- April 13, 2023
- Modified On: August 30, 2022
- by Amy Gorin, MS, RDN
- 2 Comments
Kid-Friendly Cinnamon Spice Muffins
Want a cinnamon muffins recipe the whole family will love? This healthy recipe made with whole-wheat flour will make everyone smile!

Searching for the best morning muffins for breakfast or mini muffins as a side dish for brunch?
This recipe for cinnamon spice muffins is a healthier spin on a favorite treat that my mom made throughout my entire childhood. I hope you enjoy this spice muffins recipe as much as I do.
Muffin inspiration
With Mother’s Day around the corner, I have sugar and spice muffins on my mind.
You might be wondering…why?! Well, I grew up spending lots of time with my mom in the kitchen, and we would often whip up delicious cinnamon spice muffins from scratch.
My mom would make these cinnamon muffins for every occasion, including Thanksgiving dinner. And when I later went off to live on my own, I started making them for almost every celebration, including Mother’s Day.
Love healthy cinnamon recipes? The spice muffins recipe you see here is a healthier spin on my childhood favorite, and I hope you enjoy these healthy cinnamon muffins as much as my entire family does!
You can make them either as full-size muffins or as little muffins. My family enjoys spice cinnamon mini muffins the most, and the size happens to make the perfect kids’ muffins.

Ingredients
It’s really easy to make this healthy cinnamon muffins recipe!
You won’t find any brown sugar or sour cream in this recipe. Instead, it’s made with half a cup Greek yogurt, and the dry ingredients include a whole-wheat flour mixture.
Here’s what you need:
All-purpose and whole-wheat flour: This recipe combines regular and whole-wheat flour. The wheat flour provides extra fiber and protein, helping to keep you fuller for longer.
If you follow a gluten-free diet, you can substitute in all-purpose gluten-free flour.
Greek yogurt: This is the cinnamon muffins’ secret ingredient! The yogurt provides satiating protein and also adds moisture to the recipe.
If you follow a dairy-free diet, you can substitute in oat milk, soy, or coconut milk yogurt.
Almond milk: I like to cook with unsweetened oat milk, but you can substitute in any milk of choice.
Vanilla extract, cinnamon, and cloves: You might expect that cinnamon muffins would include pumpkin pie spice, but this spicy muffins recipe is instead seasoned with a mixture of cinnamon spices and cloves.
These warming flavors reduce the need for added sugar in this cinnamon muffins recipe.
Walnuts: These are totally optional but add a fun crunch––and heart-healthy fats!

Step-by-step instructions
If you’re wondering how to make healthy cinnamon muffins, here’s the recipe that I promised you!
I think you’ll love this cinnamon muffins recipe as much as my family and I do. So go ahead and preheat the oven to 375° Fahrenheit.
In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, salt, and 1 cup of sugar.
Mix in yogurt, butter, eggs, and milk. Add baking powder, vanilla, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, and cloves; fold in walnuts and pour into greased muffin tin.
In a small bowl, combine remaining sugar and cinnamon; top muffins with mixture.
Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
While the healthy muffins already have sugar on top, you can make the cinnamon muffin recipe even sweeter by topping them with drizzle icing or a blueberry reduction.
Helpful kitchen tools
These items will make it easier to whip up a batch of cinnamon muffins!
Recipe FAQ
Adding ingredients that contain water, such as Greek yogurt, milk, or butter, will help make your muffins moist.
You can pair many things with muffins to make a healthy, balanced breakfast. You can try a fruit smoothie, homemade salmon bacon, or a piece of quiche.
If you’d like muffins with a thicker consistency, you can let them rest. Allowing muffin batter to rest allows the starches in the muffin batter to absorb more moisture from the liquid ingredients.
More muffin recipes
Want more healthy muffin recipes in addition to this cinnamon spice muffin recipe? Give these muffins a try! The orange juice muffins make an especially great cooking project for kids.

Kid-Friendly Cinnamon Spice Muffins
Ingredients
- ¾ cup whole-wheat flour gluten free, if needed
- 1 cup all-purpose flour gluten free, if needed
- Pinch of salt
- 1 cup + 1 Tablespoon sugar, divided
- ½ cup plain Greek yogurt dairy-free, if needed
- ¼ cup butter, softened dairy-free, if needed
- 2 eggs
- ⅔ cup unsweetened almond milk (or milk of choice)
- 1½ tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp + 1 teaspoon cinnamon, divided
- 1 tsp ground cloves
- ¼ cup chopped walnuts
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375° Fahrenheit.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, salt, and 1 cup of sugar.
- Mix in yogurt, butter, eggs, and milk. Add baking powder, vanilla, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, and cloves; fold in walnuts and pour into greased muffin tin.
- In a small bowl, combine remaining sugar and cinnamon; top muffins with mixture.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes.
Notes
Nutrition

Let me know how you’re celebrating Mother’s Day and how you’re enjoying this cinnamon muffin recipe! What kind of cooking projects for kids does your family enjoy?
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Can whole wheat pastry flour be used in place of whole wheat flour?
Yes, absolutely! That would turn this into a lovely, airy product. Enjoy!