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Coffee Cake Muffins

Coffee Cake Muffin

Martha Stewart has a lot of great recipes in the many books that she has put out and there are a few that I go back to time and again. One of them is for a New York Crumb Cake, a coffee cake that is loaded with deliciously spiced streusel topping. I am a big fan of coffee cakes in general (who doesn’t like streusel?) and, after trying several other coffee cake recipes she’s done, I have to say that Martha definitely knows what she is doing in the coffee cake department.

A big picture of little streusel-topped cakes popped out at me when I was paging through my copy of Martha Stewart Cupcakes. They’re listed in the book under the name Streusel Cupcakes. I didn’t need any urging to try the recipe out. It was good, but reminded me more of coffee cake than of cupcakes. So, after trying a few different batches, I made some very slight changes and rechristened these Coffee Cake Muffins. These are single-serving coffee cakes that are perfect for big brunches or other gatherings of streusel-loving coffee cake fans.

The cakes are fantastic little coffee cakes. They have a moist, muffin-like texture and tons of streusel. The streusel is made with brown sugar and has quite a bit of flour in it, when compared with other streusel topping recipes. This gives it a lot of structure, so it forms nice, big crumbs on top of the cake. It bakes up to be slightly crunchy, providing a nice contrast to the rest of the cake in texture, as well as in color. A little bit of vanilla glaze on top adds some extra sweetness and gives them a nice finished look

Coffee Cake MuffinsSingle Serving Coffee Cake, with bite

Coffee Cake Muffins (or Single Serving Coffee Cakes)
Streusel Topping
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp butter, room temperature
1 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

Coffee Cake Muffins
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350F. Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners.
Prepare the streusel first. In a large bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar until light. Beat in ground cinnamon, salt and vanilla. Working at a low speed, blend on the flour slowly until it all has been incorporated. Mixture should look sandy and coarse.

Prepare the cake batter. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light. Beat in eggs one at a time, followed by vanilla extract. Working in two or three additions, alternate mixing in some of the flour mixture and some of the buttermilk, ending with an addition of the flour. Mix only until everything is just combined and no streaks of dry ingredients remain.

Fill each of the muffin cups a bit less than half way up. Top each with a small handful of streusel. Divide remaining batter evenly over the muffin cups. Top each with a generous handful of streusel. If you squeeze the streusel tightly in your hand before placing it on the muffins, it will form nice clumps. Be sure to use all the streusel.
Bake for 17-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the streusel is lightly browned.
Carefully remove from muffin tin and cool completely on a wire rack before icing. Allow icing to set before storing.

Makes 24 coffee cakes

Vanilla Glaze

1 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Whisk all ingredients together in a small bowl. Drizzle over completely cooled cupcakes.

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22 Comments
  • Esther @ x3baking
    September 17, 2010

    I loved eating these muffins when I was small, the ones from Costco. They look even better than Costco’s.

  • Kitchen Corner
    September 17, 2010

    I like cake with coffee flavor! Your muffins look so tempting for me!

  • Sue
    September 17, 2010

    That streusel with the glaze has reeled me in!

  • Betty @ scrambled hen fruit
    September 17, 2010

    The streusel topping is my favorite part of a coffee cake- these muffins look yummy!

  • elizabeth
    September 18, 2010

    Yum! Those look great and the streusel topping looks fantastic!

  • Kelsey
    September 18, 2010

    This recipe appeals to me because it looks amazing AND I have all the ingredients on hand.

  • Jennifer @ Maple n Cornbread
    September 19, 2010

    I love adding streusel to muffins, your muffins look SO good with all the crunchy goodness!

  • Brenda
    September 19, 2010

    These would be nice for freezing in individual servings. I am adding them to my cupcake file!

  • Sues
    September 19, 2010

    Oooh I love Martha Stewart’s coffee cake, but now I totally want to try them in muffin form. So delicious!

  • Pretty. Good. Food.
    September 19, 2010

    These look so tasty, I definitely want to try these!

  • LimeCake
    September 19, 2010

    I’ve tried many coffee cake recipes but Martha Stewart’s is my favorite! These muffins are so cute! The more crumb, the better!

  • Julie B
    September 21, 2010

    I love the New York Crumb Cake, so I’m sure these will be a hit as well–thanks for sharing this idea for single-serving goodness!

  • Brenda
    September 21, 2010

    I made these muffins two days ago, and it is a fabulous muffin! Just ate one for lunch ten minutes ago, and I swear they get better with age… Thanks for a new favorite recipe!!

  • Anne
    October 1, 2010

    hi. i would like to make these but I can’t seem to find where the coffee goes in the recipe. It’s not even in the list of ingredients. thanks. 🙂

  • Ashley
    October 5, 2010

    Love how you turned these into muffins! They look so good.

  • x3baking
    October 9, 2010

    Anne, I think it might be called coffee cake muffins because they taste good with coffee. That’s my guess. The streusel topping makes it really sweet and coffee and sugar are good together. Correct me if I’m wrong. 🙂

  • Elle
    October 21, 2010

    I love streusel!
    what exactly constitues a “coffee cake”? is there like a general definition and something that all coffee cakes must have in common to be called that?

    Also, can this be made just with whole wheat flour?

    Thanks!

  • mhhspears
    February 27, 2011

    Tried this and its the perfect coffeecake….and so easy to prepare.

  • Liz
    January 14, 2012

    I never thought of making coffee cake into muffins. I love it! I use muffins when I go to work in the morning so this will be a huge treat!

  • Tropicana
    October 5, 2012

    I have made this recipe and LOVE it! My husband has determined that there is no reason to seek another recipe for coffee cake. THIS is the one.
    I made one change: Because I had no buttermilk I used a blend of sour cream and cream cheese and I will always do it this way in the future.
    I made one dozen muffins and a small cake out of this recipe (I used about a 7″ pan). It was moist and seriously flavorful. They freeze well and still taste absolutely delicious. I can’t rave about it enough and my husband can’t either.

  • Jennifer
    November 11, 2015

    These are wonderful & I have a TIP!! I made such a huge mess on my first batch putting on the crumb topping, that I knew there had to be a better way – so next time I used a canning funnel held right above the batter to drop on the crumb topping – total success!!

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