Cream Cheese Carrot Cake Muffins

Don't go away! These understated-looking muffins have a super special surprise for you! (You know I love surprise fillings...)Ta-da! Oh yes, just take a bite and it's like cream cheese frosting on the inside! But since it is not on top it is a muffin and you can (and should) eat it for breakfast. Handy-dandy for on-the-go breakfast, or snacks, too. No mess...if you eat it fast enough. And I know these are the flavors you're craving this time of year, too, because I am. Just a little something extra-special-er than a regular muffin. Also happens to be in my new MUFFINS cookbook (which I just made for fun.) You should get you one. Saves blog search time.

Either way, these are perfect for fall. And if you can't get enough carrot cake goodness, try the Carrot Cake Scones or Pancakes. Mmm...

Cream Cheese Carrot Cake Muffins (print recipe)
Filling:
8 ounces cream cheese
1/4 cup granulated sugar
a few drops of orange extract

Muffins:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp ground ginger
3/4 tsp salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup grated carrots, lightly packed (about 2 medium-large carrots)

1. Preheat oven to 400. Lightly grease a standard 12-well muffin tin, or line with paper muffin cups and grease the cups.

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 extract; set aside.

3. To make the muffin batter, in a medium bowl whisk together the dry ingredients (flour through salt). 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.

4. Drop about 2 T of batter into each muffin cup, spreading it to cover the bottom. Dollop a heaping Tablespoon of filling in. Cover with enough batter to fill the muffin cups quite full. Unless you have especially deep cups, you will have about 1/3 cup batter left over - bake it in a separate custard cup, if desired.

5. Bake the muffins until a toothpick inserted into the cake part comes out clean, about 20 minutes. The tops of muffins will feel firm to the tough. Remove the muffins from the oven and as soon as you are able to handle them, transfer to a rack. If you serve the muffins warm, the filling will be molten. If you wait for them to cool, it will firm up.

Recipe from King Arthur Flour