mixture should be light and fluffy.

Add the sour cream and stir until it’s well mixed.

Beat in the eggs and extracts– the almond extract is optional. Mix until the liquid ingredients are smooth. It will be slightly runny.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add it to the wet ingredients and fold it in with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula. Mix until the flour is just combined. Avoid over-mixing, as this can develop the gluten in the flour and give you tough muffins.

Scoop the batter into each of the twelve muffin cups. Sprinkle 2-3 tablespoons of the crumb topping onto each one.

Baking the Muffins

Bake the muffins for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Once the muffins are finished baking, remove them from the oven. Gently run a table knife around the edges of each muffin cup to loosen them so they don’t stick as they’re cooling. Once the muffins are cool enough to handle easily, remove them from the muffin cups and serve.

Coffee Cake Muffins Notes & Tips

• Over-oil the edges of the muffin tin cups, as the muffins do rise over the edges slightly when baking.
• I like to use a less-processed, organic sugar for this recipe.
• If you do not care for almonds, you can skip both the extract in the muffins and the sliced almonds in the crumb topping.

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