Coffee Cake Muffins with Coffee Glaze

These coffee cake muffins are the perfect way to start your morning! A twist on a classic coffee cake recipe, these muffins have a crumble toppings and a coffee glaze drizzled on top. These make the perfect quick breakfast or a baked good to bring to a friend or neighbor.

Cappuccino Coffee Cake Muffins

Breakfast is by far my favorite meal of the day. I think it's because it's the most calm and peaceful time of the day. With a toddler running around, you never know what the rest of the day will look like, but breakfast is a fairly predictable part of our routine.

It wouldn't be a morning without coffee to start the day. A while back I posted about how to make the perfect cup of coffee at home. Depending on how I'm feeling that day, I usually make any type of coffee I want, whether it's a cappuccino or latte or just a regular cup of dark roast coffee.

On the mornings we have to get out of the house early, I need a quick breakfast idea that is also delicious. Sometimes I make a tropical green smoothie when I want something healthy.

But I usually have a stash of muffins in my freezer to enjoy on those quick mornings. A while back I decided to try making a version of coffee cake muffins with lots of coffee flavor. They are moist, flavorful and have my favorite crumble topping on it, along with a coffee-flavored icing.

The crumble topping is actually the same one I use for these pecan pie crumble bars and it's become my go-to for any dessert or baked good that requires a crumble topping because it's so delicious and easy to make.

Crumble toppings can get tricky to achieve the right consistency when you're using cold butter, but this crumble topping recipe uses melted butter, which makes it SO easy.

Why You'll Love This Recipe

Coffee cake muffins are like eating a big slice of coffee cake, only in bite-size, muffin form.

• Full of coffee flavor, these muffins are simple to assemble.
• The crumble topping plus a cappuccino icing makes these muffins pretty much irresistible.
• They are a great option for any breakfast or brunch, as well as special occasions like Christmas morning or Easter brunch.

Did you know coffee cake doesn't actually have coffee in it? Weird, right? I learned that a few years ago and thought it was very odd, but I guess the reason behind the name is simply that a traditional recipe for coffee cake pairs well with coffee.

This recipe actually does technically have coffee in it and definitely needs a hot cup of coffee to go with one of these cappuccino coffee cake muffins!

Ingredients

Let's talk about what you'll need to grab at the grocery store to make these coffee-flavored muffins. This list includes everything for the crumble topping, coffee icing and the muffins themselves:

• all-purpose flour
• sugar
• salt
• baking soda
• baking powder
• instant espresso powder: You can substitute 2 tablespoons of strong brewed coffee or espresso
• ground cinnamon
• eggs
• milk
• Greek yogurt: Plain and unflavored is ideal.
• vegetable oil
• unsalted butter
• brown sugar
• rolled oats
• powdered sugar
• heavy cream: Half-and-half also works here.

Variations & Substitutions

For a caffeine-free version of this muffin recipe, you can replace the espresso with cinnamon in the muffin mix and simply omit in the icing recipe.

You can use a gluten-free 1:1 flour substitute, such as King Arthur Measure for Measure Flour, to make this recipe without gluten.

How to Make Coffee Cake Muffins

This recipe may have a long ingredient list, but I promise it's simple to put together.

I don't like overly complicated muffin recipes, so even though these have a crumble topping, don't be fooled into thinking they're hard to make.

Let's take it step by step:

Make the muffin batter. First, preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a muffin pan with 12 cupcake liners.

Then get out a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients for muffins. Then In a large glass measuring cup or small bowl, combine the wet ingredients.

Gradually pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients bowl and gently whisk until incorporated.

Next, make the crumble topping. In a medium bowl, pour in flour, brown sugar and oats. Stir ingredients together.

Pour in melted butter and stir ingredients together. If there are big chunks of the crumble topping, break them up.

Then assemble the muffins. Pour the muffin batter into lined muffin pan about ½ way full. Sprinkle the crumble topping on top of the batter.

Bake for 20-22 minutes, until muffin springs back when touched. While the muffins are cooling, use a spoon to drizzle the coffee glaze over the muffins.

How to Make Coffee Glaze

These Coffee Cake Muffins are drizzled with a coffee glaze that I could eat by the spoonful.

It gives these muffins a sort-of cinnamon roll vibe, and reminds me of my grandma's famous coffee cake recipe.

Here's how to make the coffee glaze:

1. Using a hand mixer, beat the softened butter.
2. Add 1 cup of powdered sugar and cream together.
3. Then add ¼ cup of heavy cream and the espresso coffee until combined.
4. Add the remaining powdered sugar and heavy cream.

I always recommend tasting the icing before applying it to the muffins. If it is bitter from the coffee, you can add a bit more powdered sugar (¼ cup at at time).

Icing should be thin to be able to pour over muffins as a glaze. If it is too thick, you can add heavy cream a teaspoon at a time.

When I was experimenting with this recipe, I made a batch that was just a tad too dry, so we ended up bringing them to church to share with the group of volunteers we see every week.

I just love watching people's faces light up when they see that someone brought them something, especially when it's food.

These muffins are so easy to make, too, that it's easy to double the recipe and bring a batch to a friend or neighbor.

More Muffin Recipes

• Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Muffins
• Mixed Berry Muffins
• Blueberry Chia Seed Muffins
• Cinnamon Apple Muffins

If you make and love this recipe, please leave a ★★★★★ review below! It means so much to me when you try my recipes, and I'd love to know how it goes. Please leave a comment below if you have any questions.