Raspberry Cream Cheese Muffins

Fresh raspberries were on sale this week!  How could I resist buying them?  And since my grocery store is still closed and the Val-Mont doesn't believe in classic cereals, I've been baking breakfast more often lately.  I'm not sure what to say about these muffins.  They're good, they're moist, but they're nothing amazing.  If you want amazing muffins, go here, but it will be more work. 

I scaled the recipe in half because it said it made 12 muffins, but that's more like 12 puny muffins.  I think this would've been better as 9 large muffins.  The original had low fat everything, but i just used regular ingredients.  I suppose you could pretend it's healthy if you used low fat.  It also didn't see worth it to me to make buttermilk for such a small quantity, so I just used 2% milk.  I left out the walnuts, but feel free to add some back in.  Finally, no raspberry muffin is complete without lemon in my world, so I added lemon.


Raspberry Cream Cheese Muffins (from Cooking Light)

Ingredients
1/3 cup cream cheese, softened
5 tbsp  butter, softened
3/4  cups  sugar
3/4  teaspoons  vanilla extract
2  large egg whites
1 cup  all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon  baking powder
1/8  teaspoon  baking soda
1/4  teaspoon  salt
1/4  cup milk
1 cup  fresh or frozen raspberries
zest of one lemon

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Combine cream cheese and butter in a large bowl. Beat with a mixer at high speed until well blended.
3. Add sugar; beat until fluffy.
4. Add vanilla, egg whites, and lemon zest; beat well.
5. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
6. With mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture and milk to cream cheese mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture.
7. Gently fold in raspberries.
8. Place 12 foil cup liners in muffin cups (or 9 for larger muffins). Spoon batter evenly into liners.
9. Bake at 350° 25 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from pans; cool on a wire rack.