Chocolate Cream Cheese Muffins

At a glance

What stands out: Can you think of a better way to start your day than with a decadent chocolate muffin with ribbons of cream cheese running through it? These chocolate cream cheese muffins are cupcakes in disguise, and are reliable for snacks or desserts, too.

How long it takes: 50 minutes
Equipment you’ll need: mixing bowls, muffin tins (20 wells total)
Servings: 20

Some of our friends have been writing cookbooks and it’s just the coolest thing ever. The amount of work that goes into a cookbook is massive (or so we've heard!) and we're incredibly honored to be surrounded by so many motivated, hard-working, entrepreneurial women.

Our friend Jocelyn is no exception. Jocelyn wrote a cookbook while simultaneously running her blog (Inside BruCrew Life), taking care of her children, and moving across the country. Jocelyn is one of a standby people we've ever met and we're so happy for her and her beautiful work of art, Cheesecake Love.

It’s an memorable cookbook full of cheesecake recipes. We chose to feature her chocolate cream cheese muffins today. However, like most home cooks, we've made several adaptions to her recipe so it more closely reflects our family’s preferences. We love these muffins and we're sure you will, too!

Chocolate Cream Cheese Muffins

Just like cheesecake. If you are a fan of cheesecake, you’re going to love these muffins. The sweet cream cheese filling gives you the essential flavor of cheesecake, and it’s surrounded by moist chocolate muffins, studded with mini chocolate chips.

Straightforward to mix. If you’ve ever made cheesecake, you know that it’s kind of a hassle, right? There’s the special springform pan, the water bath, the copious amounts of cream cheese, and then horrors, the cheesecake cracks in the middle. Chocolate cream cheese muffins are straightforward to mix. The cheesecake filling only has 3 ingredients!

Versatile. Is it a muffin or a cupcake? Serve it for breakfast or dessert? Chocolate cream cheese muffins can go either way. You can make the recipe with whole wheat flour and Greek yogurt to lean into the muffin-ness, or push them into cupcake status without any substitutions, and going heavy-handed with the chocolate chips.

What goes in

• All-purpose flour: Be sure to measure the flour correctly, spooning it lightly into a measuring cup and leveling it off with a knife. You can replace half of the all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour, if you prefer.
• Cocoa powder: Look for unsweetened cocoa powder used for baking. If it seems particularly lumpy, sift it through a fine mesh strainer.
• Brown sugar: Pack the brown sugar into a measuring cup. We like the flavor that brown sugar gives to the muffins, but you could substitute granulated sugar if that’s what you have.
• Butter: We always use unsalted sweet butter for baking. The butter should be at room temperature so it’s soft enough to incorporate into the muffin batter.
• Egg: An egg adds tenderness to the texture of the muffins. Another egg is added to the cream cheese filling.
• Yogurt: There are several options that you can use. Plain Greek nonfat yogurt is what we usually have in the house so that’s what we add to the muffins. You can use any type of unflavored yogurt or sour cream. Buttermilk would work, too.
• Milk: Again, you can use any type of milk. We usually use 2%.
• Vanilla extract: Look for pure vanilla extract. It has much better flavor than artificial vanilla flavoring.
• Baking powder, baking soda, salt: These are normal ingredients used to make muffins and hopefully you already have them in your pantry.
• Mini chocolate chips: Chocolate chips are stirred into the muffin batter and they are also added as a flourish on the top of the muffins. You could substitute regular-size chocolate chips but the chocolate won’t be as evenly dispersed in the muffins.
• Cream cheese: Buy an 8 oz. package of cream cheese. You can use reduced fat cream cheese if you want, but avoid fat-free cream cheese. Whipped cream cheese or spreads will not work either. The cream cheese should be softened. Simply take it out of the refrigerator an hour or two ahead of time.
• Granulated sugar: The filling is lightly sweetened with a quarter-cup of sugar.

Keeping leftovers

Refrigerate: Because these muffins have cream cheese filling, they should be stored in the refrigerator. After they are completely cool, transfer the muffins to a covered or airtight container, and refrigerate for up to 5 days.

Freeze: Chocolate cream cheese muffins freeze well. Transfer them to a freezer-safe container where they’ll keep for up to 3 months. We like to wrap them individually before we put them into a larger container so they are handy for lunchbox treats.

• Yield: 20
• Prep: 25 minutes
• Cook: 18 minutes
• Total: 48 minutes

Ingredients

For the muffins:

• ½ cup unsalted butter, softened ( 1 stick)
• ⅔ cup packed brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• ⅔ cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt (or sour cream)
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour (see note)
• ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, optional
• ⅔ cup milk (2% works fine)
• 1 cup mini chocolate chips

For the filling:

• 1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, at room temperature (reduced fat cream cheese works well)
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg

Topping:

• ¼ cup mini chocolate chips

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a 12-well cupcake pan with paper liners. Line 8 wells of a second cupcake pan with liners (20 total).
2. To make muffin batter: In a large bowl, beat the butter and brown sugar until creamy. Add the egg, yogurt, and vanilla; beat until smooth.
3. Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon (if using) in another bowl. Slowly add the flour mixture and the milk to the butter mixture, alternating between the two.
4. Stir in the mini chocolate chips by hand. Set the batter aside.
5. To make cream cheese filling: Beat the cream cheese until creamy. Add the granulated sugar and beat until smooth. Add the egg and beat until fully incorporated.
6. Place one spoonful of the muffin batter in the bottom of each cupcake liner. Spoon the filling evenly over the top of the batter in the liners. Top each muffin with the rest of the muffin batter.
7. Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with mini chocolate chips. If you prefer, this step can be omitted.
8. Bake the muffins for 16 to 18 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and let the muffins cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then carefully transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Notes

Flour: we usually make these muffins with 1 cup whole wheat flour replacing 1 cup all-purpose flour (2 cups total). You could replace all of the all-purpose flour with whole wheat but it would change the texture of the muffins. White whole wheat flour works well, too.

Nutrition: The information was calculated using all-purpose flour, nonfat plain Greek yogurt, 2% milk, and reduced fat cream cheese.

Serving: The muffins can be served for breakfast but since they are more like cupcakes, we prefer to serve them as a snack or dessert. They are nice for brunches and special occasions, too.

Storage: Because the muffins have a cream cheese filling, they should be stored in the refrigerator. After they have been completely cooled, transfer them to a covered container and refrigerate for up to 5 days. The muffins freeze well for up to 3 months.

Based on a recipe from Cheesecake Love, ©2017, by Jocelyn Brubaker.