Description
These Vegan Cinnamon Streusel Muffins are soft, fluffy, and bursting with warm cinnamon flavor, topped with a crunchy cinnamon streusel and finished with a sweet vanilla glaze. Perfect for breakfast or a delightful snack, these muffins are made without any animal products, using vegan butter, plant-based milk, and vegan yogurt for a moist and tender crumb. The recipe yields 8 large muffins with high, domed tops and a perfect balance of sweet cinnamon and buttery streusel crunch.
Ingredients
Scale
Streusel Topping
- 35 g all-purpose flour
- 40 g brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 25 g vegan butter, cubed
Cinnamon Sugar
- 25 g brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Muffin Batter
- 180 ml soy milk (or almond/oat milk)
- 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar (or lemon juice)
- 118 ml olive oil (or neutral oil like rapeseed or sunflower oil)
- 80 g vegan Greek-style yogurt (or vegan sour cream)
- 180 g brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 280 g all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Glaze
- 120 g powdered sugar
- 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. For best results, leave a gap between each liner as you’ll only be filling every second cavity to encourage high, domed muffin tops.
- Make the streusel topping: In a medium bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and cubed vegan butter. Use your fingertips to rub the butter into the dry ingredients until you achieve a crumbly, streusel-like texture. Set this mixture aside in the fridge to chill while you prepare the batter.
- Prepare cinnamon sugar: In a small bowl, mix the brown sugar and ground cinnamon together thoroughly, then set aside for later use.
- Make the vegan buttermilk: In a medium bowl, add the soy milk and apple cider vinegar, stir, and let sit for 5 minutes to curdle and form vegan buttermilk.
- Combine wet ingredients: In another medium bowl, whisk together the olive oil, vegan yogurt, brown sugar, and vanilla extract. Then whisk in the prepared vegan buttermilk until fully incorporated.
- Mix dry ingredients: In a large bowl, whisk the all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and sea salt to combine evenly.
- Combine wet and dry ingredients: Sift the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients in two additions, folding gently between each to avoid overmixing. Fold just until no pockets or streaks of flour remain to maintain a tender crumb.
- Fill muffin trays: Place muffin liners in every other cavity of the muffin trays. Using an ice cream scoop or large spoon, fill each liner halfway with the batter. Sprinkle an even layer of cinnamon sugar on top of the batter in each muffin case.
- Top with batter and streusel: Fill each muffin liner with the remaining muffin batter. Then generously sprinkle the chilled cinnamon streusel topping over each muffin, ensuring a textured, crunchy top.
- Bake: Bake the muffins at 200°C (392°F) for 5 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 175°C (347°F) and bake for another 15 minutes. Test doneness by inserting a toothpick or knife into the center of a muffin; it should come out mostly clean with just a few moist crumbs. Allow muffins to cool for 5 minutes in the tray, then remove and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely for about 30 minutes.
- Make the glaze: In a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and non-dairy milk until smooth. Adjust the consistency by adding more powdered sugar for thicker glaze or more non-dairy milk for a runnier consistency.
- Glaze muffins: Once the muffins are fully cooled, drizzle the vanilla glaze evenly over the top of each muffin. Allow the glaze to set slightly before serving.
Notes
- You can substitute soy milk with almond or oat milk for the vegan buttermilk.
- The powdered sugar glaze consistency can be adjusted by varying the amount of non-dairy milk to your preference.
- Filling every second muffin cavity helps the muffins rise higher and develop better tops.
- If you only have one muffin pan, bake in two batches and cool the pan between batches to maintain proper baking conditions.
- To ensure the vegan butter mixture forms a proper streusel, use cold butter and rub it into the dry ingredients quickly to avoid melting.
