Muffins!

As I was waiting for the dough for our hamburger buns to finish rising yesterday afternoon, I thought I'd see what I could do with the bag of cranberries I still had leftover from Thanksgiving. I randomly came across a recipe for Cranberry Cream Cheese Muffins from a Bed and Breakfast in Wisconsin. It just so happened that I had some cream cheese I needed to use up, so I went for it! It was quite easy and oh, does cream cheese batter smell gooooooood.

I would give you an after picture, but I forgot to take one before all of the muffins were eaten. All 24 of them. These are an instant favorite in our house. John said I might be able to go a little heavier on the cranberries next time, but I thought they were fine. It just depends on how much you like cranberries, I suppose. They do take between 25-30 minutes to fully bake, but they are so worth it. And the cinnamon/brown sugar topping is a perfect fit (I left out the nuts that were suggested). So we Minthornes highly recommend these muffins and they are actually fairly Christmas-y. Enjoy!

Blacksmith Inn Cranberry Cream Cheese Muffins

Presented by Blacksmith Inn On The Shore

Baileys Harbor, Wisconsin

1 c. soft butter

8 oz. soft cream cheese

1 1/2 c. sugar

1 1/2 t. vanilla

4 eggs

2 c. flour

1 1/2 t. baking powder

1/2 t. salt

2 c. whole cranberries

1/2 c. pecans (I left these out)

Topping:

3/4 c. brown sugar

1 1/2 t. cinnamon

1/3 c. chopped pecans (again, left out)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Cream butter, cream cheese, sugar and vanilla. Beat eggs in one at a time. Combine flour, baking powder and salt; beat into creamed mixture. Fold in cranberries and pecans. Fill lined or greased muffin cups 2/3 full. Top with mixture of brown sugar, pecans and cinnamon. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes. Yield 18 muffins (it gave me 24 and also took 30 minutes to fully bake, but I may have not filled the muffin cups as full and our oven is set a tad cool).