Fig and Goat Cheese Muffins

This starts off as a sad story. I got a citation from the Newark Street Garden Association for too many weeds in my plot. What with moving and trips for work, my garden has been woefully neglected. Mark and I made the trek out to the old neighborhood on the smelly 96 bus and when we arrive, the horror of my weed infested plot was almost too much to bear. We weeded and mulched and made it look (almost) new again. Hopefully my pumpkin plants will flourish in their weed-free environment. Mark jogged back from the garden, but in my sports-bra-less state, I got back on the awful 96. When we hit Adams Morgan, I jumped off the bus at the sight of huge crates of beautiful mission figs at the AM Farmers Market. I had to have some. Plus, the exercise walk back meant that I could make delicious muffins and eat most of them...right? I made these muffins for my parents because they came down for brunch on Sunday. They are perfectly simple muffins and don't even require me to bust out the Kitchenaid mixer. What's not to love?

Fig and Goat Cheese Muffins (adapted from Coconut and Lime's Black Mission Fig Muffins)
Ingredients:
6 fresh mission figs
Batter:
2 cups flour
1 cup yogurt
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
2 eggs
Goat Cheese Topping:
2 oz. goat cheese
2-3 Tbs. milk
2 tsp. sugar
1. Make the batter by combining yogurt, oil, eggs, sugar, salt, nutmeg, and ginger in a large bowl and whisking until smooth.
2. Add baking powder and flour and stir until just combined.
3. Wash and dry figs and cut them in half.
4. Make the goat cheese topping by combining goat cheese, milk, and sugar in a small bowl and whisking until smooth. You want it to be a smooth yogurt consistency so add more milk if it is too dry.
5. Line a 12-muffin tin and fill each tin 2/3 full with the batter.
6. Top each muffin with approximately 1-2 tsp. of the goat cheese mixture.
7. Top each muffin with a fig half.
8. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes until the muffins are cooked through.
These will be dense muffins with a very moist texture. They are great for breakfast or an afternoon snack. I love the sweetness of the figs with the goat cheese and the dense muffins. Yum, yum, yum!