Coconut Cream Cheese Muffins

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I love tasty baked goods but prefer to have healthier options. These coconut cream cheese muffins are whole-grain, gluten-free, flour-free and fairly healthy. They are semi-sweet and taste more like a dessert than anything else.

This holiday season, consider giving family and friends homemade baked goods. My mother-in-law gives us a big tray of homemade cookies every year and this is much appreciated. Since I am not the best baker in the world, these gifts are especially nice. Giving homemade goods can also be a good way to save money this holiday season. I am making a homemade gift (not something you can eat) for Adalyn's grandparents for Christmas but cannot share what it is yet as some of them read this blog!


Servings: Makes 12 regular sized muffins

Ingredients: 
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
2/3 cup honey
1/2 cup nut butter (your choice)
1 cup oats
4 tbsp ground flax
2 eggs
1 tsp baking soda
1/3 cup Baker's coconut
1/2 block Kraft Philadelphia cream cheese



Directions:
1. Preheat over to 350 degrees F and get muffin pans ready by spraying with cooking spray.

2. All all muffin ingredients to a blender or food processor except for the cream cheese and coconut and blend on high until oats are broken down and batter is smooth.
3. Stir shredded coconut into batter.
4. Pour batter halfway into each muffin tin.

5. Cut cream cheese into about 1 tsp cubes and place 1 cube on top of batter of each muffin.
6. Cover the batter and cream cheese with the rest of the batter until cream cheese is no longer seen.
7. Bake for about 15 minutes or until muffins are cooked through. Insert a toothpick into muffin and if it comes clean (except for cream cheese), it is done.


Enjoy!

For this recipe, I used Baker's Coconut which is a sweetened coconut product. It is very tasty! Another option would be to add a bit of healthy cream cheese frosting and add the coconut on top which would be really pretty. I also used Kraft Philadelphia 1/3 less fat cream cheese. This is a product that I purchase often as I prefer to use a lower fat product than the original. It is super creamy and added an awesome flavor to my muffins. If you prefer a sweeter center to the muffins, you could beat some powdered sugar into the cream cheese. Both of these products were easy to find at Walmart.


If you need more inspiration, check out the Cooking Up Good website. They have recipes, sweepstakes, loyalty programs, coupons and more.  If you're looking for a new dinner idea or a chance to win some awesome prizes, be sure to check it out. When it comes to cooking, I am pretty creative but still feel like a novice with baking. This site provides lots of cooking ideas!