Light and fluffy Cinnamon Muffins are fresh from the oven in just 25 minutes. This easy cinnamon breakfast muffin recipe is rolled in cinnamon sugar just like Churros and makes a cozy breakfast or light dessert.
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If you love easy holiday baking ideas like Cinnamon Rolls and Cranberry Bread, you need to try these perfect cinnamon breakfast muffins! They feel so special and warm during the holidays and colder months.
Easy Cinnamon Muffins Video
Watch Natasha make these rustic, sweet, and crunchy cinnamon sugar muffins. Here’s why you’ll love this easy muffin recipe:
- Quick and Easy – Basic ingredients, one bowl, and a short baking time mean you can easily whip up a batch of these homemade muffins on a weekend morning.
- Deliciously Spiced – My cinnamon muffins recipe is filled with the warming flavors of cinnamon and nutmeg, with a touch of buttery sugar crunch.
- Versatile – These muffins are great for breakfast and just as good as a sweet afternoon pick-me-up with coffee or tea.
French Breakfast Muffins
These cinnamon muffins are seriously tasty and always disappear fast. We made four batches in two days and they got rave reviews all around. This muffin recipe also happens to be ridiculously easy. I can almost guarantee that you’ll be baking up a storm, too.
I roll the freshly baked cinnamon muffins generously in cinnamon sugar after a light dip in melted butter. Can I just say: Wowza! These have all the satisfying, sugary crunch of biting into a cinnamon sugar donut (or even a Snickerdoodle Cookie), only in muffin form.
Ingredients
These fluffy and soft cinnamon muffins come together with only a handful of pantry ingredients. Be sure to refer to the recipe card for the full ingredient amounts.
- Flour – I made this recipe using regular all-purpose flour.
- Sugar – You’ll need regular granulated sugar for the muffin batter as well as the cinnamon sugar topping.
- Baking powder and salt – baking powder is the leavening that helps the muffins bake up light and fluffy, while salt balances the sweetness.
- Nutmeg – Ground nutmeg compliments the cinnamon and really rounds out the flavors. If you’d prefer to use cinnamon instead, go right ahead.
- Butter – I prefer to bake with unsalted butter, so I can control the amount of salt.
- Egg and Milk – make sure egg is at room temperature and milk is warm.
- Cinnamon Sugar – combine granulated sugar and ground cinnamon for dipping the muffins.
Pro Tip: If you forgot to bring the egg to room temperature, set it in a bowl of warm water for 5 minutes to take the chill off.
Pro Tip: Use the spoon-and-level method when measuring dry ingredients like flour. Spoon the flour from the bag into the measuring cup and then level it off with a knife (instead of scooping directly from the bag). Too much flour can lead to muffins that are dense and chewy.
How to Make Cinnamon Muffins
All it takes is one bowl and 25 minutes to make these perfectly moist and tender cinnamon muffins. While your oven preheats, get started on the batter:
- Dry ingredients – whisk together the flour, sugar, and the rest of the dry ingredients.
- Add wet ingredients – add the warm milk, beaten egg, and melted butter. Give the batter a stir to combine, but don’t overmix. The batter should be lumpy.
- Bake – Divide the batter evenly between the wells of a greased muffin pan, about ⅓ full. An ice cream scoop is helpful here. Finally, bake the muffins at 350ºF for about 20 minutes, or until the edges are golden and the muffins are set in the middle.
Pro Tip: You can grease a non-stick muffin pan with butter or cooking spray, or you can line the muffin pan with cupcake liners if you prefer.
For the Cinnamon Sugar Topping
The final touch on these tasty cinnamon muffins is a crunchy, buttery sugar and spice topping. Coating the muffins is a super simple process:
- Prep the topping – stir together sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. In a separate bowl, melt the last of the butter in the microwave.
- Dip and roll – One at a time, dip the tops of the muffins briefly in melted butter, then dip or roll the tops generously in cinnamon sugar. I like to coat the sides of the muffins with cinnamon sugar as well for a bit of extra, all-around crunch. Afterward, set them on a wire rack to cool.
Common Questions
The room-temperature eggs, melted butter, and warm milk in this recipe contribute to a smooth batter that bakes up light and fluffy in the oven. Also, make sure you don’t add too much flour or overbake.
This could be caused by an ingredient that wasn’t measured correctly. Too much baking powder, for example, can cause the muffins to puff up temporarily and then fall flat. Be mindful and measure accurately.
Absolutely. This cinnamon muffin recipe makes enough batter to fill a 12-count muffin tin, but feel free to scale up or down as needed.
Variations
This cinnamon muffins recipe is basic in the best possible way. But if you want to change things up with different flavors or easy add-ins, here are some ideas:
- Apples – Stir in diced apples to make easy apple cinnamon muffins.
