Have your cake and eat it too with these Coffee Cake Muffins topped with a cinnamon crumble, adapted from Sweet Mornings by Patty Pinner.
Patty Pinner’s Sweet Mornings — 125 Sweet and Savoury Breakfast and Brunch Recipes — is full of comforting, approachable recipes for mornings and weekend brunches. Alongside recipes, Pinner includes a list of pantry staples and useful kitchen tools, plus short anecdotes about the people and memories behind the dishes.
The book is divided into two sections. Sweet Beginnings features recipes such as Aunt Zaida’s Almond Coffee Ring, Aunt Evelyn’s Banana-Macadamia Bread, Tuesday Morning Blueberry Loaf, Cowboy Coffee Cake, Pan-Fried Peaches, Lemon-Cornmeal Muffins, Banana-Nut Waffles, and Mama’s French Toast Casserole.
Morning Savories highlights dishes like Miss Lola’s Scrambled Eggs, Fried Green Tomatoes, Sunday-Best Sausage Bread Pudding, Big Mama’s Chicken and Waffles, and a classic Waffle Syrup.
There are enough recipes in this collection to inspire a year of weekend breakfasts. The muffins on the cover immediately caught my eye. On page 113, Mama’s Coffee Cake Muffins appear, finished with a vanilla glaze. The recipe’s introduction recalls a mother who used cinnamon and other staple spices often — believing a dish should smell as inviting as it tastes.
These Coffee Cake Muffins were a hit at our recent brunch. The cinnamon in both the batter and the crumb topping filled the kitchen with cozy, nostalgic aromas and came through beautifully in the finished muffins. My partner, who’s picky about food, declared them a keeper. The best part was the muffin tops — that brown sugar–cinnamon crumble is irresistible.
I prefer baking from scratch, so I appreciated that most recipes in the book are made from basic ingredients rather than mixes. While not every recipe includes a photo, the well-photographed full-page images are appealing and do a good job of showing the finished dishes. More photos for the remaining recipes and metric conversions would be welcome additions, but they don’t diminish the book’s usefulness.
I expect to return to this book often for brunch ideas—starting with another batch of these Coffee Cake Muffins, then trying the Banana-Nut Waffles and French Toast Sandwiches. If you’d like to add this collection to your kitchen, consider picking up a copy of Sweet Mornings by Patty Pinner.
Agate Publishing provided a copy of Patty Pinner’s Sweet Mornings for review and for a giveaway hosted earlier on this site.
The giveaway winner was Starla, comment #4, randomly chosen. This giveaway is now closed.
Thanks to Agate Publishing and Patty Pinner for permission to share Mama’s Coffee Cake Muffins recipe.
Coffee Cake Muffins
Ingredients
- Nonstick cooking spray for greasing
- 2½ cups all-purpose flour divided
- ½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
- 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon divided
- ½ cup unsalted butter 1 stick, divided, melted and cooled
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ¾ cup sour cream room temperature
- 2 large eggs room temperature, beaten
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup sifted confectioners’ sugar
- 2 –3 tablespoons whole milk room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Method
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Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 12-count muffin pan with cooking spray and set aside.
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To make the topping: In a medium bowl, combine ½ cup of the flour, the brown sugar, and ½ teaspoon cinnamon. Cut 4 tablespoons of the butter into the mixture with your fingers, a pastry blender, or a fork until crumbly. Set aside.
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To make the batter: In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle, sift together the remaining 2 cups flour, the remaining 1 teaspoon cinnamon, baking powder, and salt. Add the granulated sugar, the remaining butter, and vanilla. Mix on low for 2 to 3 minutes. Set aside.
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In a small bowl, whisk the sour cream, eggs, and baking soda until combined. With the mixer on low, add the sour cream mixture to the flour mixture in three additions, beating 2 to 3 minutes until fully incorporated. Turn off the mixer.
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Divide the batter among the prepared muffin cups, filling each about ⅔ full. Top evenly with the crumble. Bake 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes.
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To make the glaze: Whisk together the confectioners’ sugar, milk (2–3 tablespoons as needed), and vanilla until smooth. Drizzle over the warm muffins.
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Use a serrated knife to loosen the muffins from the pan and tap the pan gently to release them.
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Transfer to a serving platter and serve warm.
Notes
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