My muffin obsession continues with this wonderful batch of blueberry lemon cream cheese muffins. Lemons and blueberries go so well together and the surprise lemony cheesecake filling was such a delight. Since there was just a teaspoon in each of the muffins, it was not overpoweringly sweet and instead, it just made me want to eat more muffins!

Blueberry Lemon Cream Cheese Muffin (adapted from Two Peas & Their Pod):

Yields 12 muffins

  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup sugar plus 1 tablespoon, divided
  • Zest of 2 lemons, divided
  • 1/4 cup canola oil
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/3 cup milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen
  • 3 tablespoons cream cheese, softened

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Line a 12-cup standard muffin tin with paper liners; set aside. (If you don’t want to use paper liners, you could coat a muffin pan with cooking spray instead.)

In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking powder and cinnamon. 

In a small bowl, rub 1/2 cup sugar and zest of 1 lemon together with your fingertips until the sugar is moist and the fragrance of lemon is strong.

Add to the flour mixture and whisk again.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the canola oil, egg, milk and vanilla.

Pour mixture over dry ingredients and stir using a rubber spatula just until moist.

Add the blueberries and gently toss to combine.

To make the cream cheese filling, combine the cream cheese, zest of 1 lemon, and remaining 1 tablespoon sugar. Whisk until smooth.

Scoop a spoonful of batter evenly into the muffin tray. Drop 1-2 teaspoons of cream cheese filling into the center of each cup.

Top them with remaining batter to completely cover the cream cheese filling.

Place into oven and bake for 17-20 minutes, or until tops are golden brown.

Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.

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