After a long hiatus, full of vacationing in California and running a painting company with my older brother, I have found some time to get back to baking. During my time in California, I got the third Baked Baking Book from my wife for a Christmas gift. What a hit! Get ready for some interesting blog posts because this cook book is full of unique and delicious sounding recipes! This week’s recipe from Baked is Chocolate Cheesecake Muffins. This simple muffin with chocolate and cheesecake is nothing short of amazing with a hint of cheesecake that breaks up the chocolate in a way that does not overpower your taste buds. If you decide to try these out (and I hope you do), let me know how they turned out for you! Don’t be shy to leave a comment :).

Makes 24 chocolate cheesecake muffins

Ingredients:

For the cream cheese filling:

8 ounces                        Cream cheese
1/3 cup                         Granulated sugar
1                               Large egg
1 tsp                           Pure Vanilla extract
1/4 tsp                         Salt

For the Chocolate Cheesecake Muffins:

3 cups                          All purpose flour
1 1/2 cups                   Granulated sugar
1/2 cup                         Firmly packed light brown sugar
2 tsp                           Baking powder
1 tbsp                          Espresso powder
2 tsp                           Salt
1/2 cup                         Dark cocoa powder
8 ounces                     Dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
3 ounces                     Unsalted butter (salted butter works fine)
1 cup                           Hot coffee (I used the leftovers from the morning coffee pot)
3/4 cup                       Hot water
1/4 cup +2 tbsp       Canola oil (I used extra virgin olive oil and it worked great)
1 tbsp                          White vinegar
2                               Large eggs
2 tbsp                          Sanding sugar (or granulated), (optional)

Method:

For the cream cheese filling:

• In a mixer, beat the cream cheese on medium speed until smooth.
• Add the sugar, and beat until the sugar is incorporated and the mixture is lump free.
• Spatula the sides, and add the egg, vanilla, and salt. Beat until incorporated, about 45 seconds.
• Put the filling in the fridge while making the chocolate cheesecake muffins.

For the Chocolate Cheesecake Muffins:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees C. Spray 2 muffin tins with spray oil and line with muffin papers.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugars, baking powder, espresso powder, and salt. Set aside.
• In another large bowl, put the cocoa powder, 3 ounces of the chocolate, and the butter. Pour the hot coffee and hot water over the chocolate and butter and wait for 1 minutes for things to melt. After one minute, whisk until smooth. Add the oil, vinegar, eggs, and whisk again until the batter is really smooth.
• Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into the well. Slowly fold the ingredients together until just mixed (do not overmix here). Fold in the remaining 5 ounces of chopped chocolate.
• Spoon 2 heaping tablespoons of chocolate batter into each muffin tin. Add one heaping tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture to each cup, then cover the cream cheese layer with another layer of chocolate until it is flush with the top of the pan. If you prefer, sprinkle sanding sugar on top of the muffin before they go into the over to create a more crunchy muffin top.
• Bake for 25-30 minutes. Rotating the pans halfway through the baking time. Check frequently at the end of the baking time with a toothpick. When the toothpick comes out with only a few moist crumbs on it, the muffins can be taken out of the oven.
• Move the muffin tin to a wire rack and let stand for 15 minutes. Take the muffins out and let them finish cooling on the wire rack. These chocolate cheesecake muffins are good for 3 days.
• Enjoy to your hearts delight!