Blog posts are like building bricks. If you want a great reputation, you must treat every single one of them as an important element in the pursuit of your goal. Yet, we all know that those first few bricks are particularly important as you lay your base. Especially with so many great cooking blogs around! 😉 For this reason, I wanted to start off my blog with something truly special.

What I came up with is perhaps the ultimate example of decadence in the art of muffin creation:

Coconut-Lime White Chocolate Muffins with Cream Cheese filling

Ingredients:

(for 24 regular muffins)

For the filling:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
¾ cup granulated sugar

For the muffins: (adapted from CupcakeMuffin’s “Lime-Coconut-White Chocolate Chip Muffins“)
4 cups all purpose flour
2 T baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
4 large eggs
2 cups low fat milk (I used 1%)
1 & 1/3 cups granulated sugar
1 cup sunflower oil (The original recipe calls for canola, but I didn’t have any at hand. Still, it worked just fine!)
Zest of 2 limes + 1 tbsp lime juice
2 tsp vanilla
1 bag white chocolate chips (11.5-12oz)

Directions:

1.       Begin by preparing the filling: mix the softened cream cheese and sugar. Then, form a log of uniform height – you will be cutting it in 24 equal “coins” – leave it to refrigerate while you work on the muffin mix or, if you’ve got the time, freeze for an hour.

2.       Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt, coconut) except for the lime zest and the chocolate.

3.       Do the same for the lime zest and wet ingredients (eggs, milk, canola oil, lime juice, vanilla) in another bowl.

4.       Combine the “wet” and the “dry” mixes into one — using a mixer or by folding with a spatula.

5.       Now gently incorporate the chocolate chips with a spatula.

6.       Time to get everything together! Fill the muffin tins halfway up. Take a piece of cream cheese mixture, place it at the center. Then cover with more muffin mix to fill up the tin.

7.       Bake for about 25 minutes. (It will take at least 20 minutes and up to 30 depending on your oven.)

8.       Enjoy  😛