Cream Cheese Stuffed Banana Muffins

When my mom and sister swing into town, I need to keep them happy. Seriously. Have you ever met my sister? You do NOT want to get on her bad side. Especially in the morning. Strike that – I wouldn’t mess with her anytime. In order to keep them extra sunny, even in the early AM, I made Cream Cheese Stuffed Banana Muffins.
These babies are utterly moist but not too sweet – the perfect thing to go with our oh-so-necessary cup of morning coffee. To make them even easier to put together first thing in the morning, I measured out and assembled the ingredients in tupperware the night before so that all I have to do is stir the wet ingredients into the dry ones and bake away.

Cream Cheese Stuffed Banana Muffins
Ingredients:
1 cup white four & 1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon each baking powder and soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1 egg
8 oz. plain yogurt
3 ripe bananas (mashed)
4 Tablespoons melted butter
4 Tablespoons cream cheese (room temperature)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 Tablespoons Confectioner Sugar
Chopped Pecans

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare 12 muffin tins.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together cream cheese, 1 Tablespoon of yogurt, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and confectioner sugar until smooth. Set this aside (you can do this the night before).
3. In a large bowl, mix flours, baking powder and soda, and salt in a large bowl.
4. Add yogurt, egg, melted butter and banana to flour mixture.
5. Mix until just combined.
6. Fill each muffin tin with about a Tablespoon of batter.
7. Dollop a teaspoon of the cream cheese mixture in each tin.8. Fill the tins with the remaining batter. They will rise while baking so only fill them 2/3 of the way up.
9. Sprinkle with chopped pecans.
10. Bake 20-25 minutes until lightly golden brown.11. You can scarf them down right away (I did this), but I think they are best once they’ve cooled for about 3-4 minutes (I did this too - a girl needs seconds)