Easy Peach Streusel Muffins with Cake Mix
Easy peach streusel muffins start with spice cake mix and canned peaches, then get a buttery oat-pecan topping. A simple Southern treat!
If you’re looking for a simple Southern muffin packed with peaches, warm spices, oats, and pecans, you’re going to love this easy recipe.
These peach streusel muffins begin with a box of spice cake mix, so most of the measuring is already done for you. Canned peaches keep the muffins moist, while a buttery oat and pecan streusel gives them a sweet, crunchy finish.
Best of all, this recipe came together almost by accident. After making my easy Peaches and Cream Icebox Pie, I had chopped peaches and peach juice left from a large can. I certainly didn’t want to waste them, so I pulled a spice cake mix from the pantry and turned those leftovers into something completely new.
The result? A batch of hearty Southern peach muffins that works for breakfast, brunch, snacking, or dessert.
You will find a full printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Easy Peach Muffins with Canned Peaches
I love finding creative ways to transform a boxed cake mix into something unexpected. In this case, a spice cake mix provides the flour, sugar, leavening, and warm spices needed for a flavorful muffin batter.
I added chopped canned peaches with a small amount of their juice, along with eggs, melted butter, oats, pecans, and a little apple pie spice. Then I topped each muffin with a homemade oat-pecan streusel.
These might begin with a boxed mix, but they certainly don’t look or taste like ordinary cake-mix muffins.
Peach Streusel Muffins at a Glance
- Difficulty: Easy
- Prep time: Approximately 15 minutes
- Bake time: Approximately 20–25 minutes
- Oven temperature: 350°F
- Yield: Approximately 16 muffins
- Best feature: Moist peach-spice muffins with a crunchy oat-pecan topping
Ingredients for Peach Streusel Muffins
You will find a full printable recipe card at the bottom of this post but here's a glance at what you're going to need. These are simple ingredients you might already have in your pantry or refrigerator.
For the muffins
- 1 box (13.25 ounces) spice cake mix
- 3 large eggs
- 1¼ cups chopped canned peaches with a small amount of peach juice
- ¼ cup butter, melted
- ½ cup old-fashioned oats
- ½ cup chopped pecans
- ½ teaspoon apple pie spice
For the oat-pecan streusel
- ½ cup old-fashioned oats
- ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup packed brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Pinch of salt
- ¼ cup cold butter, grated or finely cubed
- ⅓ cup chopped pecans
A Note About the Peaches
I started with leftover peaches from a 29-ounce can after making my Peaches and Cream Icebox Pie.
When measuring the peaches for these muffins, include plenty of chopped fruit and just enough peach juice to make a loose, moist mixture. You don’t want to use 1¼ cups of juice alone. If your peaches are sliced, chop them into small bite-sized pieces before measuring.
How to Make Easy Peach Streusel Muffins
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Line standard muffin pans with 16 cupcake liners. Lightly spray the liners with nonstick baking spray to help the moist muffins release cleanly.
Place the spice cake mix in a large mixing bowl. Add the eggs, chopped peaches and juice, melted butter, and apple pie spice. Mix until all of the dry cake mix has been incorporated. Do not overmix.
Fold in ½ cup oats and ½ cup chopped pecans.
Divide the batter between the prepared muffin cups, filling each approximately two-thirds full.
Make the Streusel Topping
In a separate bowl, combine the oats, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Add the cold butter and work it into the dry ingredients using a pastry blender, fork, or your fingertips. Continue mixing until coarse crumbs and small buttery clumps form. Stir in the chopped pecans.
Sprinkle the streusel generously over the muffin batter. Press it very lightly into the surface so it remains in place as the muffins rise.
Bake the Muffins
Bake the peach muffins at 350°F for approximately 20–25 minutes.
Because the muffins contain peaches, oats, pecans, and a generous layer of streusel, they may require a little more time than ordinary cake-mix muffins.
Insert a toothpick through an exposed portion of a muffin rather than through a peach or thick clump of streusel. The toothpick should come out without wet batter. A few moist crumbs or a little peach residue are fine.
Allow the muffins to rest in the pans for approximately 10 minutes. Transfer them to a wire cooling rack and allow them to finish cooling.
Serve and Enjoy!
Eat them for breakfast, mid-afternoon snack, or an evening dessert. No matter when you bite into one of these delicious muffins you're going to love them. Talk about hitting the spot!
What Makes These Peach Muffins Special?
There’s a lot to love about this simple recipe:
- The spice cake mix eliminates most of the measuring.
- Canned peaches make the recipe convenient in any season.
- Melted butter adds richness and flavor.
- Oats give the muffins a hearty texture.
- Pecans add Southern flavor and crunch.
- The oat streusel makes the muffins look and taste bakery-worthy.
- The recipe is a delicious way to use leftover canned peaches.
Variations on This Recipe
This peach muffin recipe is easy to customize. Here are some ways I might mix things up next time around.
Leave Out the Pecans
If you don’t care for nuts or are baking for someone with a nut allergy, omit the pecans from both the batter and the streusel. Add a few extra tablespoons of oats to the topping if needed.
Add a Simple Glaze
Combine powdered sugar with a small amount of milk, cream, or reserved peach juice. Drizzle the glaze over the completely cooled muffins.
Use Cinnamon Instead of Apple Pie Spice
If you don’t have apple pie spice, use ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon. You could also add a tiny pinch of nutmeg.
