Muffin Wednesday: Cheese Danish

Stacie and Gerise chose Cheese Danish Muffins for this week's Muffin Wednesday treat, and I was happy to oblige.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
12-cup muffin tin (I easily filled 18 cups... because I did it wrong)

1 package cream cheese, softened (4 oz)
2 T sugar
1 T lemon juice
1 egg
1 1/4 c milk
1/2 c melted margarine (I used butter)
1 t grated lemon zest
2 1/2 c flour
1/2 c sugar
3 1/2 t baking powder
1 t salt

1. Cream the cheese, sugar and lemon juice. Set aside.
(I had an 8 ounce package of cream cheese, so I went ahead and doubled this part. The more the merrier, right?!)

2. In another bowl, beat egg lightly with a fork. Add milk, margarine and zest. (I accidentally skipped over the milk part. I added it at the end when I noticed that it was all really dry and realized I'd forgotten the milk)

3. In another bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add egg mixture; stir just until blended. (And then, if you're like me and you don't read your recipes thoroughly, add the milk)

4. Spoon batter into prepared muffin tin, filling half full. Place 1 T cheese mixture over each; top with remaining batter. Bake for 20 minutes.

***** OK - I JUST saw that as I typed it.... I was supposed to put on the cheese mixture AND THEN cover with more batter. DUH. That makes a lot more sense. I just put some cheese on the top... and then wondered why it oozed all over the place:
I really need to read more carefully. Or not try to bake new recipes right when I wake up in the morning :)

Well, they taste really good like this. The testers thought they were very moist and yummy. Stacie noticed the lemon right away and said they reminded her of a lemon bar. I'll have to make them again and see what happens when I actually follow the recipe.

The girls already looked through my book and picked Strawberry Drop Puffins for next week... Stay tuned :)