Carrot Cake Muffins with Orange Cream Cheese Filling

mmmmm muffins! Before I get to these I have to tell you something really exciting first!!! Yesterday I was reading the comments on my last post and saw that.. wait for it... Emily from Sugarplum had left me a comment! Most of you are probably familiar with her blog, she's a pro who's been around for a while. Emily's blog happens to be my absolute favourite! I visit her blog practically everday and love to use her recipes. Emily is just so cute, and she's part of the reason I started a food blog. So you can imagine how her comment just filled my heart with joy! She suggested I make risotto, so I'm definitely going to. I made squash risotto last semester so I might make it again and share the recipe with you all! Btw, if you haven't visited Sugarplum, I suggest you do so right away!

Okay, now on to the food. So I kind of have this weird obsession with carrots. I eat at least one a day, and usually more than once. The only thing is, they don't provide that many interesting and unique recipes. Next week I think I'm going to make carrot soup, but first I decided to do some baking and create my own spin on the classic carrot cake.

I decided to make carrot cake muffins, but rather than icing them after they were finished baking, I decided to fill the batter with the cream cheese icing and THEN bake them! It turns out... this was an excellent idea. With a crumbly, caramel-like topping, these muffins were bursting with carrots and spices. They had a lovely texture, that when you bit into, you were surprised with a creamy, orange cream cheese filling.

YUM. They are quite sweet - definitely no breakfast muffin - but a treat I will definitely be baking up again!

Carrot Cake Muffins with Orange Cream Cheese Filling

(Makes about 12 muffins)

Ingredients

2 eggs

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups grated carrots
2 tbsp orange juice
1/4 tsp orange zest
1 1/4 cup wholewheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg

Cream Cheese Filling

1/4 cup cream cheese

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 tsp orange zest

Crumb Topping

2 tbsp brown sugar

2 tbsp butter, chopped into small pieces

1 tbsp oats

1 tbsp flour

Preheat oven to 350F.

Line muffin tray with paper cups or grease tray well.

First prepare the cream cheese filling. Cream together the sugar and cream cheese in a bowl. Once soft and combined, mix in the orange zest.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg).

In another bowl cream together the sugars and eggs. Next stir in the oil. After it's well mixed, add the carrots and orange juice.

Add in the dry ingredients and mix until it is all combined.

Fill each muffin cup about 1/3 of the way full. Next carefully place a dollop of the cream cheese filling onto each cup of batter. Top them all off with the remaining muffin batter.

To make the crumb topping mix together the brown sugar, butter, oats and flour with your hands to create a crumbly, chunky mixture. Sprinkle this on top of the muffin cups.

Bake for 25-30 minutes. Cool on wire racks.