- Berries – Add in blueberries, chopped strawberries, or raspberries.
- Chocolate Chips – Add a handful of semi-sweet chocolate chips to the batter for spiced chocolate chip muffins.
- Chopped Nuts – Stir in crushed or chopped pecans or walnuts.
- Pumpkin Spice – Give these cinnamon muffins a fall twist and trade nutmeg and cinnamon for pumpkin spice.
What to Serve with Cinnamon Muffins
These spiced cinnamon muffins are a delicious breakfast treat that doubles as a dessert. They pair wonderfully with a hot cup of coffee in the morning, Hot Chocolate, Apple Cider, or with a cozy mug of tea.
Homemade muffins are a great addition to a breakfast or brunch spread. Serve them alongside Air Fryer Bacon, Poached Eggs, and Crispy Hash Browns.
Make-Ahead
Although these muffins are best enjoyed freshly baked, leftover muffins do keep well:
- To Store: Your fresh cinnamon muffins can be stored airtight at room temperature for up to 3 days. You can also keep them in the fridge for up to 1 week. I like to line the container with paper towels to help absorb excess moisture and keep the muffins from getting soggy.
- Freezing: These muffins can be frozen. After they’ve cooled completely, store them airtight and freeze them for up to 1-2 months. Defrost the muffins at room temperature, or in the fridge then microwave 30 seconds to soften them up.
We can’t wait for you to sink your teeth into these soft and fluffy cinnamon muffins. They’re the perfect sweet snack to cozy up with in sweater weather. You’re going to love them!
More Easy Muffin Recipes
Muffins are a treat for breakfast and double as a dessert. If you’re looking in the mood for muffins, try these other classic muffin recipes:
Easy Cinnamon Muffins Recipe
Ingredients
For the Muffins
- 1 ½ cup all purpose flour
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
- 5 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted, plus more to grease the pan
- 1 egg, room temperature, lightly beaten with a fork
- ½ cup warm milk, low fat or whole milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 12-count non-stick muffin tin with butter or cooking spray.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg.
- Add warm milk, lightly beaten egg, and 5 Tbsp melted butter and stir until combined but still lumpy (DON'T over mix).
- Divide the batter into your prepared pan using a spoon or ice cream scoop. Each cup will be about 1/3 full. Bake for 20-22 min or until golden at the edges and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- For the topping, In a small bowl, mix together 1/3 cup of sugar with cinnamon. In a second small bowl, melt your remaining 3 Tbsp butter.
- Dip warm muffin tops briefly in melted butter, then dip/roll generously in cinnamon sugar. I like to coat the sides of the muffins with cinnamon sugar as well. Set them on a wire rack to cool.
Your muffins are consistently amazing! Everyone I make them for is addicted to them. Thank you!
Thank you, Haely!
Simply delicious! I added vanilla protein powder, along with cinnamon to the recipe. Also, I used GF flour as one of my kiddos has celiac. They are amazing!! Thank you for the recipe.
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Alicia! The addition of protein powder and cinnamon sounds awesome! I’m also so thrilled to read this worked well with GF flour, I know my GF readers will find this especially helpful!
These muffins are the most delicious muffins I’ve ever made, thank you Natasha.
So simple and easy. I didn’t have nutmeg so used cinnamon but wow, cannot rate these high enough.
Just so perfect with a cup of tea!
So glad to hear that, Jazz!
Used my 1/3 cup icecream scoop as always and it only was enough batter for 9 muffins
Hi Heaven. Watch my process in the video, I did not fill the scoop up all the way.
A little update, reheated 2 muffins in the oven tonight while we were having dinner and they were crisp on the outside (probably because of the sugar) and super moist on the inside. You would think that I just made them … really a success!
Thanks again !
That’s wonderful, Ginette! Thank you for the update.
Hi Natasha! Made those wonderful muffins yesterday and they are soooooooo good!!! The only thing I changed was the nutmeg, I put cinnamon instead. So easy and fast to do and your explanations are perfect.
I discovered your site last summer and I absolutely love it. Made a cherry cobbler and a cherry pie and they were perfect too!!!!!!!!
So thank you to you and your husband for this wonderful site. I will be “very busy” this winter :-)))))))
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review, Ginette! I’m so glad you discovered my blog!
I wonder if this recipe has vanilla or can I add like 1 tsp vanilla?
Hi Neda! It does not but feel free to add some if you’d like.
This is the 2nd time I made them and 5 batches in all. I prefer to make batches instead of doubling up. I got 12 but they were pretty small, when I did like 8 they were a much better size. Very yummy. Easy to make. Might become a stable for treats for others.
