Strawberry Cheesecake Muffins

Every day I drop off Marcus at preschool I drive by this little mom and pop strawberry stand. And every day I comment that I should stop by and grab a box of those delicious red delights. And, every day I fail to have cash on me, because - mom and pop stand. BUT! There was finally a magical moment where I actually had a few dollar bills stuffed in my wallet. I swung into that parking lot and loaded up on some of the fattest, sweetest strawberries I've had in a while.

Though the strawberries were good. So good. We had so many that I was worried we wouldn't eat them all before they started to go bad. Naturally, I did what any logical thinking person would do. I added those strawberries to muffins, added a cheese cake mixture, and watched the muffins and strawberries disappear.

These are unbelievable. They were the very opposite of dry, packed with strawberry flavor and rich cheesecake filling. Did I immediately inhale two promptly after cooling? It's very possible (the answer is yes, yes I did).

I do have to fully disclose that these took a little longer to prep than I would normally like. But was it worth it? Hands down, yes. Did I mention there was cheesecake filling?

I've boldly exclaimed that these are my favorite muffins, ever.
Take the time to make these. They will not disappoint.

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Strawberry Cheesecake Muffins

by Desiree Macke March-15-2016

Packed with strawberry flavor and a rich cheesecake filling.

Ingredients

• MUFFINS
• 1/2 cup Softened to room temperature Butter
• 1/2 cup Sugar
• 1/4 cup Packed Brown Sugar
• 2 Room Temperature Eggs
• 1/2 Cup Plain or Strawberry Greek Yogurt
• 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
• 1 3/4 Cups Flour
• 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• 1 1/4 Cups Fresh Strawberries
• CHEESECAKE FILLING
• 6 oz Softened to room temperature Cream Cheese
• 1 Egg Yolk
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla
• 3 Tablespoons Sugar
• STREUSEL
• 1/4 Cup Brown Sugar
• 1/2 Cup Flour
• 1 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
• 1/4 cup Cold Butter

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425°. Spray two 12-count muffin pans with non-stick spray, or line with cupcake liners. STREUSEL :: In a small bowl, whisk brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Cut in the butter in very small pieces. Mi with pastry knife or fork until mixture is coarse and crumbly. Set aside.MUFFINS :: In a medium bowl, beat butter on high until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute. Add sugar and brown sugar and beat on high until creamed, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of bowl as needed. Add eggs, yogurt, and vanilla extract. Beat on medium speed for 1 minute, then turn up to high speed until mixture is combined.In a large bowl whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and slowly mix with a whisk until combined and little lumps remain. Fold strawberries in.CHEESECAKE FILLING :: In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese with a handheld mixer on medium-high speed until creamy. Add the egg yolk, vanilla, and sugar. Beat until combined.Spoon 1 Tablespoon of strawberry muffin mix into muffin cups. Spread to cover the bottom of each cup. Layer with a spoonful (not quite a full Tablespoon) of cheesecake filling. Then top with muffin batter until muffin cups are filled to the very top. Sprinkle each muffin with streusel and gently press the streusel down into the muffin so it sticks.Bake the muffins for 5 minutes at 425°. Keep muffins in the oven, lower the temperature to 350° and bake for an additional 18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow muffins to cool for 10 minutes in the muffin tins, then transfer to wire rack to cool until ready to eat.

Details

Prep time: 30 mins Cook time: 24 mins Total time: 1 hour Yield: Approximately 14

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