Banana Cream Cheese Muffins with Crumb Topping

One of my favorite things happened in the kitchen this morning. I woke up to find ripened bananas hanging from my banana hook. To me, it was a sight for sore eyes and I couldn't wait to create a baked banana treat.  My husband has been craving a chocolate treat for many days now so when I told him that I was going to bake with the bananas he was a little disappointed.



Since I'm heading out of town for a few days this week, I knew I had to use up the bananas prior to my departure. Because of this, I had to think of a way to spruce up my traditional muffins in order to keep the husband happy...and to give him treats to snack on throughout the week.



I perused my cupboard and refrigerator to see what I could come up with using mashed bananas and discovered that I had just enough cream cheese for a delicious stuffing. By adding just a tablespoonful of the cream cheese filling into each muffin cup, it resulted in a smooth and creamy dollop of a surprise in each and every bite of the muffins.



Banana Cream Cheese Muffins with Crumb Topping



Ingredients:



For the muffins

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 bananas, mashed
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
For the cream cheese filling

4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
For the crumb topping

1/3 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter, melted
Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.
Combine 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
In a separate bowl, mash the bananas and then beat together the bananas, sugar, egg, melted butter and vanilla extract.
Combine banana mixture with the flour mixture until just moistened.
Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups (leave a little batter to top the cream cheese filling).
Create the cream cheese filling by mixing together all three of the ingredients. Pour a tablespoonful onto the batter in the muffin cups. Top the cream cheese with the remaining muffin batter.
Create the topping: use a fork and mix together the brown sugar, 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, cinnamon and butter until crumbly. Sprinkle mixture over the batter.
Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.