Keto Coffee Cake Muffins are a delicious breakfast dessert or afternoon snack. They pair perfectly with, you guessed it, a cup of coffee! But even if tea is more your thing these low carb coffee cake muffins will tickle your taste buds with sweet cinnamon and buttery crumbs. This easy low carb recipe is also gluten-free, grain-free, keto friendly, sugar-free, and Trim Healthy Mama friendly.
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I have a bunch of crumb cake recipes here at Joy Filled Eats. An Almond Crumb Cake recipe, a Blackberry Coffee Cake recipe, and a Cranberry Cake with Walnut Crumb Topping. One thing that is always a must is that a cinnamon coffee cake has a lot of crumb topping. That is the best part. They are all delicious but there is something special about individual low carb muffins piled with buttery, cinnamon crumbs.
This past weekend I was blessed to be able to go on a women's retreat. I go every fall and I love it. Gatherings like this are a perfect opportunity to share some of the baked goods that tend to take over my kitchen. Saturday morning I put my plastic storage container of these on the breakfast table, simply labeled 'Gluten Free Cinnamon Muffins', and went to my seat. When I went to pick up my container of low carb keto coffee cake muffins later it was empty and I had a bunch of women come up to me asking for the recipe.
That makes me very happy.
Sometimes I'm not sure if a low carb diet recipe is good enough to share here so I love to have test testers outside of my own family. My women's group frequently doubles as recipe guinea pigs. And they do give constructive criticism. I've been told cupcakes were too dry before. I was not offended and sent that recipe back to the kitchen for more testing before sharing it.
How to Make Keto Coffee Cake Muffins
Like most of my recipes, I strive to keep my low carb coffee cake muffins easy. I make the batter in the food processor, put that into the muffin cups, and then make the crumbs in the same food processor without even washing it. As long as you scrape out the batter well with a rubber spatula you can skip the washing step. The ingredients to both the batter and crumb topping are similar enough that it doesn't matter if it a little batter gets mixed into the crumb topping.
First Step: Put the cake batter ingredients into a food processor and mix until well combined. Scrape down the sides as needed. If you don't have a food processor you can mix the batter with a hand mixer. Divide the batter between the lined muffin tins.
Second Step: Pulse the crumb ingredients in the same food processor bowl. If you don't have a food processor you can use a pastry cutter for this step. By pulsing together butter, sweetener, almond flour, coconut flour, and cinnamon you get big, wet crumbs that are perfect to top these keto coffee cake muffins or any other coffee cake treat you can dream up.
Third Step: Divide the crumbs between the keto coffee cake muffins.
Expert Tip: Keep piling on the crumbs until you use them all! Just press down gently between layers.
Final Step: Bake the muffins. Sprinkle with some powdered sweetener. Eat! These are one of my favorite keto breakfast recipes but they also make a great low carb dessert with a cup of decaf in the evenings.
What is Coffee Cake?
Anytime I make a coffee cake my kids are always in disbelief it doesn't actually have coffee. My coffee-loving 9-year-old is bummed and the rest of the kids are relieved. Coffee cake is a general term for a breakfast cake that goes well with coffee. Many are crumb topped but not all of them. Some are cinnamony bundt cakes with glaze or lemon and blueberry loaf cakes. You can group almost any morning sweet under the term 'coffee cake'. But the most traditional is a yellow cake topped with buttery crumbs and powdered sugar.
Are Keto Coffee Cake Muffins Healthy
They can be! I keep my coffee cake healthy by using almond flour and coconut flour instead of white flour and by replacing the sugar with a stevia blend sweetener. This reduces the sugar and carbs to almost nothing.
I sprinkled these low carb coffee cake muffins with a little bit of powdered sweetener just to make them prettier but that is not mandatory. You could also add nuts into the topping or berries into the batter. Are you longing for a cream cheese filling? Put a little cube of cream cheese right into the center of the batter. All of these variations would be delicious
More Ideas and Substitutions:
Nut-Free - The best sub for almond flour is sunflower seed flour. It can be used 1:1 for almond flour in low carb recipes.
