If you thought you couldn’t start every morning with a cinnamon roll…just bake a batch of my cinnamon roll muffins! With no yeast or rising time required, they feature all of the gooey, warm spiced flavors of a homemade cinnamon roll, including cinnamon sugar swirls and a drizzle of cream cheese frosting on top.
Tender, buttery, and so moist and fluffy, I love how easy they are to make. They come together in a fraction of the time! Take my advice: make a full batch, freeze the extras, and you’ll have a nice warm cinnamon muffin every morning of the week.
You can thank me later!
When I realized how freaking delicious these muffins turned out, I knew another cinnamon roll dupe recipe was needed. My soft cinnamon roll cookies have the same vibe: all the cinnamon roll flavors, but zero effort!
How to Make Them
1
Make the cinnamon sugar crumb. Chill in the freezer for at least 30 minutes, then break into pea-sized pieces. These crumbs are going to melt into every nook and cranny of the muffin batter!
2
Whisk together the wet and dry ingredients. You want to stop mixing when there are still some dry flour pockets like above. This will keep you from overmixing the muffin batter which can result in dry or dense muffins.
3
Fold in the cinnamon crumb mixture. Use a rubber spatula to gently fold the cinnamon sugar crumbs into the muffin batter. Don’t overmix or you’ll lose the swirls of cinnamon sugar!
4
Scoop and bake the muffins! For tall muffin tops, overfill the liners with the batter that sits taller than the liner. This is the secret to tall, bakery-style muffin tops! Don’t forget to top them with the extra cinnamon sugar crumb before baking!
Then once they’re baked and cooled, dunk the tops into the cream cheese frosting and enjoy!
When you have time to make a batch of classic cinnamon rolls, I’ve got you! My browned butter cinnamon rolls are full of rich, nutty brown butter in every single bite. Or if you love fruit, my blackberry raspberry cinnamon crumb rolls are a big favorite in my house!
If you tried this or any other recipe on my website, please let me know how it went in the comments; I love hearing from you! Also, please leave a star rating while you’re there! You can also tag me on Instagram or Facebook so I can check it out!
Cinnamon Roll Muffins with Cream Cheese Icing
Equipment
Ingredients
For the Cinnamon Crumb
- 1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
- 3 tablespoons salted butter, melted
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
For the Muffin Batter
- 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, *See notes below for measuring*
- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 1/4 cups buttermilk, room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup salted butter, melted
- 2 large whole eggs, room temperature
- 1/4 cup sour cream, room temperature
- 1/4 cup canola oil
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
For the Cream Cheese Glaze
- 3 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 1/3 cup powdered sugar
- 4-5 tablespoons whole milk
- 3/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
- Line a 12-cup muffin pan with 6 muffin liners and set it aside. Preheat the oven to 425 F/220 C.
- Combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, flour, and melted butter until combined and crumbs form. Spread onto a lined baking sheet. Chill in the freezer for at least 30 minutes, then break into pea-sized pieces before using.1 cup (200 g) dark brown sugar, 3 tablespoons (42 g) salted butter, 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon, 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.3 1/4 cups (415 g) all-purpose flour, 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- In a separate large mixing bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, sugar, melted butter, egg, sour cream, oil, and vanilla. Whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until almost combined, with some flour streaks still remaining. Then fold in the cinnamon crumb mixture.1 1/4 cups (300 g) buttermilk, 1/2 cup (113 g) salted butter, 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar, 2 (100 g) large whole eggs, 1/4 cup (60 g) sour cream, 1/4 cup (50 g) canola oil, 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- Scoop about 1/3 cup of the batter into each cup of the lined muffin tray. The batter should fill higher than the muffin liner. (see photo in the post for reference) Bake at 425F for 8 minutes, then without opening the oven door, decrease the temperature to 350F/180C and bake for another 10-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few moist crumbs and the tops are golden brown.
- Let the pan cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then carefully remove the muffins from the pan. Repeat with the remaining batter (6 muffins).1/3 cup (40 g) powdered sugar, 3 ounces (3 oz) cream cheese
- To make the cream cheese icing, combine the cream cheese and powdered sugar. Whisk in the milk and vanilla until smooth. Dunk the tops of the cinnamon roll muffins with the glaze or drizzle it over the top.3/4 teaspoons vanilla extract, 4-5 tablespoons whole milk
Video
Notes
Tried this recipe?Leave a comment below & tag @cambreabakes on social!
I finally made these and they were easy and delicious. I didn’t realize the cinnamon mixture should remain in freezer up right up until you add it in. I suppose it makes sense because the butter solidifies, but I didn’t pick up on this in time. Mine disintegrated in the batter when I folded it in. I also didn’t realize the weights of the ingredients are not included on the print out, so I will make sure to write them down next time. Heads up, my oven temp is correct according to my thermometer, and these were slightly over cooked when I checked them at 10 minutes at 350 (after 8 min at 425). They were still good, though!
I love this recipe! My husband has asked if I can make one big cake using this mix (I have a giant cupcake tin). Do you think it would work? If so, what length of time do you think I should bake it for? I was thinking I would need to cut it horizontally to add some additional layers of icing. Any thoughts?
Hi Lynzi! I’m so happy to hear that. I’m not sure if it would work, but I would try baking it at 350 F and just keep a close eye on it while it’s baking 🙂 Let me know how it turns out if you try it!
So good even without the frosting. Thank you!!!
Yay! Glad you enjoyed them! 🙂
If you have two 12-cup muffin pans, can you bake the batches all at once? It’s a quick recipe except for that part. I believe I can fit them both on one rack, but I am not sure if that is ideal. Thank you for the recipe!
Hi Stephanie! If they can both fit comfortably in the oven you definitely can. You can bake them all in the same tray but the muffins don’t get quite as tall. Hope that helps! 🙂