Coffee Cake Muffins

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 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.