Strawberry Cheesecake Muffins

My son is officially on summer vacation, which means I have to step up the homemade goodies because he is at the age where he is hungry aaallllllllll the time!  To top it off, he broke his foot on the last day of school, so of course I feel terrible for him and want to cheer him up.  This means more goodies!  I know what it's like to have to wear a cast during the summer, and let me tell you it's pretty much the worst thing ever!  My poor, not so little, baby.

Last week I took to the Internet to look for new goodies to try.  I came across a wonderful blog that had this muffin recipe on there.  It's a great blog with lovely pictures, and after reading it I knew I needed to try the recipe (click here if you are interested in checking out her blog). 

These muffins were not at all how I expected them to be.  They are super tasty, but after eating one I couldn't decide if they fall into the "snack/breakfast" category or the "dessert" category.  Guess it doesn't really matter, we'll eat them either way!  We all thought these were good, however if I'm going to be honest, I don't know how often I'd make them just because it's a little more involved than your average muffin recipe.  However, I will definitely make them again at some point because they really are quite yummy.  

Strawberry Cheesecake Muffins from Food Wanderings in Asia

Batter:

2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg

1/4 cup canola oil

1 cup whole milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups strawberries, cut into small pieces

Cream Cheese Filling:

4 ounces cream cheese

1/3 cup granulated sugar

2 tbsp beaten egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

Cinnamon Streusel: 

1/4 cup all purpose flour

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

2 tbsp butter, cold

Preheat the oven to 400F. Line a 12 cup muffin pan with cupcake liners. Set aside.

Streusel Topping:  Sift the flour, sugar and cinnamon together in a bowl. Whisk together. Add the cold butter and mix with a fork until the mixture looks like coarse wet sand. Set aside.

Cream Cheese Filling:  Beat cream cheese, egg, sugar and vanilla in a bowl until smooth.

Muffin Batter:  Sift the flour, baking powder and salt in one bowl. Whisk together. In another bowl, beat the milk, oil, egg and sugar. Stir the dry ingredients into the milk mixture gently. Do not over mix. The muffin batter will be slightly lumpy.

Scoop a tablespoon of the muffin batter into each cupcake liner. Sprinkle a few pieces of strawberries. Add a dollop (about a heaping teaspoon) of the cream cheese filling. Sprinkle a little of the cinnamon streusel on top of the filling, followed by another layer of the muffin batter. Add a few more pieces of strawberries. Lastly, sprinkle the cinnamon streusel on top. 

Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Remove and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Serve warm with a cup of tea or coffee.