Cinnamon Streusel Muffins (Easy & Moist)

❤️Why you will love this recipe

• These cinnamon streusel muffins recipe makes an easy recipe for moist muffins with deliciously buttery cinnamon streusel.
• The ingredients used are pretty basic except for cinnamon powder which is used in a very small quantity in the recipe.
• The batter can be mixed by hand, and no electric mixer is required to make these fluffy muffins.
• All in all, you can prepare these yummy cinnamon streusel muffins in under 30 minutes, and with a baking time of about 15 minutes, you can have a batch of freshly baked, aromatic and tasty muffins in under 45 minutes!
• The recipe makes the best cinnamon streusel muffins and are perfect with your morning cup of coffee.

📋Ingredients

These are the ingredients you need to make these cinnamon streusel muffins:

Muffins batter

• All purpose flour + salt + baking powder - mix together before combining with wet ingredients. Baking powder helps the muffins to rise so make sure it is not expired.
• Brown sugar - gives the muffins a lovely depth in flavor. You can use either dark brown sugar or light brown sugar.
• Egg - use large eggs.
• Milk - use whole milk.
• Vanilla extract (optional) - adds a lovely aroma to the muffins.
• Oil - contributes to the moist texture of the muffins. For best results, use odorless vegetable oils like sunflower oil, canola oil or safflower oil.

Filling

• Cinnamon powder (ground cinnamon) - adds a lovely aroma to the muffins.
• Brown sugar - adds sweetness to the filling.

Streusel Topping

• All purpose flour - sift first to break any lumps.
• Oats - I use rolled oats for more texture.
• Butter - I use salted butter. The salt enhances the taste of the topping.
• Dark brown sugar - as a sweetener for the topping.
• Cinnamon powder - just a hint for the aroma.

🧾Substitution and variations

• The cinnamon sugar streusel topping for these delicious muffins is made using melted butter, flour, whole rolled oats, brown sugar, and cinnamon. You can always add some chopped toasted nuts to the topping for a crunchier topping. Also, the whole rolled oats can be substituted with quick oats.
• If you are intending to replace the brown sugar with white sugar, you will need to reduce the quantity of the white sugar slightly as white sugar is sweeter.
• You can customize these buttery cinnamon streusel muffins further by adding chopped apples, raisins, or even chopped nuts into the batter. A good measure will be about 80g of these to make sure the proportion of these ingredients are just nice in the muffins.  
• Oil helps to keep the muffins soft and moist for days. I used sunflower oil but any flavorless oil is fine.  You can also use melted butter in place of the oil, just be sure to use it in the same quantity.
• The amount of cinnamon I used in my recipe above is just nice to give these cinnamon swirl muffins a light hint of cinnamon. If you prefer a stronger cinnamon presence in your muffins, you can increase it to your liking. 

Cinnamon sugar filling and streusel topping

1. For the filling, measure the sugar into a small bowl, add the cinnamon powder and mix well.
2. For the topping, measure the flour, oats, sugar, and cinnamon into a medium bowl. Add melted butter to it and mix until all the ingredients are well moistened. The mixture might appear a bit lumpy (like wet sand) immediately after mixing, just cut it through with a spoon to break it into smaller coarse crumbs and set it aside. 

The moist muffins batter

1. In a medium-sized measuring jar, measure oil and milk. Add the egg and use a whisk to beat it briefly until it’s well incorporated into the liquids. Add the vanilla extract and set aside.
2. In a separate large mixing bowl, measure the flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar. Mix with a whisk or spatula to combine the dry ingredients.
3. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in the wet ingredients. 
4. Mix until all ingredients are just combined. 

1. Scoop the cinnamon muffin batter into prepared muffin liner (or paper liners) until about half full. If using paper liners, place them in a muffin pan to hold their shape.
2. Spoon ½ teaspoon of cinnamon filling on top of the batter.
3. Top the filling with more batter until each muffin cup is about ⅔ full. Use a long skewer or toothpick to swirl the cinnamon filling in the batter. If you are not sure how to do this, simply insert your skewer halfway into the muffin batter and move it as if you are drawing the number “8” twice in the batter with your skewer. 
4. Remove the skewer and fill the top of the muffins batter with the prepared crumbly streusel topping until the muffin cups are full.

• Bake muffins at 170 degrees Celsius for approximately 10 to 13 minutes. The muffin cups I used measure 3.5 cm in diameter at the bottom and 5 cm in diameter at the top. The height of the muffin cups is also 3.5cm. You would need to adjust the baking time if your muffins are baked in larger or smaller casings/tin.
• Remove the cinnamon streusel muffins from the oven and let them cool slightly on a wire rack before serving. 

🍽️Serving & storage

• These streusel muffins are best served when they are warm, but if you do not intend to serve them while still warm, keep them stored in an airtight container.
• The muffins last at room temperature for a good 4 to 5 days. If you wish to keep them longer, wrap them in plastic wrap and refrigerate them.

💡Expert tips

• Baking time varies by muffin size. I baked my muffins in mini muffin cups. My recipe below yielded 12 mini cinnamon streusel muffins. If you are planning on using standard or normal-sized muffin cups, you would need to increase the baking time slightly. 
• When filling the batter into the muffin cups, fill it to about ⅔ full only. You will need to give some allowance for the cinnamon streusel topping as well as for the muffins to rise slightly during baking.

💭FAQs