These Vegan Cinnamon Streusel Muffins are the perfect way to sprinkle a little magic into your morning routine. Simply made with just 20 minutes of prep and a lot of love, these delightful cinnamon crumble muffins are essentially personal-sized vegan coffee cakes that fit in the palm of your hand.
Jump to:
📖 Recipe Overview
- Make-Ahead Magic. Whether you need sweet treats to stock lunchboxes with or want an easy grab-and-go breakfast on hand for your holiday guests, these vegan cinnamon coffee cake muffins are here to deliver.
- Simple Ingredients. If you’ve done any vegan baking in the past, chances are you already have everything you need on hand.
- Marvelously Moist. Boasting a supremely tender interior and a delightfully crunchy crumb topping, these vegan cinnamon muffins are just as tasty as the ones you’d get from a fancy bakeshop.
If you love making homemade muffins, check out my plant-based recipes for Banana Bread Muffins, Pistachio Muffins, Pumpkin Muffins, Chocolate Muffins, and Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins next!
🧾 Ingredients Needed
As promised, you only need a few simple ingredients to make these cinnamon crumb muffins. Here’s what to grab:
Ingredient Notes
- Brown Sugar - You’re welcome to use light or dark brown sugar, depending on what you have on hand. Alternatively, use a less-processed brown sugar variety like muscovado instead.
- Vegan Buttermilk - I prefer to use unsweetened soy milk in the muffin batter, but you can also use either oat or almond milk instead.
- Vegan Greek-Style Yogurt - You can also use vegan Skyr or sour cream if needed.
- Baking Powder & Baking Soda - Been a minute since you last baked? Give your raising agents a quick test to make sure they’re still active. Mix a small amount of baking powder or baking soda with a splash of hot water or vinegar, respectively. If they bubble and foam, they’re good to go!
🥣 How To Make Cinnamon Streusel Muffins
Find the complete list of ingredients, quantities, and instructions in the recipe card at the end of this post.
Step 1: For the streusel, rub the vegan butter into the flour, sugar, and ground cinnamon using your fingertips. Set this aside in the fridge.
Step 2: Mix together the brown sugar and cinnamon and set aside.
Step 3: Add the olive oil, yogurt, brown sugar, and vanilla extract to a medium bowl and whisk to combine. Whisk in the vegan buttermilk.
Step 4: Sift the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients in 2 parts. Fold the ingredients into the batter between each increment until there are no pockets or streaks of flour.
Step 5: Using an ice cream scoop or large spoon, distribute half of the batter amongst the muffin liners, filling them halfway.
Step 6: Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar on top of each muffin in an even layer.
Step 7: Fill each muffin case with the remaining batter and sprinkle the streusel on top. Bake at 200°C (392°F) for the first 5 mins, then turn down the temperature to 175°C (347°F) and bake for another 15 minutes.
Step 8: Mix together the powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and non-dairy milk until smooth. You can add more or less sugar depending on whether you want it runny or thicker. Drizzle the icing on top of the muffins once they have cooled.
🧁 Variations
- Pumpkin Cinnamon Streusel Bread - If you don’t have a muffin tin, don’t fret. You can still enjoy the cinnamon brown sugar goodness by swapping in a standard 9x5-inch loaf tin and using the batter from my pumpkin bread, then adding the nut-free streusel topping from this recipe.
- Mix-Ins - Feel free to add up to ½ cup of your favorite muffin inclusions to the batter. Some fun options include mini vegan chocolate chips or toasted chopped pecans.
- Make Any Of Your Favorite Muffins With Streusel Topping - Want to jazz up another one of your favorite vegan muffin recipes? Add the cinnamon streusel topping before baking and enjoy the crunchy top!
📝 Recipe Tips
Do not be tempted to overmix the batter! Overmixing causes the overdevelopment of gluten, which can result in tough muffins.
Skip a well. I recommend only filling every second cavity in the muffin tin, as this promotes high muffin tops! The recipe will make 8 large muffins, so if you only have one muffin pan work in 2 batches. Just make sure you let the pan cool between batches, and keep the muffin batter in the fridge until you’re ready to bake the second batch.
Use a spring-loaded ice cream scoop to help you fill the muffin tins without making a mess.
💬 FAQs
While I can’t speak for all recipes, my streusel topping for muffins is simply made with AP flour, brown sugar, ground cinnamon, and vegan butter.
