Homemade vegan coffee cake muffins are the perfect dairy-free treat to have with your coffee break. If you haven’t had coffee cake muffins before, they typically feature a tender baked cake that’s layered and also topped with a buttery brown sugar and cinnamon streusel. That’s right, there is no coffee in this cake! The name simply refers to an indulgent treat that accompanies a nice cup of coffee. My version features a bit of whole wheat flour for nuttiness and coconut oil to make it tender.
I love classic coffee cake so much. My mom makes an amazing one in a tube pan, so the smell of cinnamon baked goods always takes me back to my childhood. Maybe this is why I love cinnamon so much?! I do enjoy the warm spice all year, so a vegan-ized muffin version of this treat felt like the right thing to share. My apple crisp muffins are also a nice choice if you’re in that kinda mood!
Some notes about these muffins:
- If you are a person that prefers baked goods that aren’t too sweet, I don’t think this is the right recipe for you unfortunately. These muffins are rich and indulgent! For something less sweet, I’d recommend my vegan carrot muffins or my spelt banana bread.
- Store-bought vegan sour cream is the way here! In my tests Tofutti brand vegan sour cream out-performed every other vegan sour cream brand available, every vegan yogurt, and my homemade vegan sour cream (which did not work at all).
- I like bigger muffins with domed tops, but if you don’t mind smaller muffins, you could stretch the batter and streusel to make 12 total.
- You can definitely use all white whole wheat flour if you prefer! I just like a littly nutty whole grain goodness sometimes.
- The batter will seem almost too stiff once you’re done mixing and trying to get it spread out in the muffin tins. Just be patient with it! It’s going to bake up tender and nice.
Hope you give these a try for your next coffee break! A baked good with hot coffee is one of my favourite simple pleasures. The little things are the big things in life! What muffin should I post next? Maybe we’ll go super healthy and update the classic bran muffin? Let me know in the comments 😉
Vegan Coffee Cake Muffins
My vegan coffee cake muffins feature plenty of buttery-crunchy vegan streusel, warm cinnamon, and a tender cake made with coconut oil, brown sugar, vanilla and some whole wheat flour. This is the perfect indulgent treat to have with a hot coffee.
Servings 10
Ingredients
Streusel
- ¾ cup dark brown sugar, packed
- ¾ cup white whole wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 6 tablespoons cold vegan butter
Muffins
- 6 tablespoons melted refined coconut oil
- ¾ cup cane sugar
- 1 cup store bought vegan sour cream (see notes)
- ⅓ cup unsweetened apple sauce
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground flaxseed
- 1 cup white whole wheat flour
- ¾ cup whole wheat flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
Notes
- If you prefer baked goods that aren’t too sweet, I don’t think that this is the right recipe for you unfortunately. These muffins are rich and indulgent! For something less sweet, I’d recommend my carrot muffins or my spelt banana bread.
- Store-bought vegan sour cream is the way here! In my tests Tofutti brand vegan sour cream out-performed every other vegan sour cream brand available, every vegan yogurt, and my homemade vegan sour cream (which did not work at all).
- I like bigger muffins with domed tops, but if you don’t mind smaller muffins, you could stretch the batter and streusel to make 12 total.
- You can definitely use all white whole wheat flour if you prefer! I just like a littly nutty whole grain goodness sometimes.
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease 10 cups of a standard muffin tin or apply paper muffin liners.
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Make the streusel. In a medium bowl, combine the dark brown sugar, white whole wheat flour, cinnamon, and salt. Cut the cold vegan butter into bits and add it to the bowl. Mix everything together and then, using your hands, pinch and rub the butter into the flour and sugar. Once you have a clumpy, coarse, wet sand-like texture, place the bowl in the fridge.
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Start on the muffins. In a medium bowl, combine the coconut oil, cane sugar, vegan sour cream, apple sauce, vanilla, apple cider vinegar, and ground flaxseed. Vigorously whisk to combine and to “activate” the flax. Set aside.
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In a large bowl, combine the white whole wheat flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir to combine. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir/fold with a spatula to combine, being careful not to overmix. The batter will seem almost too stiff! But it’s fine.
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Retrieve the streusel from the fridge. Portion half of the muffin batter into the 10 greased muffin cups and flatten it down a bit. Top with half of the streusel. Add the remaining half of the batter to the muffin cups, spreading it out as best you can. Top with the remaining streusel, pressing it into the top.
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Bake the muffins for 25-28 minutes, or until the tops are domed, deep golden brown, and a cake tester inserted into the center of a muffin emerges clean. Cool muffins thoroughly before enjoying.
