Coffee Cake Cupcakes! Moist and delicious vanilla cupcakes, baked on top of brown sugar streusel then sprinkled with cinnamon sugar and finished off with brown sugar cinnamon frosting.
Today, we are talking about these moist vanilla coffee cake cupcakes and I’m thrilled! Thrilled because I’m going to show you that vanilla cupcakes aren’t boring. Excited because I’m pretty sure you’ve never made anything like this before. And stoked because I’m using my new and amazing vanilla cupcake recipe and taking it up a notch.
I made these Coffee Cake Cupcakes for my family and they were such a HUGE hit! Must have been the soft, buttery streusel bottom and the whipped brown sugar cinnamon frosting that won them over. And it’ll win you over too!
EASY COFFEE CAKE CUPCAKES
One of my FAVORITE things we do as a family is start off the summer off by going to Family camp. It’s such an amazing experience with so much to do but one of the highlights is their coffee cake. Yep, coffee cake for breakfast! My older kids rave about it and I always leave thinking, “I need to have this recipe in my life!” It was just too good.
Since then, I’ve tried making a few allergy-friendly variations of coffee cake, but none come close to this take on it. It’s simple to make yet hard to resist. This cake is moist, soft, warm and full of cinnamon and sugar goodness.
HOW TO MAKE VEGAN COFFEE CAKE
As mentioned, this coffee cake recipe is very simple. It takes about 10 minutes of prep between the streusel and the cupcake before baking it in the oven. After 15 minutes or so, you end up with the most delicious coffee cake cupcake you’ll ever try. 😉
To create this recipe, begin by making your streusel/brown sugar mixture by combining the brown sugar, flour and cinnamon. Pour melted butter over it then use a pastry cutter or fork to blend butter into dry ingredients to create a crumbly mixture. Set aside.
Next, we’ll be making the vanilla cupcake batter from my previous post because its delish! This batter contains no dairy or eggs, so instead we will be using full-fat coconut milk and vinegar to yield that light and fluffy texture. If you cannot have coconut, simply use a creamier substitute (almond milk, flax milk or even blended yogurt).
*To make these Gluten-free, I recommend Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 blend or Better Batter Flour. Both have worked beautifully in this recipe.
NEXT you will.
Line a muffin tin with paper liners. Pour 1 heaping tablespoon of streusel into the bottom of each liner. Then spoon about 3 tablespoons of batter on top, filling about 3/4 full. Then bake!
TOP WITH BROWN SUGAR CINNAMON FROSTING
Don’t forget the amazing cinnamon sugar sprinkle and brown sugar cinnamon frosting that goes on top. It’s like snickerdoodle heaven and coffee cake rolled into one and nothing beats having all that flavor throughout the whole cupcake.
They were a big hit in our house and I hope you love them as much as we did!
FOR MORE CUPCAKE RECIPES, CHECK
- Funfetti Cupcakes
- Skinny Vanilla Cupcakes
- Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
- Banana Coffee Cupcakes
Coffee Cake Cupcakes
VEGAN Coffee Cake Cupcakes! Moist and delicious vanilla cupcakes, baked on top of brown sugar streusel, sprinkled with cinnamon sugar and topped with brown sugar cinnamon frosting.
Ingredients
- For the Streusel:
- 1/2 C Light brown sugar
- 1/2 C All-purpose flour
- 3 tsp Cinnamon
- 6 tbsp Unsalted vegan butter – melted
- For the Cupcakes:
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (or 1-to-1 gluten free flour blend)
- 9 tablespoons of pure cane sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup coconut milk (full fat from a can)
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon clear vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 teaspoons white vinegar
- For the Topping:
- 1 tbsp Sugar
- 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
- For the Frosting:
- 1 1/2 C (3 stickers) Unsalted butter – at room temperature
- 1/4 C Light brown sugar
- 3 C Powdered sugar
- 2 tsp Cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp Pure vanilla extract
- 3 tbsp coconut milk (I used a little of what was left from the can above)
Instructions
For The Streusel
- Combine all dry ingredients in a medium-sized bowl.
- In a separate bowl, melt butter. Pour melted butter over dry ingredients. Use a pastry cutter or fork to blend butter into dry ingredients to create a crumbly mixture. Set aside.
For the Cupcake
- Preheat oven to 350° and line a muffin tin with liners.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- In a small bowl, scrape the entire contents of a coconut milk can into the bowl. Whisk well until smooth then add add to it the maple syrup, vanilla and vinegar, Stir until smooth.
- Slowly pour liquids into the dry then whisk again until smooth, but don't overmix. Toss in sprinkles and stir 1 final time.
- Divide batter between 12 cupcake liners, filling half way.
- Bake 15 minutes or until the toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting
For the Topping
- Combine sugar and cinnamon in a shallow bowl. Sprinkle on top of warm cupcake or gently dip warm cupcake into mix to lightly coat.
For the Frosting
- Allow butter to come to room temperature so it is soft. Beat butter in mixer on medium speed until smooth and creamy.
- Add brown sugar and mix until combined.
- Slowly add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time while continuing to beat on medium speed. Add cinnamon and mix into frosting.
- Add vanilla and coconut cream last and increase mixer speed to high and whip frosting until smooth and creamy.
- Frost cooled cupcakes
Notes
- Use vanilla cake mix in place of cupcake recipe if you prefer.
- Make with 1:1 gluten free flour blend Or all purpose flour
- I use Earth Balance buttery sticks in my all recipes
- In place of coconut milk, use higher fat dairy-free milk option or even vegan plain yogurt
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 14 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 339Total Fat: 10gSaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 16mgSodium: 228mgCarbohydrates: 60gFiber: 1gSugar: 45gProtein: 2g
The nutritional information provided is only an estimate. Numbers will change based off of substitutions or brands you choose to use.
Can I make this with gf flour?
Yes you can. I typically use a 1:1 blend like Bobs Red Mill
Now this is my kind of cupcake! First of all, brown sugar makes everything better, EVERYTHING. Second, I think of cupcakes as a vessel for frosting, nothing more. But with crumble on the bottom, you’ve made the entire cupcake worthwhile!
Where’s the coffee in the ingredients?
The recipe is a cupcake version of coffee cake…no coffee is added to the recipe. Basically it’s like a breakfast cake, covered in streusel topping that you pairs with coffee.
I’ve made some other recipes in the past with earth balance butter and feel there is an aftertaste. I’d love to make these since my son has multiple allergies .. ( milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, and no gluten) Do these have that aftertaste or is there an alternative to use for the vegan butter? Would coconut oil work? Hoping to make these today. What do you suggest and also for the frosting? Also, Love your chocolate chip cookie recipe!
I don’t find that the stick butter has an aftertaste but it may depend on which variation you use. They have a soy free, vegan and unsalted. I usually use the one labeled Vegan. There is a new Country Crock vegan butter in a stick, one with avocado oil and other uses olive oil. I like the olive oil blend best and that works well in most recipes.
Very delicious, however I’d like to add that the part about the streusel going on the bottom, followed by the batter, unfortunately isn’t part of the printout version Unfortunately, I combined the batter and the streusel – still very tasty though!
Thanks for letting me know. I’ll check that and correct it.. Glad you enjoyed it though 🙂