While there's no single magical ingredient, the real secret lies in the harmony of a few things:
First, it's all about balance in moisture. Ingredients like vegan yogurt and buttermilk add that sought-after moistness to these streusel-topped muffins. Then there's the art of gentle mixing; overmixing can be a muffin's downfall, making them dense instead of dreamy. Third, be precise with your measurements. I suggest investing in a kitchen scale to ensure you don't add too much flour, which can make your muffins dry. Lastly, always keep an eye on your oven. Precise baking times are essential — a minute too long and you might just miss that perfect moist center.
Place the muffins in an airtight container and store them at room temperature for up to 5 days or in the fridge for up to a week. Let them sit at room temperature for an hour before serving if stored in the fridge. You can also freeze them in an airtight container and defrost them for a couple of hours before serving.
To serve, gently warm the muffins in the oven to get them back to tasting like they're been freshly baked!
🍁 More Easy Fall Bakes
Love this recipe? Please leave a 5-star ★★★★★ rating in the recipe card below and consider leaving a comment as well, thanks!
Stay in touch with me through social media @ Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, and Facebook. And subscribe via email to get all our new recipes!
Description
Equipment
Ingredients
Cinnamon Streusel
- 35 g (¼ cup + ½ tsp) all-purpose flour
- 40 g (⅕ cup) brown sugar
- 1 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 25 g (4 tbsp) vegan butter, cubed
Cinnamon Sugar Filling
- 25 g brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Muffins
- 180 ml (¾ cup) soy milk, or almond/oat milk *see note 1
- 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar, or lemon juice
- 118 ml (½ cup) olive oil, or neutral oil like rapeseed or sunflower oil
- 80 g (⅓ cup) vegan Greek-style yogurt, or vegan sour cream
- 180 g (⅘ cup) brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 280 g (2 ¼ cups) all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Glaze
- 120 g (1 cup) powdered sugar, *see note 2
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon non-dairy milk
Instructions
- Prepare: Preheat your oven to 200°C (392°F) and line 2 muffin trays with 10-12 muffin liners - leave a gap between each one as you will only be filling every second cavity.
- Make the streusel topping: To a medium bowl, add the flour, sugar, cinnamon, and butter. Use your fingertips to rub the butter into the dry ingredients. You'll be left with a crumble consistency. Set aside in the fridge.
- Cinnamon sugar: In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar and cinnamon and set aside.
- Make the muffin batter: To make the vegan "buttermilk" add the soy milk and apple cider vinegar to a medium bowl, stir, and allow to sit for 5 minutes.Add the olive oil, yogurt, brown sugar, and vanilla extract to a medium bowl and whisk to combine. Whisk in the vegan buttermilk.To a separate large bowl, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and sea salt. Whisk to combine.
- Sift the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients in 2 parts. Fold the ingredients into the batter between each increment until there are no pockets or streaks of flour. Do not be tempted to overmix!
- Line half of the cavities in the muffin tray with muffin liners - I recommend only filling every second cavity as this promotes high muffin tops! The recipe will make 8 large muffins - so if you only have one muffin pan I recommend baking them in 2 batches, just make sure you let the pan cool between batches, and keep the muffin batter rested in the fridge until ready to use for the second batch.
- Using an ice cream scoop or large spoon, distribute half of the batter amongst the muffin liners, filling them halfway. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar on top of each muffin in an even layer.Fill each muffin case with the remaining muffin batter and sprinkle the cinnamon streusel on top.
- Bake at 200°C (392°F) for the first 5 mins, then turn down the temperature to 175°C (347°F) and bake for another 15 minutes. Check they are done by piercing them with a toothpick or a knife, the knife should come out almost clean- a few crumbs are fine. Allow the muffins to cool for 5 minutes, then carefully lift them out of the tray and transfer them to a cooling rack to cool further for 30 minutes.
- Make the glaze: Mix together the powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and non-dairy milk until smooth. You can add more or less sugar depending on whether you want it runny or thicker. Drizzle the icing on top of the muffins once they have cooled.
- Storage: Place the muffins in an airtight container and store them at room temperature for up to 5 days or in the fridge for up to a week. Let them sit at room temperature for an hour before serving if stored in the fridge. You can freeze them in an airtight container and defrost them for a couple of hours before serving.You can also gently warm the muffins in the oven to get them back to tasting like they're been freshly baked!
Notes
- Vegan Buttermilk: Soy milk works best for fluffy muffins, but you can swap it for almond milk or oat milk. Learn more in my vegan buttermilk post.
- Some white sugar in the US is not vegan, if in doubt use organic sugar.
Nutrition
© addictedtodates.com. All content and images are protected by copyright. If you want to share this recipe, please do so using the share buttons provided. Do not screenshot or republish the recipe or content in full. instead, include a link to this post for the recipe.
