Raspberry Cheesecake Muffins

There's nothing like muffins fresh from the oven for breakfast or a midmorning nosh. Fresh fruit makes wonderful muffins and the muffins change with the season as the fruits of the season change.

Thursday, the Lunch Bunch traveled north for an outing. We needed sustenance and so, a basket of muffins was in the back seat along with McDonald's coffee for everyone.

The muffins -- a new recipe -- raspberry cheesecake muffins and they were deemed good! The raspberry makes them appear a little bit "pink". These too, came from The Best of Cottey Cooking!

It is Pink Saturday and so join Beverly and How Sweet the Sound for all the Pink Saturday posts.

RASPBERRY CHEESECAKE MUFFINS

Batter:

2 1/4 c. flour

1/4 c. sugar

3/4 c. butter, cold, cut into pieces

1/2 t. baking soda

1/2 t. baking powder

1/4 t. salt

3/4 c. sour cream

1 egg

1 t. almond extract

Filling:

4 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 large egg yolk

2 T. sugar

1 T + 2 t. raspberry preserves

Preheat oven to 350. Grease 15 muffin tins or line with paper baking cups, set aside.

For Batter: In a mixing bowl, combine the flour and sugar; cut in the butter until crumbly. Reserve 1 cup for topping. To the remaining crumb mixture, add the baking soda, baking powder, salt, sour cream, egg and almond extract. Soon batter into the muffin tins, filling them about 2/3 full. With damp fingers or a greased spoon, press lightly in the centers to make a small indentation.

For Filling: Stir together the cream cheese, egg yolk and sugar until smooth. Spoon about 2 t. into the center of each muffin. Spoon a heaping 1/4 t. of preserves over the cream cheese. Sprinkle with the reserved crumb mixture to cover.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a tester inserted in center comes out clean.