Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease 10 cups of a standard muffin tin or apply paper muffin liners.
Make the streusel. In a medium bowl, combine the dark brown sugar, all purpose flour, cinnamon, and salt. Cut the cold vegan butter into bits and add it to the bowl. Mix everything together and then, using your hands, pinch and rub the butter into the flour and sugar. Once you have a clumpy, coarse, wet sand-like texture, place the bowl in the fridge.
Start on the muffins. In a medium bowl, combine the coconut oil, cane sugar, vegan sour cream, apple sauce, vanilla, apple cider vinegar, and ground flaxseed. Vigorously whisk to combine and to “activate” the flax. Set aside.
In a large bowl, combine the all purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir to combine. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir/fold with a spatula to combine, being careful not to over mix. The batter will seem almost too stiff!
Retrieve the streusel from the fridge. Portion half of the muffin batter into the 10 greased muffin cups and flatten it down a bit. Top with half of the streusel, pressing it in a bit. Add the remaining half of the batter to the muffin cups, spreading it out as best you can. Top with the remaining streusel, pressing it into the top.
Bake the muffins for 25-28 minutes, or until the tops are slightly domed, deep golden brown, and a cake tester inserted into the center of a muffin emerges clean. Cool muffins thoroughly before enjoying.
Recipe Notes
I like bigger muffins with domed tops, but if you don’t mind smaller muffins, you could stretch the batter and streusel to make 12 total.
You can swap both the all purpose flour + whole wheat flour for 1 ¾ cups white whole wheat flour, and you will get similar results.
My vegan coffee cake muffins feature plenty of buttery-crunchy vegan streusel, warm cinnamon, and a tender cake made with coconut oil, brown sugar, vanilla and some whole wheat flour. This is the perfect indulgent treat to have with a hot coffee.