My vegan coffee cake muffins are the ultimate brunch treat! They feature a brown sugar cinnamon swirl layer in the middle, and buttery crumb topping. One bite and you'll be hooked!
If you loved my vegan coffee cake or my vegan cinnamon swirl bread, then these coffee cake muffins are for you! They have all of the delicious elements of both recipes: tender cake, a cinnamon sugar layer in the middle, and buttery crumb topping. But these muffins are even easier to make than either recipe! They're absolutely delicious and great for wowing guests at celebratory brunches.
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For these muffins we'll be whipping up a simple batter that's flavored with vanilla and a hint of cinnamon. We'll also be placing a brown sugar cinnamon layer in the center of each muffin. Everything gets topped off with a sweet, cinnamony, melt-in-your-mouth crumb topping. They're basically the ultimate treat for cinnamon lovers!
Ingredients You'll Need
- Flour. For best results, use all-purpose flour, which is also known as white flour or plain old wheat flour. You might be able to get away with using other types of flour, such as whole wheat pastry flour or all-purpose gluten-free flour, but keep in mind that I haven't tested the recipe with any of them.
- Brown sugar. Use organic brown sugar to ensure that your muffins are vegan. Conventional brown sugar is often processed using animal bone char.
- Cinnamon.
- Vegan butter. You can find this at most grocery stores, right near the regular butter.
- Sugar. Just like with the brown sugar, you'll want this to be organic.
- Baking powder.
- Baking soda.
- Salt.
- Non-dairy milk. You can use any variety of non-dairy milk that you'd normally drink. Try almond milk, soy milk, cashew milk, or oat milk, just to name a few that will work! Check out my guide to dairy-free milks if you can't decide on one.
- Vegetable oil. Any neutral oil suitable for baking can be used. Coconut oil, canola oil, and avocado oil are all fine.
- Vanilla extract.
- Apple cider vinegar. If you're out of this ingredient, check out my guide to apple cider vinegar substitutes for baking.
How They're Made
Below is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you'd like to skip right to the recipe!
Step 1: Start by preheating your oven and lining a muffin tin with papers.
Step 2: Make the crumb topping. Stir together flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon, then add cold butter slices and cut them in using a pastry cutter or fork. Stick the mixture into the fridge.
Step 3: Make the cinnamon sugar mixture next. This will be the middle layer of your muffins. Simply stir some brown sugar and cinnamon together in a bowl.
Step 4: Whisk the dry ingredients for your batter together in a large bowl: flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
Step 5: Now combine the wet ingredients for the batter: non-dairy milk, oil, vanilla, and apple cider vinegar.
Step 6: Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Stir the mixture up just until combined. Don't overmix the batter. It will be very thick!
Step 7: Distribute about half of the batter among the muffin cups, then sprinkle the batter with the brown sugar cinnamon mixture.
Step 8: Spread the remaining batter over the cinnamon sugar layers, then sprinkle each muffin with the crumb topping.
Tip: Don't fuss too much about getting the batter divided up perfectly. This recipe is very forgiving, and even if you're layers are uneven, the muffins will probably still be beautiful, and they'll definitely be delicious.
Step 9: Pop the muffins into the oven, and let them bake until they're domed and golden brown on top. You can test them for doneness by sticking a toothpick into a muffin. If it comes out clean of batter, they're done.
Step 10: Let the muffins cool in the tin, on a cooling rack.
Your coffee cake muffins are done and ready to enjoy!
Shelf-Life & Storage
Vegan coffee cake muffins will keep for about three days in an airtight container at room temperature, about five days in the fridge, or for about three months in the freezer.
Variations
- Iced muffins. Combine ½ cup of organic powdered sugar, one tablespoon of non-dairy milk, and one teaspoon of vanilla extract. Once the muffins are cool, drizzle them with the icing.
- Spiced muffins. Add spices to the cinnamon sugar layer, batter, and/or crumb topping. Ground ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and allspice would all work well!
- Orange zest. Add a teaspoon or two of orange zest to the batter.
- Stir-ins. Add a half to one cup of berries, nuts, dried fruit, or vegan chocolate chips to the batter.
Frequently Asked Questions
I haven't tested a gluten-free version of this recipe, but if you'd like to give it a try, I'd recommend using an all-purpose gluten-free flour blend.
Applesauce generally works as a substitute for oil in muffin recipes, though I haven't tried in in this recipe.
You can, but be warned that the cinnamon sugar layer might stick to the tin. If you have trouble removing the muffins, make sure they're completely cool, then loosen them from the tin by running a knife around the edges of each muffin.
More Muffin Recipes
Like this recipe? If so, please stop back and leave me a review and rating below if you try it! Also be sure to follow me on Facebook, Pinterest or Instagram, or subscribe to my newsletter for more recipes like this one!
📖 Recipe
Vegan Cinnamon Coffee Cake Muffins
Ingredients
For the Crumb Topping
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup organic brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ cup vegan butter, cold
For the Cinnamon Sugar Layer
- 6 tablespoons organic brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
For the Muffin Batter
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- â…“ cup organic granulated sugar
- ¼ cup organic brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unflavored and unsweetened non-dairy milk
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F and line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.
- To make the crumb topping, first stir the flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon together in a medium bowl. Cut the butter into four or five slices, add them to the bowl, then use a pastry cutter or fork to cut the butter into the dry ingredients, continuing until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Place the bowl in the fridge to chill while you prepare the other ingredients.
- To make the cinnamon sugar layer, stir the brown sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl. Set it aside.
- To make the muffin batter, first combine the dry ingredients. Whisk together the flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
- Stir the milk, oil, vanilla, and apple cider vinegar together in a small container such as a liquid measuring cup.
- Add the milk mixture to the bowl containing the dry ingredients. Stir everything together just until the ingredients are fully combined. The batter will be very thick.
- Distribute about half of the batter among the cups of the muffin tin, then sprinkle the brown sugar cinnamon mixture over the batter, using about 1 ½ teaspoons per muffin.
- Divide the remaining batter among the muffin cups, spreading it over the brown sugar cinnamon layer. Sprinkle the crumb topping over the top layer of batter, pressing it in gently.
- Bake the muffins for 8 minutes, then turn the oven temperature down to 350°F and continue baking the muffins for 12 to 14 minutes more, until the tops are domed, the topping is lightly browned, and a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.
- Place the muffin tin on a cooling rack. Let the muffins cool completely before removing them from the tin. Serve.
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Wonderful recipe! I love how these turned out. Thank you!
Hello,
I tried this recipe with 1-1 baking gluten free flour, coconut sugar with the brown sugar, and it was so good, thank you so much.
I think these muffins could use a bit more recipe testing :) They had such a strong baking soda/baking powder after taste that my family couldn’t eat them. And I even reduced the baking powder to 1 1/2 teaspoons lol!
Thanks so much for trying the recipe! I've tested this one a bunch of times, and also used the batter for other muffin recipes with success, so it sounds like something may have gone a little off. A strong baking soda/powder taste can sometimes happen if the amounts get swapped, if the apple cider vinegar is left out (since it balances the soda), or if something was mis-measured. Do any of those sound like possibilities to you? I hope you’ll give them another go!
no mention of coffee in the recipe??
Nope! There's no coffee in it. Coffee cake, at least in the US where I live, is a crumb cake that's typically served with coffee. It doesn't normally contain coffee.