Dairy-Free - To make these keto coffee cake muffins dairy-free you can swap in coconut cream for the cream cheese and coconut oil for the butter.
Add-Ins - Feel free to add a few berries in between the cake and the crumb topping.
Spices - Pumpkin pie spice or apple pie spice sub in nicely for the cinnamon in this classic coffee cake recipe.
Icing Drizzle - For a delicious cinnamon roll flavor skip the powdered sweetener on top and drizzle on a little keto cream cheese frosting! Just thin it with some almond milk until it is a good consistency to drizzle. That turns these into decadent low carb desserts.
More Keto Muffin Recipes:
Chai Pancake Muffins - these are delicious for breakfast, they have a syrupy topping that soaks into the muffin when you reheat them.
Keto Banana Muffins - yes, banana bread and muffins can be keto! See how in my recipe.
Coconut Flour Muffins - these are moist and delicious with toasted coconut.
Almond Flour Blackberry Muffins - beautiful color with a tangy lemon glaze.
Keto Apple Muffins - just enough real apples for that fall flavor with minimal carbs.
Keto Zucchini Muffins - a great choice to use up all the fresh zucchini of the summer.
Coconut Flour Blueberry Muffins - a yummy nut-free option.
Cranberry Orange Muffins - my favorite choice for fall. Great toasted with butter!
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Ingredients
Batter:
- 2 tablespoon butter softened
- 2 oz cream cheese softened
- ⅓ cup Joy Filled Eats Sweetener (or see alternatives in recipe notes)
- 4 eggs
- 2 teaspoon vanilla
- ½ cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
- 1 cup almond flour
- ½ cup coconut flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Topping:
- 1 cup almond flour
- 2 tablespoon coconut flour
- ¼ cup Joy Filled Eats Sweetener (or see alternatives in recipe notes)
- ¼ cup butter softened
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon molasses *** (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350. Line a standard muffin tin with paper liners and spray with cooking spray.
- In a food processor combine all the batter ingredients. Mix thoroughly. Divide between the prepared muffin tin.
- Combine topping ingredients in the food processor and pulse until crumbs form. Sprinkle on top of the batter.
- Bake 20-25 min until golden. If the crumb topping starts to get too dark cover with foil for the last 5 minutes.
Notes
Nutrition
CLavanway says
Did not turn out for me at all the topping was a total mess crumbs everywhere
Very disappointed wasted expensive ingredients
Taryn says
I'm sorry this recipe didn't work for you. It normally gets great reviews. I'm always happy to help troubleshoot. Did you sub any of the ingredients? Which sweetener did you use?
Andrée Bourret says
Il est ou le café?
Where is the coffee?
Taryn says
Coffee cake is a term used in America for a cake that goes well with coffee. It does not have coffee in it most of the time.
Bonnie Taylor says
How can I substitute Splenda's Allulose, which is 1:1 with sugar?
Taryn says
This is the first I've ever heard of that sweetener. Since it is just allulose with the brand name Splenda I think it would work.
Bonnie Taylor says
How much would I use for this recipe? If your sweetner is twice as sweet as sugarand the Allulose is equal to sugar, would I use half the amount for this recipe?
Taryn says
If you are using allulose you would need more than the amount listed for the same sweetness. Try using a little bit more. I find it's better to slightly undersweeten baked goods than risk oversweetening them.
Jeanie Stubblefield says
I have a question. If I wanted to use baking blend instead of almond flour, would I still need to add the coconut flour? Thanks, Jeanie
Taryn says
You can sub baking blend for both of those. Or use BB for the almond and still add the coconut. Just add a little less baking blend than the amount listed because it is drier.
Allison says
My husband loved it!! I added a low carb cream cheese glaze over it at the end and it was delicious!
