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Banana Muffins Filled with Cream Cheese? Yes We Can!

October 3, 2008 by Nicole 69 Comments

Cream Cheese Filled Banana Muffins

So I tried this experiment yesterday.

There have been a couple of extra ripe bananas staring me down for a couple of days.  I mean, it was getting ugly.  So last night I was forced to make an important decision: bake something or throw the poor things in the freezer where they would probably get lost for a very long time.

I chose to act!  I could have made some banana bread.  Everyone likes banana bread, right?  But lately, I’ve been in the mood for change.  I mean it seems like I’ve been making the same banana bread recipe for at least the last eight years…

Then it struck me!  Muffins!  I’ll make banana muffins!

But then I really thought about it.  Muffins might look different than banana bread, one might even say they come in a much cuter package than banana bread. But when it comes down to it, they’re still banana bread.  Not much change there, huh?

Luckily I had half a package of cream cheese left over from that Pumpkin Cream Cheese Spread I made earlier in the week.  Could I?  Should I?  I wrestled with the decision for a few minutes.  I knew in my heart that bananas and cream cheese were a good combination, but I had never actually tried putting a cream cheese filling in a muffin.  I’ve seen it done before. I’ve tasted good cream cheese-filled muffins.  But I was still worried.

It can be hard to try something for the first time.  Did I have enough experience?  What if I ruined the whole batch?

Oh, what the hell, I just did it!

And you know what?  They were a hit!  I even fed them to a couple of people known to have fairly conservative tastes.  And they loved the change so much, they might never go back to plain old banana bread again.

Cream Cheese Filled Banana Muffins

Cream Cheese Filled Banana Muffins

filling:
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg

muffin batter:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sugar
2 bananas, mashed
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup oil
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Grease a 12-cup standard muffin pan.
2. In a small bowl, beat together cream cheese, sugar, and egg. Put bowl in refrigerator while you make the muffin batter.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and soda, salt, and sugar; set aside.
4. In a medium bowl, whisk together bananas, buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla.
5. Pour wet ingredients into the large bowl filled with flour mixture then stir with wooden spoon just until the mixture is combined.
6. Spoon enough batter into muffins cups so that they are just under halfway full.  Add one spoonful of cream cheese mixture into each cup, then top with remaining muffin batter.  Muffin cups will end up being almost completely full.
7. Bake for 20-25 minutes at 375 degrees.  Check after 20 minutes, muffins are done when a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.
8. Enjoy!

Related Recipes:

  • Banana Cream Cheese Roll
  • Best Banana Muffins
  • Easy Banana Milkshake

Around the Web:

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  • Nutella Banana Muffins from 80 Breakfasts
  • Banana Barley Muffins from Baking Bites
  • Banana Walnut Muffins from Going Gluten-Free

Filed Under: Adventures in Baking, Breakfast/Brunch, Desserts

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Katie Ann says

    October 3, 2008 at 7:45 pm

    Oh wow, I read the title and my jaw dropped, that sounds sooo good!
    Reply
  2. Renne says

    October 4, 2008 at 7:10 am

    Wow, I love Banana and I love cream cheese. The combination sounds simply made! I think my boyfriend will sure love it. Thank you PS. I live in Thailand where Buttermilk is rarely found. Do you think yogurt and milk and be a replacement?
    Reply
  3. sally says

    October 4, 2008 at 7:13 am

    Nicole They look delicious and a funny post. Glad you got the best of the bananna's...they can be a tricky. I'm looking at a couple right now and giggling about their fate later today! Sally
    Reply
  4. Corinne says

    October 4, 2008 at 8:36 am

    These look sooooooooo good!
    Reply
  5. kellypea says

    October 4, 2008 at 1:47 pm

    I've been wanting to check these out after you twittered them yesterday. They turned out perfectly! Sound delish, too. Haven't done banana anything lately. It's about that time!
    Reply
  6. Erin says

    October 5, 2008 at 7:14 am

    You rock! Most of my kitchen experiments end up in the trash. I'm jealous that your breakfast treats turned out so perfectly. Now how about a pumpkin muffin filled with that spread you whipped up earlier this week? I'll be your BFF ;)
    Reply
  7. Juliet says

    October 5, 2008 at 4:57 pm

    Fantastic idea! I always have some spotty old bananas on the counter, and regular banana bread gets so tiresome after a while. I'll definitely give these a try!
    Reply
  8. Amy says

    October 5, 2008 at 10:34 pm

    We tried these today - they were wonderful! After I read your pumpkin spice cream cheese recipe, I am thinking I may try some pumpkin muffins filled with cream cheese. Thanks for a great recipe.
    Reply
  9. Patricia Scarpin says

    October 6, 2008 at 7:46 am

    These are marvelous! I love baking with banana, Nic, and haven't made muffins in years!
    Reply
  10. Curt says

    October 6, 2008 at 2:59 pm

    Two of my favorite things.. cream cheese and cream cheese! Ok, one, but I like it enough to mention it twice! These look and sound great. I bet the kitchen smelled gret while they were baking!
    Reply
  11. Kimberly says

    October 6, 2008 at 8:51 pm

    Your recipe inspired me and I made a batch yesterday--they are wonderful! Thanks for sharing.
    Reply
  12. Maria says

    October 7, 2008 at 7:49 am

    What a nice surprise inside!
    Reply
  13. Jude says

    October 8, 2008 at 12:01 am

    Such a nice surprise inside once bitten. Thanks for the great idea.
    Reply
  14. diva says

    October 8, 2008 at 1:51 am

    i love cheese too much. and i do things like put cream cheese in brownies tht strangely tends to put off the guys off my brownies. anyhow. i think these muffins are gorgeous and cream cheese in them is such an idea! beautiful! x
    Reply
  15. Lisa (Homesick Texan) says

    October 8, 2008 at 9:10 am

    I have a couple of ripe bananas I was going to make pudding with, but I like your idea more!
    Reply
  16. Katrina says

    October 9, 2008 at 1:27 pm

    I always have ripe bananas on hand (on purpose) and just made muffins yesterday. Darn, which I would have seen this then. Will try next time! Sounds good!
    Reply
  17. Katie says

    October 13, 2008 at 9:45 am

    These look amazing. I have always wanted to try to figure out how to do this in the right way with the right amount of cream cheese.
    Reply
  18. Anita says

    October 20, 2008 at 8:40 pm

    Someone sent this recipe link to a friend of mine who was staying with me over the weekend--we tried it kind of spur of the moment, we even had to go buy some overly ripe bananas for this, but the muffins were wonderful.
    Reply
  19. Jessica says

    October 21, 2008 at 4:10 am

    OMG! I often spread cream cheese on banana bread and think it's heavenly! I will definitely be trying this and I think you are a genious! ps - I use your banana shake recipe all the time and it is soooo yummy!
    Reply
  20. CoSkay says

    October 23, 2008 at 5:35 pm

    These look delicious! I will have to give them a try!
    Reply
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