Cinnamon Coffee Cake Muffins for One

It looks like a lot of ingredients, but these little sweeties whip up in no time. The only drawback is that they’re so good, you’ll wish there were enough to share.

For the Cake:

6 ½ TBLSP all-purpose flour

1 ½ TBLSP brown sugar

½ TBLSP granulated sugar

Pinch of baking powder

Pinch of baking soda

Pinch of salt

½ teaspoon flaxseed meal

Pinch of xanthan gum

A couple of shakes of cinnamon

A single shake of nutmeg

3 TBLSP non-dairy milk (I use almond)

1 teaspoon canola oil (or other mild-flavored oil, such as coconut)

Slosh of apple cider vinegar (or lemon juice)

For the Topping:

3 TBLSP all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon brown sugar (generous, not packed)

Several shakes of cinnamon

2 TBLSP vegan butter

For the Icing:

3 ½ TBLSP confectioner’s sugar

Tiny slosh of non-dairy milk (again, I used almond)

1/8^th teaspoon light corn syrup (or rice syrup)

Tiny slosh of almond extract (or vanilla)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly grease or line two or three spaces in a muffin pan, or if you’re lucky like me, and a friend gave you silicon muffin liners, drop those into two spaces. You might want to put water halfway up the empty spaces in the tin to facilitate even baking, but I find it too sloshy.

To Make the Cake:

1. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, sugars, baking powder and soda, salt, flaxseed, xanthan gum, and cinnamon.
2. In another small bowl, mix together the milk, oil, and vinegar. It will separate a bit, because the vinegar curdles the milk, like buttermilk
3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, and stir until it’s well combined. It’s more like a dough than a batter.
4. Put the dough into the prepared muffin pan, smooshing it into the corners and making a roughly even surface on the top.

To Make the Topping:

1. In one of the now-empty bowls, combine the flour, sugar, cinnamon, and butter. It should be a doughy little pile of goodness.
2. Roll the dough into disks approximately the size of the muffin tops and put the topping on top of the muffins in the pan. It’s like a little hat of sweetness.
3. Bake for 22-25 minutes, until firm to the touch.

Allow them to cool on a wire rack while you make the icing.

To Make the Icing:

1. In a small bowl, mix together the sugar and milk until it is absolutely smooth. No lumps!
2. Add the corn syrup and almond extract and keep stirring until the icing is smooth and glossy. Add more sugar if it’s too thin, more milk if it’s too thick.
3. Drizzle on top of your lovely little muffins.

Variation:

• Instead of adding flour to the topping, just leave it out. You’ll get a caramelized and sweet crumble and you won’t need the icing on the top.
• Experiment with icing flavors, like vanilla and lemon. A little scent of orange zest would be nice too.