Remember those little Drake’s Coffee Cakes your Mom packed in your lunch as a kid?? They were first introduced in 1930, but I remember having these, and their fellow cake companions “Ring Dings”, “Devil Dogs”, and “Yodels”, throughout my childhood. Although my Mom baked desserts several times a week, she frequently used these store-bought cakes for school lunches.
I loved the coffee cakes most of all for their streusel topping. I wanted to create a muffin that had a tender cake on the bottom, with a swirl of streusel in the middle, and of course an amazing cinnamon and brown sugar crumb topping! This muffin definitely reminds me of the little packaged cakes. I added a vanilla glaze, which pushed them right over the top!
Recipe for Streusel Coffee Cake Muffins (makes 12 muffins)
Ingredients for muffins:
1 1/2 c all purpose flour
1/2 c granulated sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 c milk
1/3 c vegetable oil
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 large eggs
Streusel filling:
1/2 c light brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Crumb topping:
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
1/3 c granulated sugar
1/3 c light brown sugar
1 1/4 c all purpose flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
Glaze:
1 1/2 c confectioner’s sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2-3 Tbsp milk
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prepare muffin pan with paper liners. I tried both standard cupcake liners, and the “tulip” style liners. The latter help contain the crumb topping, but both work well.
Make crumb topping by combining sugars, cinnamon, and salt in a med. bowl. Add flour and stir to combine. Add melted butter, and stir together to make a very coarse crumb. Pour onto a piece of parchment paper to dry, and set aside.
Make streusel filling by combining brown sugar and cinnamon. Set aside. You can omit this step altogether if you prefer, but I find it a delicious addition!
In a stand mixing bowl, add muffin ingredients – flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Using a whisk attachment, blend. This can be done without a mixer, just using a hand whisk if you prefer.
In a med bowl, add milk, oil, vanilla, and eggs. Pour over dry ingredients. Blend just til incorporated.
Scoop batter using a med icecream scoop, into paper liners. Top with 1 tsp of streusel filling. (again, you can delete this step if you like). Add another scoop of batter. Top generously with crumb topping.
Top generously with crumb topping (2 heaping spoonfuls).
Bake for 15 – 17 min at 375 degrees. Test with toothpick for doneness. Cool completely.
Make glaze: Combine sugar, vanilla and milk, til of drizzling consistency. Drizzle each muffin as desired. Allow to dry.
Will keep for 3 days at room temp, or can be frozen for up to 3 mo. in a tightly closed container.