I tried to double the recipe, but I think I messed something up since I’m bad at maths lol. The batter was very dry, so I had to add extra milk. I wanted to use a 6 muffin pan since they’re nice and big, so I made a double batch with my 6 pan and they all ended up kinda small and sad. They’re a little dense because of my dryness hiccup, but they taste good (I used cinnamon and nutmeg in the batter). And I added almond nibs.
I’ll give them another go at some point, because I know that my girl math is what messed something up.
Hi KJ! You can change the number of servings in the recipe card and it will convert the ingredient list for you. Also, be sure to watch my tutorial on how to measure ingredients so you can see the process that I take. Dry batter is often due to using too much flour or measuring the liquids incorrectly. I hope that helps.
These were delicious! Like stated in bold, DONT OVER MIX! I followed this exactly and they turned out perfect! Thank you for sharing your recipe with us!
You’re very welcome, Peyton! I’m so glad you loved it!
Hi can I subsitute whole milk/ lowfat for oatmilk? thats all I have also can I line my muffin tin with lineers and use a cookie scoop instead of an ice cream scoop?
Hi Danisha, I have not tested this with oat milk to advise. I haven’t tested that but I think it could work. If you experiment, let me know how you liked the recipe. I bet a cookie scoop could work. I hope you love this recipe.
Hi thanks for the tips tried this recipe with oat milk and apples, and they came out so good! I am making them again today with my daughter.
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful comment, Danisha!
I added small pieces of apple and left them in the oven for only 14 minutes. They came out fully baked and super fluffy. 🙂
That sounds amazing!
Jack &I love these with a morning cup of coffee, we can whip them up so fast & easy !
It’s a great combo, glad you love it too!
Followed directions to a T measured everything correctly but they were very dense/dry. Threw them out.
Hi Krysta, that could be due to several things – if the flour was measured correctly, it could be due to yeast being inactive (either expired, over-proofed, or proofed at too high of heat which can kill the yeast). That is such a bummer when that happens but make sure the heat is correct throughout the process and if you don’t see the yeast bubbling at the start, toss it and start with fresh yeast. I hope that helps.
Yeast? I don’t see yeast in the recipe? I see baking powder… is that what you meant? 🫣
Hi Amy! Thank you for bringing that to my attention. You’re correct, there is no yeast in this recipe. I must have have been thinking of my cinnamon roll recipe when I replied, not cinnamon muffins. Oops!
Not sure if you are referring to this recipe or another. But your response to Krysta states something about yeast bubbling. Yeast is NOT listed as a ingredient in this muffin recipe. So, im a tad bit confused here. Clarification please. I’m excited to make these. But will wait for your response. Thank you.
Hi LuAnn. Yes, keep reading the comments below that one- it was a mistake, referencing another recipe. There is no yeast in this one.
I hope you love the recipe!
Hi Natasha, can I substitute the egg if I want eggless, what can I do?
Hi Karen! I have not tested a substitute to advise. Let us know if you experiment.
I would try 1/4 vanilla yogurt or apple sauce for this recipe. I haven’t done it yet but plan to.
Hi Natasha, can these be stored after they’re made? If so, how, and for how long? Thank you.
Hi Lenore! Yes, you sure can store them. See my notes above under “Make-Ahead” for recommendations and instructions on this.
If I don’t have a 12 count muffin tint, can I use a 24 count but make the small muffin smaller?
Hi Irina, I haven’t tested that but I think it could work. If you experiment, let me know how you liked the recipe
Hello, ¿did you tried the 24 count tin? How long the baking time or temperature? Thank you
These are SO good. I only had salted butter but they didn’t taste salty. Seriously, double the recipe! Yum!
I’m glad you loved them, Katie! Thank you for sharing.
I made these exactly as you instructed; however, they weren’t as good as expected. I think I shouldve put cinnamon in the batter.
I baked them 20 min and maybe I shouldve baked them a minute less.
The outer part was a lil hard but the inside was soft.
My husband didnt like them. I liked them but didnt love them. Ill try again.
Hi Naunnie! I’m sorry to hear that. Do you use an internal oven thermometer? If not, I highly recommend one to check and see how your oven heats. It could be that or also the type of material your pan is made of. Also, be sure to not over-mix the batter or it could become gummy. I hope you have better results on the 2nd attempt!
I have made these many times, and they are great I add 1/2 t pumpkin pie spice to the batter and they are AWESOME!
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review, Jack & Polly!
I love this recipe! Instead of using a muffin pan, I used my mini bundt pan and decreased the baking time to ~18 minutes. They were wonderful! 😋
Thank you for sharing, Kathy! I’m so glad you loved them.