CREAM CHEESE CARROT MUFFINS

These muffins are moist and tender, studded with grated carrots and lightly spiced with ginger and cinnamon. They hold a tasty surprise within: a melting pool of sweetened cream cheese filling.

Filling:

• one 8-ounce package cream cheese or Neufchâtel cheese
• 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar

Muffins:

• 2 1/4 cups (269g) all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup (99g) granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup (53g) light brown sugar, packed
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon ginger powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup (170g) water
• 1/3 cup (67g) vegetable oil
• 1 cup (135g) grated carrots, lightly packed; about 2 medium-large carrots
• Course sparkling sugar, optional; for garnish

Step 1:

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Coat muffin pans with non-stick spray, or use paper liners and grease the cups.

Step 2:

To make the filling: Place the cream cheese in a microwave-safe bowl, and heat on low power for 40 seconds. Stir in the sugar and flavor. Set aside.

Step 3:

To make the muffin batter: In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.

Step 4:

In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, water, and oil. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Fold in the grated carrots, stirring to combine.

Step 5:

Drop about 2 tablespoons of the batter (a tablespoon cookie scoop works well here) into each muffin cup, spreading it to cover the bottom. Dollop on a heaping tablespoon of filling (see Picture 1 below). Cover with enough batter to fill the muffin cups quite full. The batter will come to within about 1/4″ to 3/8″ of the top of each muffin cup. But don’t try to use all the batter; unless you have particularly deep cups, you’ll have about 1/3 cup batter left over. Bake it in a separate custard cup, if desired.

Step 6:

Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with coarse white sparkling sugar, if desired.

Step 7:

Bake in preheated oven. Bake for 20 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted into the cake part (not into the cream cheese filling) comes out clean. Muffins will spring back when lightly tapped.

Tips:

Should the paper liners be greased? Definitely grease the muffin paper – the greased papers released the muffins without any sticking at all, while the ungreased papers tended to cling a bit, taking off a layer of crumbs as you removed them.

Remove the muffins from the oven, and as soon as you’re able to handle them, transfer them to a rack. If you serve the muffins warm, the filling will be molten. If you wait for them to cool, it’ll firm up.