Cappuccino Cheesecake Muffins

These muffins have a light hint of coffee flavor. They are a muffin-cheesecake hybrid. The base is a muffin/quickbread type mixture that gets topped with a cheesecake type topping. The whole thing bakes up into a batch of beautiful, elegantly domed muffins. Toasted, ground walnuts add a lot of flavor to this recipe but I think hazelnuts would also be fabulous! C'mon... what could be better than an excuse to eat cheesecake for breakfast?

Note: Don't over bake these or else the cheese filling becomes tough. Just as when you make a cheesecake, let them cool in the pans to set fully after removing from the oven. If you prefer a stronger coffee flavor I would increase the amount of instant coffee granules in the recipe.



Cappuccino Cheesecake Muffins
12 large muffins | adapted from Marcy Goldman, "A Passion for Baking"

Topping
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
3 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp flour
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla

Muffin
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3 tbsp instant coffee granules
1 cup buttermilk
2 1/2 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/3 cup ground walnuts
Cocoa or cinnamon, for dusting

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line twelve large (not standard sized) muffin tins with liners (I highly recommend using liners rather than greasing the pans, because of the cheesecake layer on these muffins). Spread out liners to cover bottoms of pans.

2. Topping: Combine all ingredients in food processor and blend until smooth.

3. Batter: Cream butter and sugar until smooth. Beat together eggs, vanilla and coffee granules. Add to the butter mixture and blend well. Combine all remaining dry ingredients. Add too butter mixture alternating with buttermilk. Mix until just combined into a thick but soft batter.

4. Scoop batter into prepared muffin pans. Top each evenly with the cream cheese topping. Bake until topping is set, 30-40 minutes. Cool fully before serving. Store in fridge. Dust with cocoa or cinnamon just before serving if desired.