People love muffins. I’m not quite sure why that is but I have a few theories.

Perhaps it’s because of how easy muffins are to make. Combine, bake, enjoy. Bing, bang, boom. Muffins can be made at the last minute, making them perfect for weekend mornings when we are craving something a little extra-special. Their standard ingredient list also makes them ideal for those times we fail to plan ahead. Which of course rarely happens. *wink, wink*

Or perhaps it’s that they fall into the category of being perceived as semi-healthy. Muffins can have quite an excessive calorie count; but let’s be honest. For some reason we don’t quite put them in the dessert category. So you get all the deliciousness of dessert without all the guilt.

Regardless of the reason, we love muffins. They are one of the only items you can almost always count on finding at any coffee shop, in any city.

Over time, I have created a go-to base muffin recipe. One that I can easily adapt for the seasons and that has proven itself time and time again. These muffins are a rendition of that beloved recipe.

When baking muffins, I enjoy using my jumbo muffin pan. I honestly cannot consume a whole one so I’m not quite sure why I insist on using it; but I do. Giant muffins are just so pretty, and reminiscent of coffee shops.

Step one to making muffins is to grease up your pan of choice and fire up the oven.

Before beginning on the batter, I recommend making the crumble topping. Placing the crumble topping in the fridge while preparing the batter will allow the butter to slightly solidify making the crumb topping a little more crumbly.

Again, muffins are pretty much the easiest thing to bake, ever. All you need is two bowls, a whisk, and a spatula. No mixer required!

In bowl number one, whisk together the dry ingredients until evenly distributed. Then in bowl number two, whisk together the sugars and eggs. Add in the remainder of the wet ingredients and stir until fully incorporated.

Dump bowl number two (wets) into bowl number one (dries) and mix until just combined. The only way to really mess up a muffin is to over mix the batter! I suggest only using around 12 strokes, or until no flour streaks remain. The batter will be very lumpy! No need to try and smooth it out. If you continue stirring the muffins will turn out tough and chewy!

Pop the muffins into the preheated oven and bake until the crumbly tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Once they have cooled, it is time to add the glaze! This glaze is truly the icing on the cake (or should I say the muffin). It is what takes these muffins from amazing coffee cake to unbelievable cafe au lait coffee cake!

Simply whisk together the glaze ingredients and generously drizzle over the enormous muffin tops!

Once the glaze has set you can dig in! Or if you’re like me, these muffins are already long gone and you’ll have the sticky fingers to prove it.

These cafe au lait muffins are everything a muffin should be: fluffy, moist, and hearty; as an added bonus, they are full of rich cinnamon sugar flavor!

Great for enjoying on their own or alongside a cafe au lait, these muffins never disappoint.

Ingredients

Fluffy, moist muffins swirled with rich cinnamon sugar, sprinkled with delicious crumb topping and drizzled with creamy, coffee glaze.

Yields 6 jumbo muffins or 15 standard muffins*

For the muffins:
2 1/2 cups (312.5 g) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (65 g) whole wheat pastry flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar
1/2 cup (100 g) brown sugar
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup canola oil
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

For the Topping:
1/2 cup (62.5 g) all-purpose flour
1 cup (200 g) dark brown sugar
1 stick butter, at room temperature
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

For the Glaze:
1 cup (62.5 g) powdered sugar, sifted
1/2 teaspoon coffee extract or 1 tablespoon instant espresso powder
1/8 cup milk

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease muffin tin or line with paper liners.

2. In a medium bowl, combine topping ingredients with a pastry cutter until crumbly.

3. In a large bowl, combine flours, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.

4. In a medium bowl whisk together eggs and sugars until just combined. Mix in buttermilk, oil, and vanilla extract. Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Mixing only to combine (about 12 strokes). Fill prepared muffin cups half way with batter before sprinkling on half of the cinnamon sugar crumble. Fill the muffin cups with the remaining batter and sprinkle with additional crumb topping. (It is not necessary to use all of the crumb topping)

5. Bake muffins for 25-30 minutes, until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Allow to cool in pan for 5 minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool completely before adding glaze.

6. In a medium bowl, combine glaze ingredients and whisk until smooth. Drizzle glaze over the muffins and allow it to set before serving.

*For standard muffins, bake for approximately 15 minutes