Brown Sugar Cinnamon Muffins

Cinnamon muffins are so easy to make and full of pockets bursting with cinnamon flavor. Great for a snack or breakfast on the go, these muffins keep well and can be frozen for later.

It is no secret that we love muffins in our house, and this cinnamon muffin recipe is one of our favorite recipes (along with these easy blueberry muffins).

Cinnamon Muffins Recipe Ingredients

For the Muffins, you will need:

• Granulated sugar
• All-purpose flour
• Salt
• Cinnamon
• Milk
• Vinegar
• Vegetable oil
• Large eggs
• Vanilla extract

For the streusel topping, you will need:

• Brown sugar
• All-purpose flour
• Cinnamon
• Butter

For the exact amounts needed, please see the recipe card below.

How to make Cinnamon Muffins

For the Muffins

1. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F and grease a muffin tray well or line it with paper liners.
2. In a bowl, combine your milk and vinegar and allow it to rest for a couple of minutes to thicken.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Set it aside.
4. After your dry ingredients are mixed up, make a well in the center with a spatula or spoon. Forming a well to put the wet ingredients (the milk mixture, oil, eggs, and vanilla extract) into makes it easier to incorporate them gradually, minimizing lumps in your batter. 
5. Mix to combine but do not overmix. This could definitely be done by hand with a whisk. I was just excited to use my new ice blue kitchen aid mixer. *affiliate link
6. Divide the batter evenly between about 15 muffin cups, filling each one about ¾ of the way full.

For the Streusel

1. After you have the batter ready, it's time to make the streusel topping. This topping is what creates those delicious pockets of gooey cinnamon butter within the muffin.
2. Combine the brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon in a bowl. 
3. Add in the butter and then mix until combined. It should be sticky and lumpy.
4. Drop the streusel in smaller portions over the top of the batter in the muffin tins, gently pressing it down into the batter to get it to adhere to the muffin tops.
5. I just pinch off small portions and lay them on top of the portioned batter in the muffin tin. I push a few down deeper than others, you could even layer it halfway in the batter if you wanted.
6. I like putting it all on top because I don't want it to sink down in the bottom of the tin. I find that it burns easily when it reaches the bottom of the muffin tin. You can see in this picture how it melts pretty far down into the muffin just by being set on top anyways.
7. Bake in the oven at 425 degrees F for 16-18 minutes or until a toothpick can be inserted and come out clean or with just a few crumbs.

Cinnamon Muffin Recipe Substitutions

Buttermilk vs DIY buttermilk

• The secret to getting a nice soft crumb on these cinnamon muffins is using vinegar to make your milk into buttermilk. You can, of course, just use buttermilk. But I never have that on hand, and this is just so easy. As a general rule, replace 1 tablespoon from 1 cup of milk with vinegar for a good buttermilk substitute.
• If you wanted to you can easily omit the vinegar in this recipe and just use buttermilk in place of the milk. This will save you a few minutes of prep.

Oil vs Butter

• Using oil will give these muffins a lighter texture, especially if you keep them for a few days. Butter will be slightly denser and dry out more quickly over time. 

Tips for Cinnamon Brown Sugar Muffins

• A word of caution - these cinnamon muffins come out of the oven looking MESSY. You'll be able to see it in the video. If you want to avoid such a mess, only fill the muffin cups up ⅔ of the way. I like a bigger muffin though so I just go for it and the mess doesn't bother me.

• I also like to swirl the cinnamon crumb mixture into the muffins by using a toothpick so that the cinnamon flavor gets deeper into every muffin but this is an optional step and isn’t really necessary.

Cinnamon Muffin Recipe FAQs

Storing Brown Sugar Cinnamon Muffins