These Strawberry Cream Cheese Muffins are the perfect Spring Sunday morning breakfast, mid-morning snack, or a delicious dessert made with fresh, juicy strawberries and a slight tang from the cream cheese in the batter. They would be a great addition to your Mother's Day brunch or a picnic in the park!
Why We Love This Recipe
- The combination of strawberries and cream cheese make these strawberry cheesecake muffins perfectly sweet, tart, and fluffy!
- The cream cheese is used in two ways, taking a regular batter up a notch - in the batter, bringing extra moisture and on the top of the muffins for an extra cheesecake surprise - guaranteeing an amazing final product.
Looking for more delicious muffin recipes?
Ingredients
- All purpose flour
- Granulated sugar
- Salt
- Baking powder
- Milk
- Cream Cheese
- Vegetable oil (or other neutral oil)
- Eggs
- Vanilla extract
- Fresh strawberries, chopped (frozen strawberries can also be used)
See recipe card below for quantities.
Equipment
This recipe for strawberry muffins with cream cheese is a simple recipe that only requires a few tools!
- 2 medium and 1 large mixing bowls
- Electric hand mixer or stand mixer
- Jumbo muffin tin
- Large ice cream scoop or spoon for easy transferring of the muffin batter to the tin
Step by Step Instructions
STEP ONE (Picture 1 above) - In a medium bowl, beat ¼ cup sugar with the room temperature cream cheese on medium speed until light and fluffy. Set aside.
STEP TWO (Picture 2 above) - In a separate medium bowl, mix together the eggs, oil, ½ cup milk, and vanilla extract.
STEP THREE (Picture 3 above) - In a large bowl, combine flour, ¾ cup sugar, salt, and baking powder. Then add the chopped strawberries to the dry mixture and toss to lightly coat.
STEP FOUR (Picture 4 above) - Fold the egg mixture into the flour and strawberries. Then fold in ⅔ of the cream cheese mixture until almost fully combined (a few streaks of cream cheese are ok).
STEP FIVE (Picture 5 above) - Using a large ice cream scoop, fill the jumbo muffin pan ⅔ - ¾ full with the batter.
STEP SIX (Picture 6 above) - Stir 1 teaspoon milk into the remaining sweet cream cheese filling. Spoon a few dollops of the cream cheese on the top of each muffin, and swirl with a toothpick or knife.
STEP SEVEN (Picture 7 above) - Bake muffins at 425°F for 5 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 375°F and bake for an additional 14-16 minutes until a toothpick entered into the center of the muffin comes out clean. Allow muffins to cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Tips For Success
TIP #1 - Lightly coating the chopped strawberries in the flour mixture helps ensure they don't sink to the bottom of the cheesecake muffins while they bake.
TIP #2 - For best results, make sure the cream cheese is at room temperature so you avoid having small pieces of cream cheese that won't mix in with the sugar.
TIP #3 - If you don't have an ice cream or cookie scoop, use a large spoon to transfer the batter into the muffin tins.
Substitutions & Variations
- For a blueberry version of these easy cream cheese muffins, substitute blueberries in place of the strawberries, and add 1 teaspoon of lemon zest to the wet ingredients in Step 2.
- To add some crunch, mix ¼ cup chopped pistachios into the dry ingredients in Step 3.
- Instead of jumbo size, make a mini version of this cream cheese muffin recipe using a mini muffin tin and reducing the baking time to 10-15 minutes at 350°F. Or, make regular cupcake-sized muffins by baking them at 375°F for about 15-20 minutes!
This recipe has not been tested with any substitutions. If you do replace any ingredients, please let us know how they turned out in the comments below!
Storage
Room Temperature: Store the cooled muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Refrigerator: The muffins can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. However, please note that the refrigerator may dry them out a bit!
Freezer: Make sure the baked muffins have cooled completely, then place them in a freezer bag or container and freeze for up to 1 month. Microwave them for 20 seconds when ready to eat.
FAQ
No, it's important to use baking powder for this recipe. Baking powder and baking soda react differently in recipes because baking powder includes an acid while baking soda requires an acidic ingredient such as lemon juice or buttermilk to be added in order to activate it.
The best way to soften cream cheese is to place it in a small bowl (make sure to remove the aluminum wrapper!) and microwave in 10 second increments until it reaches a soft consistency. An alternative is to place the cream cheese on your counter for an hour or so before you start baking.
Did you try this recipe? I'd love to see it! Tag @brokenovenbaking on Instagram & Facebook and leave a ⭐️ review below!
📖 Recipe
Strawberry Cream Cheese Muffins
Equipment
- Muffin pan & liners
- Mixing bowls
- Measuring spoons
- Whisk
- Spatula
- Toothpick
- Wire cooling rack
Ingredients
- 6 ounces cream cheese room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar divided
- 2¼ cups all-purpose flour weighed in grams (see metric tab) or spooned & leveled
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 cup chopped strawberries fresh or frozen
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- ½ cup vegetable oil or other neutral oil
- 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ cup + 1 teaspoon milk divided, whole is preferred
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F and line a jumbo muffin pan with liners (or coat with baking spray).
- In a small/medium bowl, mix together the cream cheese and ¼ cup (50 grams) of sugar really well.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, ¾ cup (150 grams) of sugar, salt and baking powder. Add the strawberries to lightly coat them in the mixture.
- In a medium bowl, mix together the eggs, oil, vanilla extract and ½ cup of milk.
- Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients just until a few flour streaks remain.
- Gently stir ⅔ of the cream cheese mixture into the batter until almost fully combined.
- Mix 1 teaspoon of milk into the remaining ⅓ of the cream cheese mixture.
- Fill the muffin liners with batter, about ⅔ full. Spoon the remaining cream cheese mixture onto the tops and swirl it around with a toothpick.
- Bake muffins at 425°F for 5 minutes and then without opening the oven door, reduce the heat to 375°F and bake until a toothpick comes out clean (about an additional 14-16 minutes).
- Let the muffins cool in the pan until they're just warm to the touch, then transfer them to a wire rack.
Cheryl Haas says
Can this recipe be made into a loaf bread?
Kayla Burton says
I haven't tested this, but I think it'd bake well in a 9x5 inch loaf pan! Would likely take 50 minutes or so at 350F. Let me know if you try it!
Emily says
I tried it in a 9x5 loaf pan last night and it came out great. It took about 1 hour at 350F in my oven.
Highly recommend!
Kayla Burton says
Oh perfect, thank you so much for sharing!!
Robin says
I made these muffins for breakfast and they are so yummy!
Kayla says
Thanks, Robin! So glad you like them!!