Carrot Cake Muffins *with Cheesecake Filling!

Preheat oven to 350F (or 325F Convection bake). Line one 12-muffin baking tin with LARGE paper liners (note: I used bakery style muffin liners however you can use any tulip cupcake liners as well).

In a small bowl, mix cream cheese, sugar, and egg until smooth and creamy. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Whisk to sift and aerate mixture.
To the centre of the bowl filled with your dry mixture, add oil, vanilla, and eggs. Use whisk to mash eggs prior to combining all ingredients together. Mixture will be thick. Add chopped walnuts and shredded carrots, folding with spatula until mixture is evenly incorporated. Mixture will appear wet and speckled with shredded carrot.
Half-fill 12 lined muffin holders. Add ~1 tbsp of cream cheese mixture to each muffin. Top with remaining muffin batter. Sprinkle with additional walnuts to top.
Bake carrot cake muffins at 350F for ~45 min (40-48 min) or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean or with a few crumbs attached. Let cool for 10 min in muffin tin prior to allowing to cool completely on wire cooling rack.
Enjoy!

To allow more space for muffins to rise – you can use two cupcake/muffin trays instead of one – spacing out muffin liners so that only six are used in each tray)
Only have standard cupcake liners? Not to worry. You can easily use regular cupcake liners and proportion the batter/filling accordingly. This will make twice as many muffins and the cook time will likely be 5-10 minutes less
These muffins can be enjoyed up to 2 days at room temperature, kept in an air-tight container. Or in the fridge for 2 weeks.
These Carrot Cake Muffins can be frozen in an air-tight freezer bag for up to 3 months! Simply defrost at room temperature, and warm for a few minutes in the oven for that freshly baked muffin warmth!
Enjoy!