These muffins are fun, festive, soft, and incredibly flavorful; a great addition to a Valentine's breakfast that you can prep ahead of time and pull out on a busy school morning. The creamy surprise in the center makes them extra special.
1graham crackercrushed to crumbs (a heaping 2 tablespoons)
2tablespoonsbuttercold
Cheesecake Filling
4ouncescream cheeselow-fat is fine
1tablespoonsugar
¼teaspoonorange zest
1egg yolk
Muffins
1 ¾cups + 1 tablespoon flourdivided
2 ½teaspoonsbaking powder
¾teaspoonstable salt
½cup plus 1 tablespoonsugardivided
2teaspoonsorange zest
1egglarge
¾cupbuttermilk
⅓cupcanola oil
1teaspoonvanilla
1cupfresh or frozen berriesraspberries or blueberries, avoid strawberries
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350℉. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with cupcake liners.
Streusel
In a small bowl, combine sugar, flour and graham cracker crumbs. Cut butter in small chunks and toss with streusel ingredients. Use a fork, or clean hands, to crumble it together, breaking up the butter into small crumbly pieces. Place streusel mixture in fridge.
Cheesecake Filling
Beat all cheesecake ingredients together until smooth. Set aside.
Muffins
Combine 1 ¾ cup flour, baking powder, salt, ½ cup sugar, and orange zest in a bowl. Whisk to combine. In a separate bowl, combine egg, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Do not over-beat. Place berries in a bowl (do not thaw frozen berries) and sprinkle over remaining 1 tablespoon flour and 1 tablespoon sugar. Toss together and then add to muffin mix. Gently stir just until distributed.
Fill muffin cups with batter. Place cheesecake mixture in a zip-top bag and snip on the corner. Gently squeeze about 2 teaspoons of filling directly into the batter. It’s okay if it’s visible on the top. Evenly divide streusel topping on muffins.
Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the muffin part comes out with just loose crumbs attached. Let cool for 5 minutes, then remove from muffin tin and place on cooling rack. Let cool to room temperature.