These Chai Streusel Muffins are the best Fall treat to bake! They’re incredibly moist, spiced with warming chai spices, topped with a buttery streusel and drizzled with a generous maple buttery glaze. Hello brunch!
Happy Friday! I’m SO excited to share this new baking recipe with y’all today. As you know, baking a bit more of a science than savory cooking. When cooking savory meals, you can add a pinch of this or a bit of that in here and there and it should work fine.
In baking? Not so much. You have to be extremely careful, measure everything perfectly and make sure that your ingredients are working with each other and not against each other.
Hence why these muffins took me 2 tries to perfect! But, I finally did! PRAISES! And let me tell you….they are SO simple and turn out delicious everytime!!
Why These Muffins are the BEST:
You guys know how much I love chai flavored baked goods. From my Chai Coffee Cake to Chai Snickerdoodles to Chai Oatmeal..you can say I’m obsessed!
The cozy chai spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and all spice make me so happy – and they are all present in these muffins.
These spices make the muffins extra warming and super cozy.
Oh, and speaking of extra warming….if you want to get a little crazy and make these Dirty Chai Streusel Muffins, add some espresso powder!! Yes, it takes it 100% over the top delicious. Breakfast with caffeine?! You can skip coffee!
I love the buttery brown sugar streusel that goes on top…it creates the perfect extra sweet streusel dome that compliments the chai spiced muffin so well.
But the real MVP of the entire muffin?!
Drum roll please…say hello to the best buttery maple glaze of all time! I could literally eat this by the spoonful, you guys.
It’s lusciously creamy, so velvety smooth and is perfect when generously drizzled on top of a warm muffin.
I’m seriously in love and I hope that you guys will be too. So let’s get into what you need to bake these muffins!
Ingredients You Need:
- Salted butter
- Brown sugar
- Granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- Vanilla extract
- Whole milk
- All purpose flour
- Baking soda + baking powder
- Chai spices: cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, ground cloves and all spice
- Espresso powder
- Powdered sugar
- Maple syrup
Best Muffin Baking Tips
First off, it’s best to start by preheating the oven. That way when you put the muffins in, the oven is hot and ready to go!
I used a 12 count muffin tin for this recipe – but feel free to use a jumbo 6 tin muffin tin. The cooking time might alter a bit but just make sure that a toothpick can be inserted into the muffin and it can come out clean.
I also would highly recommend using muffin liners! This will result in less work for you (as in, you don’t have to grease the muffin pan) and it will make sure that the muffins won’t stick to the pan! Win win! You can just pull them out and they are perfect and ready to be eaten 🙂
Make sure to soften your butter! Just leaving out the butter for 30 minutes before you need to bake should work!
Also, this recipe calls for room temperature eggs. If you totally forget, no worries! I’ve been there before. You can add the eggs to a large bowl with warm water and let them sit for 10-15 minutes. This will speed up the process!
Make sure to fill each muffin liner about ¾ of the way full with the batter. Then generously sprinkle it with the streusel. This will make sure that the streusel and muffin will rise perfectly for that delicious streusel dome I was talking to you about earlier in the blog post.
When it comes to the glaze, melt some butter. Add the maple syrup directly and mix in. Next, add in the powdered sugar and vanilla extract. Mix until the consistency is perfect and drizzly!
Pro tip: if you want extra maple flavor, sub in maple extract for the vanilla extract. Talk about yum!
Once the muffins have finished baking, let them cool in the pan for 5 minutes or so and then remove to a cooling rack to let finish cooling.
Drizzle generously while they’re still slightly warm and ENJOY!
You can store these at room temperature in a tightly sealed tupperware container for 2-3 days although, as always, with muffins, they are best eaten while warm and fresh!
These muffins make my Fall days brighter – and I hope they do for you as well! XO – Haylie
Did you enjoy this recipe? Here are a few others you might like:
Double Chocolate Banana Muffins
Healthier Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
Thank you so much for following along here, friends! Want to see more? Be sure to follow ourbalancedbowl on Instagram and tag me with your photo if you end up making a recipe! You can also post a photo of your recipe to the Our Balanced Bowl Facebook page! Like a recipe that you saw? Follow me on Pinterest here! I always love to see your re-creations! If you do make a recipe, it would make my whole day if you were to rate and comment so I can get your feedback! Lots of love! – Haylie
Chai Streusel Muffins
These Chai Streusel Muffins are the best Fall treat to bake! They’re incredibly moist, spiced with warming chai spices, topped with a buttery streusel and drizzled with a generous maple buttery glaze. Hello brunch!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup salted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs (at room temperature)
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1 tsp espresso powder
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1/8 tsp all spice
Buttery Maple Glaze
- 2 tbsp melted butter
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 2-3 tbsp maple syrup
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Streusel Topping
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1/4 cup salted butter, melted
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ginger
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line your muffin tin with liners and set aside.
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Soften salted butter. Add to large bowl. Using an electric hand mixer, beat the butter for about 30 seconds or until creamy and smooth. Add the brown sugar and granulated sugar and mix together for about 1 minute.
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If needed, scrape the sides of the bowl down after the butter/sugar are combined. Next, add in the room temperature eggs. Mix to combine with hand mixer until they are incorporated. It might look weird at this moment, but don't worry!
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Next, add in the vanilla extract and milk. Mix to combine. Set aside.
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In another bowl, add the all purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, all spice, cloves and espresso powder. Whisk together to combine. Gently add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients with a wooden spoon. Stir to combine - making sure all of the ingredients are incorporated together.
Streusel Topping
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In the bowl you whisked the dry ingredients in, melt 1/4 cup of salted butter. To this, add the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger. Mix together with a spoon and eventually move to your hands - it should become crumbly and dry.
Muffin Time
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Add the muffin batter to the liners and fill them 3/4 of the way full. Generously sprinkle the crumble topping over each muffin. Recipe yields about 12-13 muffins.
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Bake for 16-18 minutes or until toothpick is inserted and it comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes and then remove to a cooling rack.
Buttery Maple Glaze
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Once the muffins have cooled slightly, melt 2 tbsp of butter. Once melted, mix with 2-3 tbsp of maple syrup (depending on how sweet you want it!). Add in the powdered sugar and vanilla extract and mix until thick and drizzle-able 🙂
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Generously drizzle on top of the muffins. Enjoy! Store at room temperature in a sealed container for 2-3 days.