Coffee Cake Muffins

 All of the flavors of classic coffee cake wrapped up in a streusel-topped muffin. PLUS tips on how to bake perfect muffins!

Yesterday, I was trying to decide what to make for breakfast and I just couldn’t decide between coffee cake or muffins—then it hit me: Why not combine all the flavors of a soft, moist coffee cake in a muffin form? Bingo. Coffee cake muffins were born.

It’s just mind-boggling to me HOW much these muffins taste like actual coffee cake!! From their super-soft and moist texture, to their crunchy, cinnamon-laced pecan streusel topping, these muffins are a dead ringer for classic coffee cake. 

These muffins are made in half, yes, half the time it would take to make actual coffee cake. Now that’s an awesome time-saver if I ever saw one. I don’t know if I’m ever going to be able to go back to regular coffee cake again after making these muffins!

Think these muffins are going to derail your diet? Think again! Hard to believe, but these muffins are actually on the lighter side. ♥ Unbelievable but true.

For all you newbie muffin makers, I explain below in detail the science behind making perfect muffins: 

For you muffin-maker pros, just skip past all the nerdy muffin science to get to the recipe:

Let’s start with the batter—Several key ingredients are involved in ensuring that your muffins turn out soft and moist. Sour cream, buttermilk, eggs, (only 2) and oil. (only 1/4 cup!!) The reason we don’t need a lot of oil in these muffins, is because the sour cream and buttermilk make up for most of the moistness and softness that you would get from using just oil or regular milk, while the eggs and little bit of oil provide structure for your muffins. Don’t forget to add your vanilla extract for flavor!

Dry ingredients are as follows: Flour, (I use white whole wheat) coconut sugar, (brown sugar would be a fine substitute) baking powder, salt, and ground cinnamon.

When you’re combining the liquid ingredients with the dry, make sure that you gently stir until the batter is just combined. (Any extra stirring will result in dry, tough muffins that you definitely do not want.) Your muffin batter will be very thick, like spoonable.

My favorite kind of muffin always involves a streusel topping, and what’s a coffee cake with out streusel, anyway? My streusel topping literally takes less than 5 minutes to throw together and just adds the perfect finishing touch to these muffins. — Chopped pecans, (or any nut you prefer!) flour, coconut sugar, ground cinnamon, and melted butter get tossed together until crumbly….

And they are then generously sprinkled over your filled muffin batter cups. Gently press crumbs on top of batter to make sure they stick while they bake.

Wondering how I get my muffins so nice and tall? There are 3 simple steps you must do to achieve sky-high muffins:

• Use a fairly large amount of baking powder in your muffins. I always use 4 teaspoons (yes, 4!) of baking powder in a 1 dozen batch of muffins. It helps the muffins rise nice and high, and provides a soft, fluffy texture. 
• When you’re filling your muffin cups with batter, fill them to the brim for super-sized muffins.
• Bake your muffins at 400F for 5 minutes, then reduce heat to 375F for an additional 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Those 5 minutes of bake time in a 400 degree oven will help your muffins rise faster and higher. (don’t try to bake your muffins at 400F for the entire bake-time, unless you’re fond of burned muffins)

Call me weird, but I just LOVE all the science behind making perfect muffins—My family has even dubbed me the “Master Muffin-Maker.” But believe me, it took me a long time to earn that title—I had to go through TONS of trial and error to discover the secrets of perfect muffin-making. My first muffins were slightly less than edible….*blush*

But lucky for you, you don’t have to go through trial-and-error muffin making—I have all the world’s greatest muffin tips right at your fingertips! So um, what are you waiting for? Pull out your muffin tin and get baking!

May I suggest that you try these coffee cake muffins, first?? A perfect start to your weekend!

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Coffee Cake Muffins

All of the flavors of classic coffee cake wrapped up in a streusel-topped muffin. PLUS tips on how to bake perfect muffins!

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Servings 1 dozen muffins

Ingredients

• MUFFINS:
• 2 large eggs
• 2/3 cup sour cream
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup coconut sugar
• 2-1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• STREUSEL TOPPING:
• 3/4 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons white whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup coconut sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup butter melted

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 400F. Lightly grease a 12-cup muffin tin. Set aside.
• In a large bowl, whisk eggs, sour cream, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla until smooth. In another large bowl, combine coconut sugar, flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Combine dry ingredients with liquid, gently folding until just combined.
• Fill prepared muffin cups to brim with batter and smooth tops. Set aside.
• In a small bowl, toss pecans, flour, sugar, cinnamon, and melted butter until crumbly. Sprinkle over individual muffin batter, gently pressing on top of batter.
• Bake muffins at 400F 5 minutes, then reduce heat to 375F and continue baking 15-18 more minutes, or until just golden. Cool muffins in pan 10 minutes, before removing to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

Notes

Store muffins in an airtight container at room temperature up to 2 days.

Tried this recipe?Leave a comment and rating below. Feel free to share a picture on Instagram and tag @wholeandheavenlyoven or hashtag it #wholeandheavenlyoven

Looking for more muffins? Try these recipes next!

Iced Lemon Blueberry Muffins

Skinny Pumpkin Oat Muffins

Pumpkin Pecan-Streusel Muffins