Patty says
I have never, in 40 years of cooking, commented on a recipe- until today. This is a wonderful and easy recipe. The result is closer to a true cake texture than anything else I have made since starting my keto/low carb journey. I did try a couple of changes and wanted to share them as well. I used heavy cream in place of the almond milk since we have no aversion to dairy and I believe it added to the quality of the cake. For the topping, I ground pecans into a fine texture and used them in place of the almond flour (also saved a few coarser chopped for adding into the topping last). Instead of the regular sweetener and molasses, I used the Swerve Brown Sugar -about 1/3 cup. It cooked up beautifully with the pecans and added a nice flavor. Thank you for a great recipe!
Margaret says
Have you tried this in a loaf pan? Just curious because that’s what my husband prefers and it travels easier when he goes out of town for work.
Taryn says
Not this exact recipe but I have similar recipes I've made in a loaf pan.
Beth says
These muffins are so delicious! My family and I love these!
Jessica says
Oh my goodness, were these good! I froze some for a later date.
Idana says
Question: can I use more coconut flour instead of almond flour (allergic to nuts) in this recipe? What would the substitution be? Thanks!
Taryn says
No, all coconut flour won't work. BUT you can sub in sunflower seed flour 1:1 in place of the almond flour.
Polly says
I have an opposite question: Can I sub coconut flour with almond flour (i.e. only use almond flour)? My husband is allergic to coconut. Thanks!
Taryn says
Yes, that will work! You may need to add a little extra.
Paula says
I subbed with oat fiber and only 1/8c of coconut flour and none in topping. Not a fan of coconut flour. This is a really great muffin and I have tried many in the last 2 years of a keto diet. Be sure to press the crumb well as stated because it will shift as the muffin rises. Thanks for the recipe!
Kathya Solano says
Is there any non dairy sub for the cream cheese?
Taryn says
I think coconut cream could work but I haven't tested it.
Elizabeth says
Another winner! My picky family LOVED these. They are so moist and delicious! Thank you, Taryn.
Kristy says
Very good recipe. I left some just as they are and added chocolate chips with stevia. In a few and then tried natural no sugar added peanut butter to a few. Came out great !
Jen says
These are AMAZING! I used Swerve granular & Swerve brown sugar for the sweetener. Not eggy and so yummy. I also made a cream cheese icing to go on top. Thanks for a great recipe!
Casey Wood says
The texture of these muffins was spot on! Hubby had to ask if they were keto! I think next time I’ll swirl some of the topping through the batter, I love the cinnamon flavor! Thank you 😋
Rita says
This was an amazing recipie. We totally loved them. Just would maybe add more cinnamon maybe 😋
Melanie F says
I loved this recipe! It’s not often that what i do at home looks exactly as in the pictures but these did look like yours from beginning to end ! I used erythritol only and slightly less than in the recipe and they were just right . Will try with blueberries in the batter as you suggested next time !
Thanks ! This one’s a keeper!
McDonna says
Thank you for this recipe! I love being able to offer something fresh and homemade, but hate to have to spend a lot of time in prep and clean up. This was EASY, involved a food processor, spatula, measuring cup/spoons and muffin tin. That's it. I substituted equal amount of butter for the cream cheese, since I can't do dairy at all (respiratory reaction).
My family doesn't care for sugar-free or dairy-free goods. But they plowed into these! The muffins stayed moist and delicious. They were filling and satisfying.
Please offer more dairy-free options. Love your recipes! Thanks again.
PS - The site wouldn't respond to the five-star rating, otherwise I would have given it top marks!
Taryn says
I do have many dairy-free recipes! https://joyfilledeats.com/category/specific-diets/dairy-free/
Jenny says
I absolutely love streusel topping but I now have a family member who is dairy free. Do you think I could follow your same process and replace with coconut oil and butter extract? Or would you recommend palm shortening for better consistency? Thank you!
Taryn says
Yes, I think coconut oil would work.
Allie says
Do you think this could be made with all coconut flour? We have nut allergies.
Taryn says
No, sorry. A better nut-free sub would be sunflower seed flour. That can be subbed 1:1 for almond flour.
Kersten says
Can I use pecan flour instead of almond?
Taryn says
Yes. Pecans are my favorite!