Skinny Cinnamon Chip Cream Cheese Muffins

A few days ago, I was e-mailed this delicious looking recipe for Cinnamon Chip Cream Cheese Bread, from Erin over at Making Memories...One Fun thing After Another. I've never made a recipe with Cinnamon Chips before, and Erin's bread seem like the perfect recipe to give them a try.

I lightened up this recipe by reducing the amount of Cinnamon Chips to half a bag, instead of the entire bag, as well as, replacing the full fat cream cheese for 33% less fat cream cheese. I also replaced the sugar with Splenda. 

I turned this recipe into muffins for portion control, to help aid in my weight loss efforts. I weighed in last Sunday, and forgot to mention I lost 3 pounds! Yay!

I thought I was being clever my baking these in individual portions, but to be honest, it created a lot more work! So, if you would like to follow the original recipe, the batter is baked in a loaf pan for 55-60 minutes.

And, before you go on a wild goose chase all over town looking for Hershey's Cinnamon Chips, Vons/Safeway was the only store that carried them in my town. They were $4.09 a bag.

Skinny Cinnamon Chip Cream Cheese Muffins

Batter
1/2 c butter, softened
1/2 c Splenda sugar substitute
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 egg yolks
1 1/2 c flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 c milk ( I used 2%)
2 egg whites
1/4 c Splenda sugar substitute
5 oz.( 1/2 a bag ) Hershey's Cinnamon Chips

Cream Cheese Filling 
8 oz. 33% less fat cream cheese
1/2 c Splenda
1 egg

Glaze
2 tablespoons Splenda sugar substitute
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon water

 

With an electric mixer, beat cream cheese, 1/2 c Splenda, and egg until smooth. Set aside.

 

 

Next, mix the 2 tablespoons of Splenda, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, and 1 teaspoon of water.  Set aside.

 

 

In a large bowl, cream the butter and Splenda together until light and fluffy.  Add the vanilla and egg yolks. Mix well.  

 

 

Mix together flour, baking powder and salt. Alternate the flour mixture and the milk.  Mixing after each addition.

 

 

In another bowl, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form.  Add the 1/4 cup Splenda, 1 tablespoon at a time, until egg whites are stiff.  

 

 

Fold the egg whites into the batter mixture. 

 

 

Then, add 5 oz.(1/2 a bag) of Cinnamon Chips. Stir.

 

 

Line 2 muffin tins with 16 cupcake liners. Spray inside of cupcake liners with cooking spray. Scoop one heaping tablespoon batter into each cupcake liner. With a knife, spread batter evenly.

Top with one heaping tablespoon of cream cheese mixture. Spread to make it even. 

 

 

Add another heaping tablespoon of batter, and spread as best you can. It doesn't have to be perfect.

Drizzle a little bit of glaze over each uncooked muffin.

 

 

 

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 14-16 minutes. Tops will not be brown, so don't wait for that to happen! Let cool completely before unwrapping.

 

This recipe makes 16 servings. If you are following Weight Watchers, each muffin is 5 Points Plus.

 

Easy Holiday Eggnog Muffins

Hello Everyone! Welcome to my new blog My Sesame Seed Buns. This is officially my first post, I hope you enjoy it.

I've been on real kick lately to use items I have stored in my pantry, fridge and freezer. Things that have been sitting there FOREVER. With the new year quickly approaching, I want out with the old and in with the new! I love to buy items that are on "Manager's Special," even though I have no specific use for them, and they just sit there unused.

Well, I bought 2 half gallons of eggnog, aka "Christmas Milk" in our household. My 4 year old normally loves eggnog, however these clearanced bottles were Vanilla flavor, so she said she didn't like it?!? My husband went through the first half gallon no problem. But, when it came time to open the second half gallon, it was a couple of days past the "sell by" date. Now, if it were me, I wouldn't hesitate, however my husband is weird about sell by dates and expiration dates, so he wasn't drinking it! Grrr...

I wasn't about to let perfectly good eggnog go to waste, so when I saw this recipe for Easy Holiday Eggnog Muffins on King Arthur Flour, I decided to crack it open and give it the "smell test."  It passed the test, so I made a batch of these delicious muffins. The flavor of the creamy eggnog really comes through, even without using eggnog flavoring. Where do you even buy this? I've never seen it, but have never really looked. I felt my muffins were a little dry, so if I make them again, I pull probably reduce the cooking time by a couple of minutes.

For anyone following Weight Watchers, each muffin is 7 points plus.

Easy Holiday Eggnog Muffins

Batter
1/4 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon eggnog flavor or 1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cups eggnog or half and half                     

Topping
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon eggnog flavor, optional
3 tablespoons butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a muffin tin with 12 paper or silicone muffin cups, and grease the cups with non-stick vegetable oil spray; this will ensure that they peel off the muffins nicely.

In a medium-sized mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar till smooth. Add the eggs, beating for several minutes and scraping the bowl, till the mixture is smooth and light colored. Beat in the baking powder, nutmeg, salt, and eggnog flavor or vanilla.

Stir the flour into the butter mixture alternately with the eggnog or half and half, beginning and ending with the flour and making sure everything is thoroughly combined. Spoon the batter evenly into the prepared muffin cups.

Stir together all of the topping ingredients JUST till crumbly. Stir gently, and don't over mix; you don't want to turn this crumbly topping into a solid mass. Sprinkle the topping over the muffins.

Bake the muffins for 20 minutes, or until they're a pale golden brown. Remove them from the oven, and serve warm, or at room temperature.
 

Yield: 12 muffins.