Strawberry Muffins with Cream Cheese Swirl

April 07, 2021

Everyone will want seconds of this delicious strawberry muffins recipe! It’s got a tender fluffy crumb and and a cream cheese swirl topping.

Strawberry muffins

Here’s a recipe that turned out even more delicious than we imagined…these insanely tasty Strawberry Muffins! Imagine: a muffin with a tender crumb: just sweet enough and delightfully moist. Then top that with a strawberry cream cheese swirl, that coats everything in sweet savory richness. Our 4 year old Larson had the idea of making strawberry muffins (genius!), so we turned our favorite pumpkin muffin into a berry based one. Turns out, this one is even better than the original!

What’s great about these strawberry muffins

Some strawberry muffins have little chunks of strawberries in the batter, much like you would a blueberry muffin. But when we tried that type of strawberry muffin, the bits of berry made the batter soggy. Here’s what makes this strawberry muffin great:

  • The strawberries are incorporated in a cream cheese swirl. This way, the berries incorporate into a creamy topping, leaving the bottom portion of the muffin perfectly moist. Man, is it delicious!
  • The muffins are just sweet enough. Many muffins are glorified cupcakes: these are just sweet enough to be aptly called a muffin.
  • They’re moist from applesauce! Applesauce makes a perfectly moist cake portion of the muffin, without it being too buttery or oily.

How to make and swirl the cream cheese topping

These strawberry muffins are pretty straightforward: the only part that needs a little more explanation is the cream cheese swirl. Here’s what to know about this part of the recipe:

  • Dice the strawberries into small pieces. This helps the strawberries to integrate into the cream cheese — it will turn pink but still have strawberry chunks (this is intended!).
  • Place dollops of cream cheese on top of the muffin batter. Use a heaping 1 tablespoon.
  • Use a toothpick to swirl and push the cheese into the batter. Swirl it in so that it incorporates into the top portion of the muffin batter.
Strawberry muffins

Storage info for strawberry muffins

Because there’s cream cheese on top, you’ll want to store these strawberry muffins in the refrigerator instead of at room temperature like other muffins. Here are a few pointers:

  • The muffins are the best the day of making. Wait after baking until they’re about room temperature, then devour. They taste incredible the day of.
  • Refrigerate for 5 days. Pop them into the fridge for storage. Remember to let them warm back to room temp for a minute or two before you enjoy them.
  • Do not freeze. The cream cheese topping doesn’t hold up well in the freezer, so we don’t recommend freezing here.

When to serve them!

These strawberry muffins are great for when you have a bunch of strawberries you don’t know what to do with. They’re absolutely perfect for entertaining, too! Here are a few ideas for how to pair them:

Strawberry muffins

More strawberry recipes

Love this popular berry? Us too! Here are some of our favorite ways to make strawberries into a tasty treat:

Strawberry muffins

This strawberry muffins recipe is…

Vegetarian.

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Strawberry muffins

Strawberry Muffins (with Cream Cheese Swirl!)


1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (5 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

5 from 5 reviews

  • Author: Sonja Overhiser
  • Prep Time: 20 minutes
  • Cook Time: 25 minutes
  • Total Time: 45 minutes
  • Yield: 12 muffins
  • Diet: Vegetarian

Description

Everyone will want seconds of this delicious strawberry muffins recipe! It’s got a tender fluffy crumb and and a cream cheese swirl topping. 


Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup rolled Old Fashioned oats
  • 1/2 cup light brown sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 1/2 cups unsweetened applesauce
  • 1/4 cup neutral oil
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
  • 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 1 cup diced strawberries

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Add 12 muffin cups to a standard muffin tin.
  2. In a medium bowl, mix the all-purpose flour, rolled oats, brown sugar and cinnamon with the baking powder, baking soda, and kosher salt.
  3. In another bowl, combine the applesauce, neutral oil, and vanilla extract. Wait to add it to the dries until you’ve made the cream cheese topping. 
  4. Dice the strawberries into small pieces. Use a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or electric hand mixer to combine the cream cheese, sugar, and strawberries: beat them on medium speed until fully combined (the cheese will turn pink but still have chunks of strawberries). 
  5. Mix the wet ingredients (applesauce, oil and vanilla) into the bowl with the dry ingredients (flour, oats, etc.) and stir until a smooth batter forms.
  6. Divide the batter evenly into the 12 muffin cups. Dollop a mounded tablespoon of strawberry cream cheese onto the center of each muffin. Then use a toothpick to swirl the cream cheese until it is smoothed onto the top and partially worked into the batter (see the photos).
  7. Bake for about 25 to 28 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the muffin portion. Allow to cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then remove the muffins and place them on a cooling rack. Cool 1 hour until room temperature. Enjoy or refrigerate up to 1 week (these muffins do not freeze well).
  • Category: Muffins
  • Method: Baked
  • Cuisine: Muffins

Keywords: Strawberry muffins, strawberry muffins recipe

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