Dynamic duo

There comes a time every few weeks when I feel very adventurous. Like, have a mocha instead of a cappuccino, go out on a Tuesday, be a rebel and skip class kind of feeling. Frightening, I know. It was one of those days recently, and I decided to run a little kitchen experiment combining two fantastic flavors of the season that are rarely seen together in the wild - maple muffins and pumpkin cheesecake! 

The result, while not perfect, was inspiring enough to call it a success. My biggest mistake, which is easy to do with a stand mixer, was to let the liquid ingredients in the muffin batter whisk for too long. Don't be tempted to whisk for the heck of it - it will dry out the batter a lot and make for a so-so result. Also, don't skimp on the maple extract. Without it, you won't get the same maple flavor in the muffin. It won't be bad, but just not maple. 

Because these have cheesecake in them, be sure to refrigerate them after they cool. However, as a rule, refrigerating dries out baked goods. Moral of the story? Eat them all right out of the oven.

Maple Pumpkin Cheesecake Duo Muffins

1. Make the following recipes for Maple Muffins and Pumpkin Cheesecake and have both ready with the oven preheated to 450 degrees.

2. Prepare the muffin tin with paper liners or nonstick spray. Fill each 1/3 full of muffin batter, then add a large dollop of cheesecake. Top with more muffin batter until the molds are about 3/4 full (can be a little more).

3. Bake until the tops of the muffins spring back to the touch, about 10-15 minutes.

Maple Muffins

From Healthy Food for Living

2 C whole wheat pastry flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

2 eggs

1 egg white

1/2 C pure maple syrup

1 tsp maple extract

1 C milk

1/3 C unsweetened applesauce

Directions: Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and soda, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside. Whisk together eggs and egg white, then add maple syrup, maple extract, milk and applesauce. Whisk until smooth, but NO LONGER. Stir in dry ingredients until just combined. 

Pumpkin Cheesecake

From Good Life Eats

4 oz. cream cheese
1/8 C granulated sugar
1/4 C brown sugar
1/8 C whipping cream
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

7 oz. pumpkin puree
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp allspice
1/8 tsp cloves
pinch of cardamom

Directions: Beat together cream cheese, sugars, cream and vanilla until smooth. Add the pumpkin puree, cinnamon, allspice, cloves and cardamom. Blend until smooth.