Pomegranate Cream Cheese Surprise Muffins

Name: Pomegranate Cream Cheese Surprise Muffins
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 16 muffins.
Ingredients: 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened; 1/2 cup sugar; 3/4 teaspoon grated lemon zest; 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract; MUFFINS:; 2 cups all-purpose flour; 2/3 cup sugar; 1 tablespoon baking powder; 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1 large egg; 1 cup 2% milk; 1/4 cup butter, melted; 1-1/4 cups pomegranate seeds; 2 teaspoons coarse sugar

I baked these muffins for the kids I babysit, and they couldn't get enough. Their favorite part? The filling, of course! —Jodie Gharbi, Shreveport, Louisiana

Ingredients

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
MUFFINS:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1 cup 2% milk
1/4 cup butter, melted
1-1/4 cups pomegranate seeds
2 teaspoons coarse sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 400°. For filling, mix first four ingredients until blended.
In a large bowl, whisk together first five muffin ingredients. In another bowl, whisk together egg, milk and melted butter. Add to dry ingredients, stirring just until moistened. Fold in pomegranate seeds.
Fill paper-lined muffin cups one-third full with batter. Drop filling by tablespoonfuls into center of each muffin; cover with remaining batter. Sprinkle with coarse sugar.
Bake until top springs back when lightly touched, 18-22 minutes. Cool 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks. Serve warm. Refrigerate leftovers.

Health Tip: The sprinkle of coarse sugar on these muffins adds crunch and sweetness like a streusel topping, without adding a lot of calories.

Nutrition Facts

1 muffin: 211 calories, 9g fat (5g saturated fat), 35mg cholesterol, 244mg sodium, 31g carbohydrate (18g sugars, 1g fiber), 4g protein.

Reviews

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Average Rating:

randcbruns

Jun 5, 2017

These are amazing! I love the addition of pomegranate seeds. We've made this a few times using other berries too. Amazing.
amehart

May 23, 2017

Made these using the tiny Maine blueberries as I couldn't find any pomegranate seeds right now. These are THE BEST muffins and I will definitely be making them again and again. I can't wait to try them with the pomegranate seeds as soon as I find some. Highly recommend these delicious muffins!
angela32

May 15, 2017

I made these without the cream cheese filling and they are a great little muffin. The pomegranate seeds were a nice change from our favorite blueberry muffins.
darlyn29

Apr 24, 2017

I made a couple of changes- I didn't have pomegranate seeds or lemons on hand so I chopped fresh strawberries and used lime in place of the lemon. They turned out very good! They're lighter in texture in my opinion than a cake-type muffin and the cream cheese mixture didn't come out gooey. I cooked an additional 5 minutes, I think because the strawberries added a little more juice than pomegranates would. I would definitely make again, and try it as listed on the recipe next time! :)
MarineMom_texas

Apr 24, 2017

I followed the recipe exactly and loved the way these muffins came out. Delicious but not too sweet. Just sweet enough with a hint of lemon and a delightful crumb. The pomegranate seeds just make this muffin. This is the first time I have cooked with these seeds. I advise getting all the ingredients out before starting as there are several steps to this recipe but it goes together quickly. Next time I will use a scant tablespoonful of filling as a tablespoon is almost too much. I highly recommend this recipe.Volunteer Field Editor
Lynne

Apr 21, 2017

This is DANGEROUSLY DELICIOUS! My sister and I love cooking and baking together, and we made these muffins today. We followed the directions with the exception of using only 1 cup of pomegranate seeds because that is how they were prepackaged at grocery store. This amount was great - no need to purchase additional 1/4 cup. We added the coarse sugar to half of the muffins for comparison purposes. While they look great with the coarse sugar, it doesn't warrant a trip to the store if you don't have it on hand. The taste is also great minus the coarse sugar. This recipe could easily be adapted for use with other berries or chocolate chips in place of pomegranate seeds. LOVED this recipe!