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I pretty much share all my treats with coworkers & friends because there’s no way it’s healthy if Jason and I ate all of them! I love that the panettone baking cups stand up on their own so you don’t even have to put them in a muffin tin.
You just place them on a baking sheet and bake! They fill a lot too, which was great for this recipe since the crumb to cake ratio was about 3:1 – the best!
Sidenote: You know what’s worse than craving Chick-Fil-A on a Sunday and having it be closed? Rolling up to a Chick-Fil-A on a Thursday evening and seeing that it’s CLOSED due to renovations.
What the what?! So inappropriate!
We pulled up to the CFA parking lot and there were about 7 other cars just parked in the parking lot looking as confused as we were trying to quickly think of plan B for dinner.
Can you imagine if you had a wailing 5 year old in the backseat? “But I WANT Chick-Fil-A!!!!!” Yeah, good thing we don’t have one of those. This lady even got out of the car to see if this was a joke.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t a joke. Lame-o.
When it comes to crumb cakes, especially the New York-style coffee crumb cakes, I’m all about the crumb.
I prefer very little cake and a massive crumb topping. When I found this recipe from Cook’s Illustrated, I knew I had to try it.
If you’re tempted to substitute all-purpose flour for the cake flour – don’t. Just go to the store and buy cake flour. Why?
If you use all-purpose flour, you’re going to end up with a dry, tough muffin. Also, use buttermilk! If you don’t have it, you can always substitute it with plain yogurt or put 1 tablespoon of white vinegar into 1 cup of milk.
The recipe says it makes a dozen and you might find that a little unbelievable, but remember: this recipe is more about the crumb topping than the cake.
This recipe has just a cushion of cake compared to the massive crumb topping. If you want to make an even ratio of cake vs. crumb, then it’ll only make 6 muffins.
New York-Style Coffee Cake Crumb Muffins
Equipment
Ingredients
For the crumb topping
- ⅓ cup (67 g) granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup (73 g) dark brown sugar
- ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 8 tablespoon (112 g) unsalted butter, melted
- 1 ¾ cups (219 g) cake flour
For the muffin
- 1 ¼ cup (156 g) cake flour
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoon (84 g) unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces, softened but still cool
- 1 large egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup (79 ml) buttermilk, or 1/3 cup plain yogurt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 °F (163 °C). Line muffin pan with baking cups or prepare panettone baking cups by spraying them lightly with cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together sugars, cinnamon, and salt. Pour the butter over top and using a wooden spoon, mix until incorporated. Then add the cake flour and mix until mixture resembles a thick and cohesive dough. Set aside.1/3 cup (67 g) granulated sugar, 1/3 cup (73 g) dark brown sugar, 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/8 teaspoon salt, 8 tablespoon (112 g) unsalted butter, 1 3/4 cups (219 g) cake flour
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt on low speed to combine. With mixer at low speed, add butter one piece at a time; continue beating until mixture resembles moist crumbs, with no visible butter chunks remaining, 1 to 2 minutes.1 1/4 cup (156 g) cake flour, 1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar, 1/4 teaspoon baking soda, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 6 tablespoon (84 g) unsalted butter
- Add the egg, egg yolk, vanilla extract and buttermilk and mix until all has been incorporated and batter is light and fluffy.1 large egg, 1 egg yolk, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1/3 cup (79 ml) buttermilk
- Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup (**see NOTES below), divide up batter into prepared muffin pan. Then, sprinkle a generous amount of the crumb topping on top, using your fingers to pinch the dough into a crumbly mixture, if not already. Do not press the crumb topping into the batter. Just let it sit on top.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until crumbs are golden and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. (Note: I did stick my muffins under the broiler at about the 15 minute baking mark so the tops would get nice and brown. If you do this, make sure to watch it carefully. You do not have to do the broiler step and can omit it completely.)
- Let muffins cool for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Store in an airtight container for up to 2 days.
Notes
Nutrition
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Definitely do not use 1/4 cup for regular muffins. Pushed up when baked and poked through the topping. Maybe I need to push the topping down next time (if I make them again).
