Cheesecake muffins with blackberries and lemon

My recent foray into cheesecake-making must have primed me to look for other cheesecake-related products. That and a ready carton of blackberries made this the perfect recipe to try out.

Recipe

from 750 Best Muffin RecipesMakes 18 muffins2 cups all-purpose flour2 tsp baking powder½ tsp salt1½ cups granulated sugar8 oz cream cheese, softened1 cup unsalted butter, softened4 eggs1 tbsp finely grated lemon zest1 tsp vanilla extract2 cups blackberriesPreheat oven to 350 F. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat sugar, cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until fluffy and pale yellow. Beat in lemon zest and vanilla until blended.With the mixer on low speed, beat the flour mixture into the egg mixture until just blended. Gently fold in blackberries. Divide batter equally among prepared muffin cups. Bake in preheated oven for 25 - 30 minutes or until tops are golden and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool in pans on a wire rack for 5 minutes, then transfer to the rack to cool.

Musings

A few notes on preparation: Baking time in our oven was 22 minutes.These were delicious muffins--fragrant and moist--with a lovely lemon flavour punctuated by pockets of gooey blackberry. The cream cheese gave the muffins an almost creamy texture. Definitely a keeper!