These Cinnamon Roll Muffins are the perfect breakfast treat. Fluffy muffins with delicious cinnamon running through them and a pretty cinnamon swirl on top of each muffin.
A traditional cinnamon roll is a classic, but sometimes it can be a bit too heavy. These cinnamon muffins provide the perfect way to get your cinnamon roll fix in muffin form for a lighter (and easier to eat) way. They come together so easily, I love to whip them up for a quick breakfast on Christmas morning or enjoy one on my way into the city with a hot cup of coffee on a weekday morning.
These cinnamon bun muffins were my Mum's favorite recipe that we made in the bakery. We served all kinds of muffins, such as Raspberry Crumble Muffins and Pistachio Muffins, but this muffin recipe was one of the most popular. So next time you have a hankering for homemade cinnamon rolls but want to make something quicker and easier, give these easy cinnamon roll muffins a try. Besides, does anything beat the smell of warm cinnamon wafting through your kitchen first thing in the morning? I think not!
P.S. If you love the idea of hybrid cinnamon roll desserts, check out my Cinnamon Roll Cheesecake recipe too!
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Ingredients
- Flour - All-purpose flour is perfect for these muffins, it makes a super soft muffin while providing enough structure to hold the cinnamon sugar filling.
- Sugar - This recipe uses three kinds of sugar, the first is regular white granulated sugar (caster sugar in the UK).
- Light Brown Sugar - The muffins themselves also use light brown sugar, this is the soft kind that looks a bit like wet sand - not muscovado or demerara sugar.
- Eggs - Use large eggs and always free-range if you can. Make sure the eggs are at room temperature.
- Vegetable Oil - The fat in the muffins is vegetable oil, this will keep them super moist and help them to stay fresh for longer.
- Milk - Full-fat milk is best but you can use whatever milk you have on hand. Make sure it is room temp.
- Dark Brown Sugar - The cinnamon filling uses dark brown sugar for a deeper color and flavor.
- Cinnamon - Of course, we need cinnamon, use ground cinnamon - you should be able to find this in any grocery store.
- Butter - The butter is for the cinnamon filling - you can use salted or unsalted butter, whatever you prefer. There is no need to use softened butter as we will be melting it anyway.
- Vanilla - To provide a tasty base for the cinnamon, the muffin itself will be vanilla-flavored. Use vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste.
See recipe card for quantities.
Make the Cinnamon Roll Muffins
This cinnamon roll muffin recipe has all the flavor of cinnamon buns but is a lot easier with just a few basic steps that take way less time!
- Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350°F / 180°C and line a muffin tin with muffin liners*.
- Step 2: In a large bowl add the white sugar, light brown sugar, and eggs. Whisk together until combined.
- Step 3: Pour in the wet ingredients including the milk, vegetable oil, and vanilla. Whisk until incorporated.
- Step 4: In a medium bowl, sift together the dry ingredients including flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix together then add to the muffin batter and whisk until there are no lumps of flour mixture.
- Step 5: Now for the best part - the cinnamon roll filling! In a separate bowl, melt the butter in the microwave in 30-second increments.
- Step 6: Add the dark brown sugar and cinnamon to the melted butter and use a spoon to mix it together into a runny paste. If it is too runny to work with, let it cool for a few minutes then stir and try again.
- Step 7: Scoop, pour or spoon your muffin batter into the prepared muffin pan, filling each cavity about ⅔ full. (If you are using the tulip liners you can fill them fuller - see note below). I like to use a cookie scoop to make sure there is an equal amount of batter in every muffin.
- Step 8: Spoon your cinnamon swirl mixture into a piping bag and cut a small hole off of the tip. If you don't have a piping bag you can just use a thick plastic bag like a freezer bag and snip the corner off. Squeeze roughly a teaspoon of cinnamon mixture into the center of each muffin. Use a toothpick to swirl it around into the muffin batter slightly.
- Step 9: Top off the muffins with the remaining batter - about 1-2 tablespoons of batter per muffin.
- Step 10: Pick up your bag of cinnamon filling again and use it to pipe a swirl on top of each muffin. For best results don't let the swirl go all the way to the edge of the muffin case. The tighter the swirl the more of your muffin will be covered in cinnamon as it bakes.
- Step 11: Bake at 350°F / 180°C for 20-24 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
- Step 12: Transfer muffins to a wire rack to cool.
*A Note on Muffin Liners: For this recipe, I find I get the best results with the 'tulip' style muffin liners - the tall kind made of folded paper. If you don't have these you can either make your own by just folding some parchment paper squares into the muffin cups, or you can use regular muffin liners too - the recipe will still work great either way.
If using the tulip liners you can fill the muffin liners with a lot more batter as they will rise higher, I recommend filling them to just above the top of the muffin pan (not the paper liner). You will get about 12 large muffins in tulip cases, or 18 - 24 smaller muffins in regular muffin cases.