Make Peach Cobbler Muffins
For more of a peach cobbler feel, leave the oats out of the batter and add an extra sprinkling of brown sugar and cinnamon to the streusel.
Try a Different Cake Mix
A yellow, butter pecan, or vanilla cake mix could also work. The spice cake mix, however, gives these muffins their warm Southern flavor and beautiful color.
How to Serve Peach Streusel Muffins
These muffins are delicious served slightly warm or at room temperature. Try them with:
- A cup of coffee
- Hot tea
- A cold glass of milk
- Fresh fruit
- Scrambled eggs and bacon
- A Southern brunch spread
They’re also sweet enough to serve as a casual dessert, especially when warmed and topped with a small scoop of vanilla ice cream.
How to Store Peach Muffins
Because these muffins contain a generous amount of fruit, allow them to cool completely before storing them.
Place the muffins in an airtight container lined with a paper towel. Add another paper towel over the muffins before closing the container. The paper towels will help absorb excess moisture.
Store them at room temperature for up to two days or refrigerate them for up to five days.
The streusel will soften somewhat during storage, particularly in the refrigerator. Warm individual muffins briefly before serving if desired.
Frequently Asked Questions
Absolutely. This particular recipe was developed using canned peaches. They’re convenient, consistently sweet, and available throughout the year.
Drain off most of the liquid, but don’t blot the peaches completely dry. Measure 1¼ cups of chopped peaches with a small amount of loose peach juice surrounding them. The liquid helps moisten the cake mix.
No. Too much thin liquid could make the muffins sticky or prevent them from setting properly. Concentrate on using plenty of chopped peaches with only enough juice to keep the mixture loose and moist.
The test batch was made with a 13.25-ounce Betty Crocker spice cake mix. A slightly larger box should also work, although you may need to add one or two tablespoons of peach juice if the batter seems unusually thick.
Yes. Allow the muffins to cool completely, then wrap them individually in plastic wrap or place them in a freezer-safe container. Freeze for up to two months. Thaw at room temperature or warm briefly in the microwave.
Yes. Quick oats will work, but old-fashioned oats provide more texture in both the muffins and the streusel.
You can, but the moist peach batter may stick to the pan. If baking without liners, grease and flour the muffin cups thoroughly or coat them generously with baking spray.
Fruit-heavy cake-mix muffins can cling to paper liners while they are still warm. Lightly spraying the liners before adding the batter and allowing the muffins to cool should make them easier to peel.
Fresh peaches can be used, but this formula depends partly on the moisture from the canned peach juice. If using fresh fruit, you may need to add a few tablespoons of milk, water, or peach nectar to achieve a thick, scoopable cake batter.
More Southern Desserts from Backyard Texas Grill
If you enjoyed these easy peach muffins, check out some of the other simple Southern desserts here at Backyard Texas Grill:
- Peaches and Cream Icebox Pie
- Lemon Icebox Pie
- Cast-Iron Applesauce Cake
- Apple Dump Cake
- Cast Iron Peach Dump Cake
Thanks for Stopping By
If you make these muffins and enjoy them please leave a comment or review. And please pin some photos before you go!
About the Baker
I’m Janice, the baker behind many of the desserts and Southern comfort-food recipes here at Backyard Texas Grill. I love taking simple pantry ingredients and turning them into something special for family and friends.
This recipe began with leftover canned peaches from another dessert, a spice cake mix from the pantry, and a determination not to let perfectly good fruit go to waste. Sometimes those spontaneous kitchen experiments turn into the very best recipes.
Peach Streusel Muffins
These easy peach streusel muffins start with a spice cake mix and are loaded with juicy peaches, oats, and pecans, then topped with a buttery oat-pecan streusel.
Ingredients
- Ingredients — Muffins
- 1 box (13.25 ounces) spice cake mix
- 3 large eggs
- 1¼ cups chopped canned peaches with a small amount of peach juice
- ¼ cup butter, melted
- ½ cup old-fashioned oats
- ½ cup chopped pecans
- ½ teaspoon apple pie spice
- Ingredients — Oat-Pecan Streusel
- ½ cup old-fashioned oats
- ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup packed brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Pinch of salt
- ¼ cup cold butter, grated or finely cubed
- ⅓ cup chopped pecans
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line or lightly grease about 16 muffin cups.
- Combine the spice cake mix, eggs, chopped peaches with a small amount of peach juice, melted butter, and apple pie spice. Mix just until combined.
- Fold in the oats and chopped pecans.
- Divide the batter among the prepared muffin cups.
- To make the streusel, combine the oats, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Work in the cold butter until crumbly, then stir in the chopped pecans.
- Sprinkle the oat-pecan streusel over the muffin batter.
- Bake for 20–25 minutes, or until the muffins spring back when lightly touched and test done in the center.
- Cool in the pan for several minutes before transferring to a wire rack.
Notes
Drain the canned peaches, but don't worry about getting them completely dry. A small amount of peach juice adds moisture and flavor to the muffins.
Chop the peaches into bite-sized pieces so there's peach throughout the muffins.
The muffins may remain fairly pale on top even when they're fully baked. Look for a springy center and test for doneness rather than relying solely on color.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 16 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 384Total Fat: 19gSaturated Fat: 6gUnsaturated Fat: 13gCholesterol: 52mgSodium: 308mgCarbohydrates: 51gFiber: 4gSugar: 21gProtein: 6g
