Strawberry Cream Cheese Muffins for #Twelve Loaves

"What?" I asked my husband. With his mouth full, I couldn't understand what he was saying. "These are the best muffins you've ever made" he declared. "Ya I can see that", I said looking at the pile of seven empty cupcake liners on the dining table. I haven't had my breakfast yet I wanted to tell him but I quietly sat down and decided to munch on them before nothing was left for me.

So do they really taste as good as they sound? Yes Yes Yes they really do! With every bite you'll have the creamy silkiness of cream cheese contrasting beautifully with the bits of strawberries. These muffins are so soft and moist, you wouldn't even have to try much on chewing them, they just dissolve in your mouth....

It's almost the end of Strawberries season here and so when the theme for this month's Twelve Loaves challenge was announced, I was glad I got one more opportunity to bake with these wonderful red juicy berries. Btw, do you know that strawberries are 90% water? no wonder they provide such moistness to baked goods. The cream cheese that I've used here is a full fat one. Besides incorporating it in the batter, I also used about a teaspoon to adorn the muffin batter right at the center on the top just before baking. It's purely optional though.

This recipe is very versatile. You can substitute any berries here that you prefer. In fact, you can use any other soft cheese that goes well with berries like, ricotta, mascarpone, cottage cheese...wow so many delicious possibilities. There's one small mistake (if you can call it so) that I made, I had kept the oven temperature at 220 degrees C to give height to the muffins. Besides solving this purpose, what also happened was that the cream cheese had few brown peaks which I don't prefer really. But it did not affect the taste and texture of the cream cheese at all. Still, it's better to bake them at 200 degrees C / 400 degrees F.

Since these muffins are sooo good I made another batch in the evening and froze them. Now I can dig into them whenever I want to! :D

Recipe Source: Bakingyummies

Makes 12 Muffins

Ingredients
225 grams / 8 ounces plain or all purpose flour.
2 teaspoons baking powder.
1/4 teaspoon regular salt.
130 grams / 4.5 ounces full fat cream cheese at room temperature
200 grams / 7 ounces caster or superfine sugar.
75 grams / 2.5 ounces unsalted butter melted and at room temperature.
125 ml / 4fl ounces / 1/2 cup buttermilk at room temperature (or combine 1/4 cup yogurt and 1/4 cup semi skimmed milk).
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract.
2 large eggs at room temperature.
2 cups fresh strawberries, rinsed, dried and coarsely chopped.
12 teaspoons full fat cream cheese at room temperature to adorn the muffin batter (optional).

Method
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C / 400 degrees F. Line a muffin tray with paper liners or grease and flour the tray.

In a bowl, sieve together flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk the dry mixture using a hand held whisk until all the ingredients are thoroughly blended, about a minute.

In a large bowl, using a hand held electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat cream cheese until smooth. Add the sugar and beat until the mixture is creamy. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the buttermilk, butter, vanilla and eggs. Beat well after each ingredient is added.

Fold in the flour mixture to the cream cheese mixture using a spatula until just combined. Fold in the strawberries until just combined. Do not over-mix.

Divide the batter evenly among the lined cups. Put a teaspoon of cream cheese (if using) on top of the muffin batter in the center. Using your index finger, press the cream cheese just a little to adhere it with the muffin batter.

Bake the muffins in the preheated oven until a cake tester comes out with a few moist crums attached to it, about 15 to 20 minutes. Place the muffin pan on a wire rack to cool for about 5 minutes. Remove the muffins from the pan and place on the wire rack to cool completely.

Enjoy your home made soft, creamy and delicious Strawberry Cream Cheese Muffins!

Storage Suggestions: Muffins are best eaten on the same day or they can be frozen in a ziplock bag or an airtight container for up to a month.

Happy Baking!!!

Can't get enough of Strawberries? Look at what the other talented bakers have baked along:

• Strawberry Almond Quick Bread by Renee from Magnolia Days
• Strawberry Bread with Rhubarb and Bananas by Renee from Kudos Kitchen
• Strawberry Buttermilk Scones by Liz from That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Balsamic Strawberry Cinnamon Rolls by Felice from All That's Left Are The Crumbs
• Framboise Muffins with Strawberry Jam by Rossella from Ma che ti sei mangiato
• Strawberry Dessert Rolls by Dionne from Try Anything Once Culinary
• Strawberry Hazelnut Buttermilk Quick Bread by Heather from girlichef
• Strawberry Swirl Sweet Rolls by Donna from Cookistry
• Strawberry Bread by Holly from A Baker's House
• Strawberry Cheesecake Sweet Bread by Stacy from Food Lust People Love
• Strawberry Cream Cheese Muffins by Deepti from Baking Yummies
• Strawberry Danish by Karen from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Strawberry Bagels by Lora from Cake Duchess




#TwelveLoaves March: Strawberries. February was a delicious month of Chocolate breads! We are ready for spring and chose Strawberries for our March theme! Choose a recipe featuring strawberries. (Your bread of choice could be accented with fresh or dried strawberries, strawberry preserves) Whatever you bake, (yeasted, quick bread, crackers, muffins, braids, flatbreads, etc) have fun and let's have a delicious month of bread with STRAWBERRIES.  Let's get baking!


If you’d like to add your bread to the collection with the Linky Tool this month, here’s what you need to do!


1. When you post your Twelve Loaves bread on your blog, make sure that you mention the Twelve Loaves challenge in your blog post; this helps us to get more members as well as share everyone's posts. Please make sure that your bread is inspired by the theme!
2. Please link your post to the linky tool at the bottom of my blog. It must be a bread baked to the Twelve Loaves theme.
3. Have your Twelve Loaves bread that you baked this March, 2014, and posted on your blog by March 31, 2014.


#TwelveLoaves is a monthly bread baking party created by Lora from Cake Duchess. #TwelveLoaves runs so smoothly thanks to the help of the lovely Renee from Magnolia Days and this month the fabulous Alice of Hip Foodie Mom.