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Sour Cream Coffee Cake muffins made with fresh cranberries. A small batch of sour cream coffee cake muffins is the best weekend breakfast I know!

Sour cream coffee cake muffins, small batch.

We’re heading into the last part of the year. The chilly part. The bake-all-day-to-keep-your-house-warm part. I love it.

Each month, I make a list of foods I want to eat to set the mood for the month. Sometimes, the list has exact foods, like Chai Cookie Bars. Other times, I write a general feeling that I want my meals to have, like ‘hearty and comforting.’ And then, I often consider your lovely self, and what foods you would like to eat this month, too.

For the month of December, I wrote: comfort food, cookies, and sweet breakfasts to share. Does that seem right to you? Are those the things you’d like to stuff in your face, too? While it’s a sunny 55-degrees where I live right now, I think we all need warm, cozy dinners, cookies for dessert, and something sweet to lure us out of bed in the mornings.

A how-to video for making sour cream coffee cake muffins:

 

 

(Sometimes the video jumps to the side of the page, so check there if you don’t see it).

You can use fresh blueberries like I did in the video, or any other fresh berries you like here. I use blueberries in the summer and cranberries in the fall, naturally.

Sour Cream Coffee Cake Muffins, small batch.

We’re starting here with sweet breakfasts to share. These cranberry streusel muffins made with sour cream were first on my list.

A few years ago, I made rhubarb cinnamon muffins from a Fine Cooking Magazine, and my eyes were opened to how lovely tangy fruit pairs with warm cinnamon. I love sweet and sour rhubarb, but I loved it even more when it was sprinkled with cinnamon. While we are months away from my beloved rhubarb (and my revered Rhubarb Crisp), we have cranberries!

I stirred cranberries into my sour cream coffee cake muffin batter, amped up the streusel topping (or is it called crumb topping?), and plopped it in muffin cups. The recipe makes 5 muffins. Two for me, two for you, and one for the dog, perhaps?

That’s the way it goes in my house.

Sour cream coffee cake muffins with streusel and cranberries

The muffin pan I typically is vintage, and I love it because it only has 6 cups! But, if you’re lacking your grandmother’s vintage small muffin pan like me, here’s a great substitute!

Also, you may substitute full-fat Greek yogurt for the sour cream, if you prefer.

Yield: 5

Sour Cream Coffee Cake Muffins

Sour Cream Coffee Cake Muffins

Sour Cream Coffee Cake Muffins

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes

Ingredients

Streusel topping:

  • 1/3 cup light brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
  • pinch of salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
  • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

For the muffins:

  • 1/4 cup neutral oil (grapeseed or canola)
  • 1/3 cup granulated sugar
  • pinch of salt
  • 1 large egg, beaten
  • 1/4 cup sour cream (or full-fat yogurt)
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 cup fresh cranberries

Instructions

  1. First, preheat the oven to 375, and line a small muffin pan with 5 liners.
  2. Next, make the streusel: in a small bowl, stir together all the ingredients with a fork. It will stick together and form large clumps. Set aside.
  3. Next, make the muffins: In a medium bowl, add the oil, sugar, and salt. Stir together very well, and then add the egg, sour cream, and vanilla extract. Stir to combine.
  4. In a separate small bowl, whisk together the cinnamon, nutmeg, flour, baking powder and baking soda. Add this to the wet ingredients and stir to combine.
  5. Finally, stir in the cranberries.
  6. Scoop out enough batter to fill the muffin cups half way. Add a generous tablespoon of streusel topping on top. Then, top with the remaining batter. Sprinkle the rest of the streusel mixture on top of the muffins.
  7. Bake for 19-22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean with moist crumbs. Let cool in the pan for a few minutes before serving.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

5

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 359Total Fat: 19gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 13gCholesterol: 56mgSodium: 130mgCarbohydrates: 44gFiber: 1gSugar: 28gProtein: 4g

Did you make this recipe?

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About Christina Lane

Christina Lane is the author of 5 cookbooks all about cooking and baking for two. She has scaled down hundreds of recipes into smaller servings so you can enjoy your favorite dishes without the leftovers! Valentine's Day is her favorite holiday.

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51 Comments

  1. Megan @ MegUnprocessed says:

    Nice arrangement, great photography!

  2. Domonique says:

    Great recipe! Rivals to be my best muffin recipe this year! I usually make weekly muffin batches of 24 for my family to grab for breakfast all week so I multipled the recipe by 4 to make 20. Could have stretched to 22 as they ran over a bit. I’ll likely reduce some of the crumb topping and replace some of the oil with apple sauce to lighten it up a bit but these were awesome! Thanks for sharing.

  3. Tina says:

    I am going to try this recipe, as I ADORE cranberry anything!! One question, in your picture presentation, what is the paper coming from around your muffins? That doesnt look like a muffin paper. Thanks in advance!

    1. Christina Lane says:

      Hi Tina!
      They’re just fancy tall cupcake liners. You can use any liners you like :)

  4. Becky says:

    These look so good! Will it ruin them if I use vegetable oil, though?

    1. Christina Lane says:

      Definitely won’t ruin them, Becky! They just won’t have the buttery taste, you know? let me know how it goes!

    2. Christina Lane says:

      Yep, vegetable oil is fine here :)

  5. stefanie says:

    These came out delicious! THanks so much!!!
    I love small batch baking.

  6. Mary says:

    Can I make the batter the night before and bake them in the morning? Thanks for the recipe, I plan to put the recipe in a mini muffin pan

  7. Suzanne says:

    These look so good! What a great way to use an often overlooked berry!

  8. Vanessa says:

    THanks for sharing! How far ahead of time can I make them?

  9. Kiran says:

    Hi… can I use chopped apple instead of cranberries???

    1. Christina Lane says:

      Yes :) Chop them small for even cooking.

  10. Marie says:

    These were so good! I used blueberries instead and the hubby said he would eat these all the time!