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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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I’m gluten intolerant, so used gluten free flour mix that had baking powder already and subbed sour cream and they came out amazing! No issues with crumbs falling off, moist and buttery…best muffins ever. Thank you!
I’ve made muffins using all purpose flour, vegetable oil and buttermilk and they were moist and rose high because of the acid in the buttermilk.
Looks like an awesome recipe…question: can you use regular flour instead of cake flour and what if I have only a regular hand mixer? (so deprived…lol)
Hi Margarita, you’ll definitely need cake flour in this recipe otherwise the muffins will be too dense. Here’s a quick tutorial on how to make cake flour at home with just regular all-purpose flour: http://joythebaker.com/2009/09/how-to-make-cake-flour/ – also, you can make this muffin recipe with a regular hand mixer!
Julie I love this recipe and have been making the regular crumb cake for years so I was equally happy to see it in muffin form. I may be wrong, but I did not see in the instructions for the crumb mixture for people to let it sit for 15 minutes after mixing and then using your fingers pinch off nice sized pieces of crumb. You just left it at the mixture forming a cohesive dough. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for pointing this out, Carol! I added that step in there to clarify what you’re supposed to do. So glad you enjoy this recipe!
Glad I read Carol’s comment. I was very confused about the lack of “crumb.” I have made crumb toppings and they always say dough should resemble small peas. I am going to use this for an apple crisp topping.
These look great! I’m making them now… but I’m confused :/ I added 1 and 1/4 cup cake flour to 1/3 cup brown sugar, 1/3 white sugar, and cinnamon, and 8 T butter… was that wrong?
I figured it out… :) sorry!
Looks lovely …
Wondering if these can be made in the microwave ? Any idea regarding time etc would really be appreciated.
Thanks
Hi Lekha, these can definitely not be made in the microwave. If you’re looking for microwaveable desserts, I suggest you try my chocolate mug cake or my very vanilla mug cake. They’re both microwaveable desserts.
Hi there! Made these before and loved them! This time around I don’t have buttermilk or yogurt. You think I can use sour cream instead?
Hi Melissa, I’m not sure. I haven’t done that before. I just would hate for the cake part to be too sour for you. You can certainly try though.
These are in the oven as we speak. I am hoping they turn out alright! I was a little confused with the directions. The crumb was like a dough but I didn’t understand how to “crumble” it on top of the mix.. I felt like I had too much dough, crumbling was very hard, and the crumbles sunk in. Everything else was easy to understand! They smell delicious by the way!
Hi Jade, hope you enjoyed these! The crumb shouldn’t be like dough. They should be like little pea-sized crumbles. As long as you were able to get them on the muffin, they should turn out ok!
Wow! Really Very nice and fantastic post for Crumb Cake, This is such a pretty and impressive crumb cake! It’s the perfect season for peaches too. I want to eat every time Crumb Cake, Thanks for sharing….
I must say these were really good. Loved them. Will work on gettin more topping on and 12 muffins next time.