Ali Bakes: Snickerdoodle Cheesecake Cupcakes

 Quote from Brian, "Man babe, those smell so good."

I'm inclined to cite the above quote in APA format, but I'm done with my graduate school work, and I don't want to talk about or apply APA anything for quite awhile.  So I'll just say that he said that a few minutes ago.  Good enough.

Who knows how these beauteous little cupcakes will taste, but if the smell is any hint, they will be divine.

And actually, they are supposed to be called 'muffins.'  But...c'mon!  These are NOT muffins.  Cupcakes through and through.  (But feel free to make these and give your own feedback.)

I will admit that these are more time intensive than I initially thought.  And I just took them out of their cozy little muffin pans, requiring much more effort that I anticipated, as well.  (Maybe I need a new muffin tin or maybe I need to grease my muffin tins better.)

Regardless, I had quite a few bits and pieces of the muffins to taste-test.  Definitely delicious!

Now...to wait a few hours from now for post-dinner snacktime so that I can have a whole, real cupcake!

Can't wait!

Snickerdoodle Cheesecake Cupcakes

*adapted from AmbrosiaBaking.com

Ingredients:

For the Cupcakes

6 Tbs unsalted butter

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1/2 tsp cinnamon 

1 tsp  baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cups sugar

2 eggs, at room temperature

3/4 tsp vanill

1/2 cup plain yogurt

1/8 cup milk

For the Cheesecake Filling 

4 oz cream cheese, at room temperature

1 egg yolk, at room temperature

1/6 cup sugar

1/2 Tbs flour

For the Cinnamon Sugar

1/2 Tbs sugar

1/4 tsp cinnamon

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease 10 cups of a muffin tin.

In a small pot, melt the butter over medium heat.  Once melted, continue to heat and cook the butter until it turns a deep brown color and begins to smell nutty.  Once the butter has browned, remove it from the heat (including all the little brown bits) and set aside to cool slightly as you prepare the remaining ingredients.  Keep an eye on the butter, because it could go from brown to burnt in seconds!

 

In a medum bowl, sift together the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Set aside.  In another bowl, combine the brown butter and sugar.  Beat in the eggs, one at a time.  Mix in the vanilla extract, yogurt, and milk, stirring until incorporated.  

 

Form a well in the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients.  Mix the ingredients together until just combined.  Don't overmix; it's ok if there are still lumps.  

 

To prepare the cheesecake filling, beat together the cream cheese, egg, sugar, and flour in a bowl.  Beat the mixture until smooth.

 

To assemble the muffins, fill the muffin cups about halfway with the muffin batter.  Add about a tablespoon of cheesecake filling, and then top off with a little more muffin batter.  It's ok if the cheesecake layer isn't fully covered by the muffin batter.  

 

Combine the remaining sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl, and sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over the tops of the muffins.

 

Bake the muffins in the preheated oven until the tops have domed and a cake tester comes out clean when inserted into the center, about 25-27 minutes.  Let the muffins cool slightly in the pans, and then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.  Enjoy!