Add a Cream Cheese Glaze
Adding cream cheese icing on top is optional, but I believe there are very few baked goods that aren’t made better with a bit of cream cheese frosting!
You can either put the glaze on while the muffins are still hot and let it kind of melt into the top, or if you want to be able to see the glaze, wait until the muffins cool down and pipe it on. You don’t want to go crazy with it as you still want to be able to see that beautiful cinnamon swirl on top of the muffin, and a little cream cheese glaze goes a long way!
It's the perfect finishing touch to these delectable cinnamon swirl muffins!
To make the glaze:
- Make sure the cream cheese is at room temperature, mix it with a spoon to soften it up a little.
- Add the powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla and beat until there are no lumps.
- For a more runny glaze, add 1-2 tablespoons more milk, or as much as it takes to get the desired thickness.
Variations
Alternative Icing - If you would like a glaze but don't want to use cream cheese, you can make a super basic glaze by mixing together powdered sugar with a tiny dash of water and a teaspoon of vanilla extract in a small bowl until smooth. Then you can pipe it just like the cream cheese glaze - or just spread over the entire muffin if you prefer!
Nuts - For some extra crunch, throw a cup of chopped nuts into your muffin batter. My favorite are pecans.
Equipment
Storage
Store your muffins in an airtight container at room temperature, they should be good like this for 5 days.
If they have cream cheese glaze on them you'll need to store them in the fridge, I advise letting them sit out at room temp for at least an hour before serving as you'll be able to taste the delicious muffin better when it's not cold.
More Recipes You Might Like:
If you love warm flavors in your baking like cinnamon, check out these other spiced dessert recipes:
Recipe
Cinnamon Roll Muffins
Ingredients
For the Muffin Batter
- 1 cup Granulated Sugar 200g
- ½ cup Light Brown Sugar 110g
- 2 Eggs
- 3 cups All-purpose Flour 375g
- 4 teaspoon Baking Powder
- ½ cup Vegetable Oil 120ml
- 1 cup Milk 236ml
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
For the Cinnamon Swirl
- ½ cup Dark Brown Sugar 110g
- 3 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
- 3 tablespoon Butter 43g
For the Cream Cheese Glaze
- 1 cup Icing Sugar 120g
- ¼ cup Cream Cheese 57g
- 2 tablespoon Milk
- ½ teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and line a muffin tray with liners. *See notes below on liners.
Make the Cinnamon Swirl Mix
- Make the cinnamon swirl mix before you start the muffin batter so it has time to thicken slightly as the butter cools. Melt the butter in the microwave in 30-second increments.3 tablespoon Butter
- Add the dark brown sugar and cinnamon and mix everything together into a runny paste. Set aside while you make the muffin batter.½ cup Dark Brown Sugar, 3 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
Make the Muffin Batter
- Whisk together the and eggs with the granulated sugar and light brown sugar - just until combined.1 cup Granulated Sugar, 2 Eggs, ½ cup Light Brown Sugar
- Add the wet ingredients and whisk together.½ cup Vegetable Oil, 1 cup Milk, 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- Sift the dry ingredients into a bowl and then add to the batter - whisk until batter is smooth and free from lumps.3 cups All-purpose Flour, 4 teaspoon Baking Powder, ¼ teaspoon Salt
- Fill each muffin case about ⅔ full of batter (or more for tulip cases - see notes).
- Put the cinnamon mixture into a piping bag or freezer bag and snip a small hole in the end. Squeeze about 1 teaspoon of mixture onto each muffin and swirl it into the batter with a toothpick.
- Add more muffin batter on top of each muffin - roughly 1-2 tablespoons.
- Use the piping bag to squeeze a swirl of cinnamon mixture on top of each muffin - being careful not to let it touch the edges of the muffin cases.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean
Make the Glaze
- Mix all the glaze ingredients together in a bowl until smooth and then drizzle over the cooled muffins1 cup Icing Sugar, ¼ cup Cream Cheese, 2 tablespoon Milk, ½ teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Andrea
These are my absolute favourite! Turned out perfect
Betty
Do u add golden syrup or not, dont c it in recipe ingred. As mentioned
Jules Grasekamp
Hi Betty,
Thanks for spotting this! The original recipe had golden syrup in it, but I tweaked it recently as a lot of people were having trouble finding golden syrup - I must have missed changing it in the post so thank you for catching it - have updated it now!
Jules
Betty
TY so much 4 responding. I cant wait 2 make these but sadly have 2 wait cuz i dont have enuf br. Sugar
Betty
Yes hello, im getting ready 2 make the cinnamon roll muffins & was wondering if this recipe doubles well. Ty in advance.