SRC: Apple Cream Cheese Muffins

Hello everyone!  It's time for another exciting installment of the Secret Recipe Club.  Every month I seem to get the best blog ever!  This month I had a blast snooping around Our Eating Habits.  I love Jamie's blog because we seem to have really similar tastes so it was really hard to decide what to make.  I also love it because there are some great recipes for dishes I've never had before.  Comfort food and something new.  It doesn't get better than that.

I've made no secret of the fact that I don't like to bake.  At all.  I find it tedious and annoying to put a new batch of cookies in the oven every 10 minutes or to use a dozen mixing bowls to bake something.  I avoid it at all costs, much to my children's dismay.  Knowing that, it is a huge testament to these Apple Cream Cheese Muffins that I've made them three times this month.  They are sooooo good.  First they are made with brown sugar.  It gives them a rich almost caramel apple flavor.  Oh, and did I mention they are full of apples?  Now for the streusel on the muffin, there is a cream cheese layer hiding inside waiting to ambush your taste buds.  These are a little bit of heaven on your breakfast plate.


Apple Cream Cheese Muffins
Makes 12 muffins

1 3/4 cups Gold Medal® all-purpose flour    

3/4 cup brown sugar                      

1 teaspoon baking powder                                             

1/2  teaspoon ground cinnamon                                             

1/2  teaspoon salt                                             

2  eggs, beaten                                             

2/3 cup oil                                             

1/4 cup applesauce                                             

1 teaspoon vanilla                                             

1 large apple, peeled, shredded (about 1 cup)                                             

1/3  cup cream cheese (from 8-oz package)                                              

   Streusel

 3  tablespoons packed brown sugar                                             

 2  tablespoons Gold Medal® all-purpose flour                                             

 1  tablespoon butter or margarine, softened

 

Place cream cheese in small mixing bowl. Measure out brown sugar, remove 1 Tbsp. and add to cream cheese. Place remaining brown sugar in large mixing bowl. To brown sugar add flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.

 

Beat eggs in separate small mixing bowl. Remove 1 Tbsp. of egg to cream cheese bowl. To eggs add, oil, applesauce, and vanilla.

 

Beat into dry ingredients until just combined. Stir in grated apple.

 

Beat together cream cheese, brown, sugar and egg.

 

Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners. Place a spoonful of muffin batter into each cup. Top with a heaping tsp. of cream cheese. Top with additional spoonful of muffin batter.

 

Mix together streusel ingredients and sprinkle on top of muffins.

 

Bake for 25 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove from oven and let cool.