Muffins! But not just muffins, there’s cream cheese filling! And fresh blueberries! And STREUSEL!! These have basically everything I love in a muffin, and I wanted to share this recipe just as blueberry season in the Northeast is about to start. Blueberry picking is one of my favorite summertime activities, and I’m excited to be back in the suburbs this time of year so I don’t miss out! Strawberries are more labor intensive since you have to crouch on the ground the whole time, and raspberries are a pain to pluck from their little stems, so I much prefer the big, arms-height blueberry bushes for my manual berry-picking labor. So in order to get you prepared for the wonderfullness that is July blueberry-picking season – I bring you these muffins!
I actually made these months ago, back when blueberries were still not quite as plentiful, but I had a big craving and was inspired by Crazy for Crust‘s photos of these wonderful muffins. I love blueberry muffins, but I thought the addition of cream cheese in the middle was ingenious. There is no chance that a muffin filled with cream cheese could ever be dry, which is the downfall of a lot of muffin recipes. I doubled the recipe for the streusel topping because I never like to be short on streusel, and I’m glad I did. The blue polka dot liners were the perfect compliment – a little matchy-matchy but that’s totally my style!
If you’re gearing up for some berry picking in the next few weeks, please keep these in mind when you’re sick of blueberry pie. It’s a great morning or afternoon treat, and you can never have too many blueberry muffin recipes up your sleeve. And if you need more berry recipes, you know I got you hooked up – Grilled Berry Pizza, Berry Crumble Bars, Berry Crisp with Oatmeal Cookie Topping, Blueberry Yogurt Popsicles, or Red, White, an Blue Berry Scones. I hope you’re making the best out of the berry season near you, and enjoying this beautiful time of year as much as I am!
Blueberry Cream Cheese-Filled Muffins
Recipe adapted from Crazy for Crust
Yield: 24 muffins
Ingredients:
for the streusel topping:
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp salt
6 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
for the muffins:
2 eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 tsp white vinegar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup sour cream
2 cups all purpose flour
1-1/2 cup blueberries
for the cream cheese filling:
8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp granulated sugar
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line 24 muffin tins with cupcake liners. For the streusel, combine all of the ingredients in a medium bowl and stir together until everything is mixed together well.
For the muffins, in the bowl of an electric mixer beat the eggs for about 1-2 minutes. Add the sugar and oil, and beat again until creamy. Add the vanilla, vinegar, baking soda, and salt and mix again. Add the sour cream and beat until smooth. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the flour until just incorporated. Add the blueberries and mix in by hand with a rubber spatula.
For the cream cheese filling using your mixer again or just use a wooden spoon or rubber spatula to combine the sugar and cream cheese. Fill each muffin tin with about 2 tbsp of muffin batter, then add 2 tsp of cream cheese to each muffin, and top with another tbsp of batter. Sprinkle the streusel evenly over the top of all of the muffins.
Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. Allow muffins to cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
