Strawberry Cheesecake Muffins

So, what's the difference between this post and the last post I wrote? I have since finished another year at uni. 

Three down, two to go.

Who out there knew exactly what they were going to do after uni before they graduated? When I first started my degree, I thought five years was two years too long. And now I'm kind of glad I have those extra two years, if only to put off that decisive moment of graduation when I actually have to try and make sense of my future. I know people who are graduating and who have already gotten a job lined up and a life plan drawn out and it scares the hell out of me.

Then there are the stories of those people who have already graduated and were clueless on what they wanted to do, so they spent six months unemployed before falling into a job they hate. That scares me even more.

I feel like time and I are walking on parallel lines at different speeds. Time is racing past me, a tiny dot in the distance, and indecisive little me is trudging reluctantly after it. That made sense in my hazy post-exam brain, people. Meanwhile, though, there are these muffins.

These are strawberry cheesecake muffins. The name alone is apt to cheer you up, isn't it? I think the only reason they're categorized as muffins is so you can eat them for breakfast and not feel guilty, they're really more of a cupcake. And hidden inside buttery crumbs is a slice of fresh strawberry and some sweetened cream cheese. I believe you're now heading for your kitchen.

This is just in time for this month's Sweet Adventures Blog Hop, hosted by Nic Cooks. This month's theme is 'Say Cheese'. 

Strawberry Cheesecake Muffins

Adapted from BBC GoodFood 101 Cakes & Bakes

Makes 9-12 muffins, depending really on how generous you are in filling the cases

Note: I'm feeling particularly lazy today so I haven't done it yet, but I will add cup measurements onto this recipe. For the strawberries, you want to pick small ones so that they'll fit neatly in the middle of each muffin. And look, every time I make this recipe I seem to come up with a different amount, I have no idea why. I got 9 muffins this time around but I may have overfilled them. Just a little. The recipe is supposed to make a dozen though.

350g (2 4/5 cups) plain flour

1 1/2 tbsp baking powder

120g (1/2 cup) + 3 tbsp caster sugar

Zest of 1 lemon

1/4 tsp salt

2 eggs

250ml (1 cup) milk

85g (3/4 stick) butter, melted

175g cream cheese (use low fat if you like)

6 strawberries, halved

Preheat your oven to 180C/356F. Line a muffin tin with paper liners or spray with non-stick cooking spray.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, 120g (1/2 cup) of caster sugar and lemon zest. Set aside. In a measuring cup, whisk together milk and eggs, then whisk in the butter. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and gently combine - remember not to overmix. The mixture will be lumpy.

In a small bowl, beat together cream cheese and the remaining 3 tbsp of caster sugar.

Half fill your muffin cases with batter, then push half a strawberry into each, top with a teaspoon of the cream cheese mixture, and finish with another small scoop of muffin batter. I would strongly advise doing 6 first, then seeing how much batter you have left and doing it one at a time from there, otherwise you may end up in a situation where you've got several half muffins. Not that this has happened to me before. Ahem.

Bake for 15 minutes until well risen and just slightly golden (they won't go very brown). Remove, let cool and enjoy!