Cinnamon Roll Muffins
These cinnamon roll muffins have a sweet cinnamon ribbon running through the fluffy, soft muffin. Drizzled with glaze, they are incredible!
All the flavors of a delectable cinnamon roll are combined into an easy-to-make muffin that is easily one of the tastiest muffins ever!
Easy Muffin Batter
The vanilla-flavored muffin batter is exceptionally simple. A very classic wet ingredients meets dry ingredients type of muffin situation.
Wet ingredients:
- granulated sugar
- melted butter (can use a neutral-flavored oil)
- eggs
- sour cream + milk (can sub in buttermilk)
- vanilla
Dry ingredients:
- flour
- baking powder + baking soda + salt
I am lazy and never whisk the dry ingredients separately before adding. But you can! The only really strict rule with these muffins (and all muffins throughout the history of time) is to mix just until combined. Don’t over mix!
Buttery Cinnamon Streusel
This buttery crumbly cinnamon streusel mixture is the heart and soul of these muffins. It adds flavor, brings the cinnamon roll vibe strongly to the table, and makes an otherwise basic muffin very special.
- brown sugar
- all-purpose flour (equal parts flour and brown sugar)
- ground cinnamon, and lots of it
- melted butter
The mixture is more dry than it is wet. This is important! The consistency helps the sweet cinnamon ribbon stay solidly in the center of the muffin and not sink to the bottom.
Assembling Cinnamon Roll Muffins
This recipe makes about 15 to 16 muffins, which will be highly annoying to some of you. I get it. Muffin recipes that fit neatly into a 12-cup muffin tin are desireable.
But I promise, baking a smaller second batch of 3 to 4 muffins is worth it for this recipe. Several recipe testing sessions failed to yield a stellar light and fluffy muffin with adaptations for a 12-muffin batch. So. This is the recipe we’ve been dealt, and we are going with it.
- For assembly, line the muffin tin with paper liners (see note in the recipe with my deep thoughts on muffin tins).
- Scoop 2 tablespoons batter into each muffin tin. A #40 cookie scoop works brilliantly here.
- Sprinkle about 2 to 3 teaspoons streusel on top of the batter.
- Scoop another 2 tablespoons batter (a heaping 2 tablespoons if using USA brand muffin tins) on top of the streusel.
- Sprinkle with a light smattering of streusel.
The cups are about 3/4 full of batter and streusel for these muffins.
They dome beautifully, and shouldn’t overflow, however, just so you don’t hate me, my disclaimer is that varying brands of muffin tins might behave differently (as well as factors like if you live at high elevation). I use the USA brand of muffin tins – can’t recommend them highly enough.
You can bake a test muffin to see if you need to make modifications for how much batter to use in each muffin cup for the remaining muffins.
Drizzle with Glaze
Once the muffins have cooled, whisk together the simple cream cheese glaze and drizzle across the top.
I think you could easily skip the drizzle and dip the top of the muffins in the glaze for a different application and effect. I’m kind of partial to the pretty stripes of the drizzle, but you do you. 😉
Lightly sweet vanilla muffin + cinnamon streusel + sweet cream cheese glaze. This is muffin perfection right here.
As the muffins bake, the cinnamon streusel layer forms a decadent path of buttery sweet cinnamon goodness trailing through the middle of the soft and fluffy muffin.
These muffins are incredible. Not overly sweet, they are wonderful for breakfast…or brunch…or after school snack. Or really anytime.
How to Store the Muffins: the glaze stays soft and doesn’t set up, so it’s best to store the muffins in a container with a lid that leaves a lot of clearance. They get a bit messy if shoved into a ziploc bag (ahem, ask me how I know)…but still taste delicious. The muffins can be stored covered at room temperature for a couple of days. The leftover muffins are fabulous warmed up for about 8 1/2 seconds in the microwave before eating.
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Cinnamon Roll Muffins
Ingredients
Muffins:
- 1 cup (212 g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (113 g) butter, melted
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup (113 g) sour cream (see note)
- ½ cup (121 g) milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ¼ cups (320 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Cinnamon Streusel:
- ⅓ cup (47 g) all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup (71 g) lightly packed brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 3 tablespoons (43 g) butter, melted
Glaze:
- 3 tablespoons (43 g) cream cheese, softened
- 1 tablespoon (14 g) butter, softened
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup (57 g) powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. (See note for different types of muffin tins.) Place muffin liners in a 12-cup muffin tin. This recipe makes 15-16 muffins, so use a second muffin tin for the remaining muffins or bake in two batches.
- For the muffins, in a medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, butter, eggs, sour cream, milk and vanilla until evenly combined.
- Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk until just combined and no dry streaks remain. Don't over mix. Set aside.
- For the cinnamon streusel, in a small bowl, stir together the flour, brown sugar and cinnamon. Add the melted butter and mix until combined and the streusel clumps into small pieces.
- Scoop about 2 tablespoons muffin batter into each muffin liner (a #40 cookie scoop works great). Crumble the cinnamon streusel to break into small pieces. Sprinkle 2 to 3 teaspoons streusel over the batter in each muffin cup.
- Scoop another 2 tablespoons (see note) batter on top of the cinnamon streusel. Sprinkle with a bit more streusel.
- Bake for 15 to 17 minutes until the top of the muffins spring back lightly to the touch.
- Remove the muffins to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- For the glaze, in a small bowl, add the softened cream cheese, butter and vanilla. Mix with an electric mixer until light and creamy. Add the powdered sugar and mix on low speed until fully combined, scraping down the side of the bowl as needed. Add the milk and mix until well combined. The consistency should be thick but pourable. Add additional milk (or powdered sugar) to adjust the consistency, if needed.
- Drizzle the glaze evenly over the cooled muffins.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe
Best ever! Add walnuts!
I just made several kinds of muffins for a district VFW meeting and these were the only ones that got rave reviews. These are delicious. For logistical reasons I left off the drizzle and they were still incredible. I mixed up the batter yesterday morning and placed it in the fridge until evening then baked them up last night.
I need to make muffins in the morning to serve the following morning. Would these hold up well for 24 hours, or do you have another recipe that you’d recommend instead? (not the make ahead bran muffins). Thank you!
I think you’re best bet might be to make muffins and freeze them (even if just for the day). They’ll taste much more fresh the morning of. You could freeze these muffins and add the glaze right before serving if you have time. Also, I’m about to post a recipe for super tasty apple cinnamon muffins, and they actually would work great made a day ahead (they stay moist for a long time).
These are awesome! Especially right out of the oven. I just made my second batch today and highly recommend them! The only change I made was I added some cinnamon to the batter. Thank you for a great recipe! Also, they freeze well and taste great.