I agree! I made these delicious muffins last night and I brought them to the office for a Friday morning treat. They were SUCH a big hit! I doubled the recipe, so it was hard to know how much batter to fill the cups with. I did 1/4 as the recipe states, but they overflowed BIG time! Beware for those of you that double the recipe – be sure to use less than 1/4c per muffin cup. I also used nonfat greek yogurt instead of buttermilk and they turned out great. Thanks for the recipe!
Your coworkers must love you, Lindsay :) so glad you enjoyed these and great tips!
Hmmm. Only had enough batter for 9 muffins. Followed the recipe to a tee. Had way too much topping (I guess cause I did not get 12 muffins). Waiting for them to come out of the oven. Will post after they are done. Used regular muffin cups and 1/4 cup or less of batter.
I had the exact same experience
only have enough batter for 6!
I followed the recipe precisely, and there definitely wasn’t enough batter for twelve muffins. Also I wouldn’t suggest using this recipe with the regular muffin cups because the crumble didn’t produce the desired look. There were bare spots even after pressing the crumbs in a bit. I definitely want to try them again with the panettone baking cups.
I made these for Easter brunch and they were a total hit! So glad I used cake flour, as you suggested. They turned out super moist and everyone wanted more. Thanks so much for posting :)
These tasted GREAT – only problems I had was that 1/4th a cup was WAY too much to put into each up. Luckily I made two batches and filled the second ones WAY less. Also.. as the muffins rose while baking in BOTH batches the crumbs fell off so many of my muffins suffered partial baldness…assuming this probably happened when the “muffin top” was forming. :/ Any tips? Is it because you used those special muffin holders? The one I used don’t look as tall as the ones you used. The ones I used were those plain old store bought ones that are about the same height as the muffin pan itself. Awesome recipe anyway! ♥
Hi Jessica! Darn, that stinks. You should try to press the crumbs into the batter a bit because your muffin holders aren’t that deep. Like push them down gently into the batter so they “stick” to it more. It’d probably help. But yes, I assume mine were able to hold so much more because of the muffin holders I used.
It snowed on April 1st in Utah. =( Mother Nature was playing a joke on us because here it is, two days later, at almost 70 degrees today during the day. (It gets down to 40~ at night.)
Also, that’s exactly the crumb to cake ratio I prefer as well. NY Style it is!
These look amazing. I can’t wait to try them.
I’m confused, the crumb topping is the only thing that needs the cinnamon but in the directions making the crumbs doesn’t need the cinnamon? What is first being made the crumb or the batter?
Yes it does. In step 2 it says: In a medium bowl, whisk together sugars, cinnamon, and salt. Pour the butter over top and using a wooden spoon, mix until incorporated. Then add the cake flour and mix until mixture resembles a thick and cohesive dough. Set aside.
The crumb is being made first and then set aside to add on top of the batter before baking.
This looks awesome, but I’m also confused because the second step should have ended with the crumb mixture, instead it ended with a dough. In the third step you talk about making the crumbs but it doesn’t refer to the cinnamon which is one of its ingredients. I’d appreciate clarification. Thanks
Right, the crumb mixture is dough-like which is why I said “dough” in the second step. After step 2, you are done with the crumb topping which is why it says to set it aside. The third step isn’t the making of the crumbs because I’ve already told you to set it aside in step 2. The third step is telling you what the mixture for the muffins should look like after you’ve mixed the flour, sugar, baking soda, and butter together – which is crumb-like. Then you add the liquids in.
Your recipe looks like it’s good but is very confusing. It lists flour and sugar twice. It doesn’t say which flour and sugar are for the crumbs or the cake
Sorry, I switched recipe plugins and it didn’t have the group headers come over so I went in and modified it. They should be there now.
These looks amazing! And now I need to buy everything in the bake & give section of King Arthur Flour!
The tags are so cute :) and those large sweet crumbs are just calling my name! This looks awesome.