Spiced Strawberry Cream Cheese Muffins

Growing up, I have so many memories of my mother making breakfast for a family of 6. On weekends, we’d all get “Scramble Bambles” (eggs) or “Mickey Mouse pancakes”. I’m sure dealing with picky kids, this wasn’t an easy feat. We’d all whine over someone having a burnt pancake or heaven forbid the pancakes weren’t all the same size! I don’t know how my Mom did it. I really don’t.

In the afternoons, we’d either snack on bananas, smoothies or for a sweet treat, muffins. Blueberry muffins were our absolute favorite, and they wouldn’t last long in our house. I’ve always had a love for muffins since my childhood, and when we had some strawberries in the fridge to use up, I knew these muffins just had to happen. This was one of those times where my husband decided to bake. I sliced up strawberries and he whipped up the batter.

My husband is the type of guy who just loves to change up a recipe, and since you have to be sort of careful with baking, he thought the simple addition of cinnamon and nutmeg would make these awesome. 🙂 He also added applesauce instead of butter (which is ALWAYS a winner for quick breads and muffins). He was right…the spices added a wonderful little something to these muffins. 🙂 I will admit that I decided after the first batch baked up, a few mini chocolate chips wouldn’t hurt these muffins either (and I was right lol).  C’mon though…when does it hurt to add chocolate to baked goods? 🙂

Spiced Strawberry Cream Cheese Muffins
Source: adapted from Confections of a Foodie Bride

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 8 oz cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup applesauce
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
• 1 1/4 cup chopped fresh strawberries, divided

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and line two muffins tins with 15 cupcake liners (dividing the liners in the pans with 8 in one, 7 in the other).
2. In the bowl of a mixer, cream the cream cheese and sugar together on medium-high for 2-3 minutes, until light and fluffy. Switch the mixer to low and add the applesauce and eggs, one at a time, until each egg is fully incorporated in the batter.
3. Add the buttermilk, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg to the batter. Mix until everything is just combined.
4. With the mixer still on low, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt, mixing the batter until things are just combined. Add 1 cup of the strawberries to the batter and mix for 5-10 seconds to just distribute the berries. Scoop the batter into the prepared pans, and fill them just 3/4 of the way full. With the remaining 1/4 cup berries, add a couple of pieces on top of each muffin, lightly pressing them into the batter.
5. Bake the muffins until the tops are golden, for about 20 minutes, and rotate the pans 10 minutes into baking.
6. Allow the muffins to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, and then move them to a cooling rack to cool completely.