Carrot Cake Cream Cheese Muffins

Ingredients

• 8 oz cream cheese
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract
• of salt
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 5 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3 tbsp salted butter
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup cake flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup (50g0 granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup Greek yogurt or sour cream
• 1 1/3 cups grated carrots

Instructions

1. 1

   Preheat the oven to 425F. Line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with 6 muffin liners (you can use two muffin pans if desired), meaning you’ll only fill every other muffin well with batter (this prevents overcrowding and helps create the classic muffin top). OR line a 6-cup jumbo muffin pan with 3 liners (again, you can use two muffin pans if desired). This isn't completely necessary, but I love how the muffins turn out like this! If you only have one pan and want to stick to one round of baking, line all of the muffin wells with liners. Set aside.

2. 2

   In a medium bowl, use a handheld electric mixer to beat the cream cheese to smooth. Then beat in sugar, vanilla, and salt for about 2 minutes, until very smooth and creamy. Transfer the cream cheese filling to a piping bag or a large ziplock bag. Set aside.

3. 3

   In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, pecans, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Then add in the softened butter, and use your hands or a fork to mash together until it forms a crumble. Set aside.

4. 4

   In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. Set aside.

5. 5

   In a separate large bowl, whisk together the olive oil (or oil of choice), brown sugar, granulated sugar, eggs, Greek yogurt (or sour cream), and vanilla until well combined and smooth.

6. 6

   Add the dry ingredients to the wet, and use a wooden spoon or spatula to fold until just combined and there are no flour streaks. Then fold in the grated carrots until evenly dispersed throughout the batter. Cover the bowl and allow the batter to rest for 15-20 minutes at room temperature; do not skip this! It leads to lighter and fluffier muffins.

7. 7

   After 15-20 minutes, scoop and divide the batter among the prepared muffin cups, filling them to the rim.

8. 8

   Snip the tip off of the piping bag with the cream cheese filling (or the corner of the ziplock bag), and place it into the center of the batter for each muffin, pushing it about halfway down. Press down to squeeze, pulling up slowly in a circular motion to make a little swirl at the top to fill out a small circle at the surface of the batter, so the cream cheese is exposed. All of the filling should be used!

9. 9

   Then, sprinkle the brown sugar pecan streusel on top of the muffins, placing it around the cream cheese, not over it.

10. 10

    For regular-sized muffins: bake at 425F for 5 minutes. Then turn the oven temperature down to 350F and bake for another 15-20 minutes, until they feel firm when pressed and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

11. 11

    For jumbo muffins: bake at 425F for 5 minutes. Then turn the oven temperature down to 350F and bake for another 25-30 minutes, until they feel firm when pressed and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

12. 12

    Remove the muffins from the oven and allow them to cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Then remove them from the pan and transfer to a wire cooling rack.

13. 13

    Serve the muffins warm with a hot cup of coffee.

14. 14

    Enjoy!