Lemon Coffee Cake Muffins

Today is my thirty first birthday and also the last day of winter (hallelujah)!  Up until today, I have been in complete denial of the fact that I had reached my thirties.  I turned thirty during the first week of lock down and have declared many times that it doesn’t count if there wasn’t a party.  ..And it really doesn’t count if the party had been planned, but got cancelled at the last moment because of a stupid global pandemic.

Last night, it hit me in the face:  I was in bed by 8:30pm watching a documentary about Hillary Clinton (thoroughly enjoying it, by the way) and having a conversation with my dog...  touché, thirties, we have arrived!

Because I’m not able to invite you all over for a party, I created a new recipe that you can use to celebrate with me!

Inspiration (a few of my favorite things):   Lemons (hello spring!) + Coffee Cake + Cheesecake

Meet the Lemon Coffee Cake Muffin!

Think of the luscious sugar & cinnamon crumbs of a coffee cake with some pops of lemon zest and a surprise cheesecake center.  They are perfect, and because they are technically coffee cakes, I’ll be eating them for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Great with coffee, but you also need to try them fresh out of the oven with a scoop of ice cream!

• 3/4 cup flour
• 2/3 cup dark brown sugar
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• Pinch of salt
• 5 tablespoons butter (room temp)

1. Stir together everything except for the butter until combined
2. Add the butter and use a fork to mash the butter into the cinnamon mixture into it looks like crumbs
3. Set aside 

Cake:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
2. Whisk together the flour, baking powder & soda, and salt in a small bowl
3. Using a stand mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until like and fluffy (will take a few minutes)
4. Add the eggs one at a time and beat to combine after each
5. Add the vanilla and beat until combined
6. Turn the speed to low and slowly add the flour and yogurt in this way (proportions don’t have to be perfect, but this will help the batter to mix together better than if you throw everything in at once):
   1. 1/3 of the flour
   2. 1/2 of the yogurt
   3. 1/3 of the flour
   4. Remaining yogurt
   5. Remaining flour
7. Stir in the lemon zest
8. Prepare one muffin pan by greasing it or lining with muffin tins
9. Add a heaping tablespoon of batter to each muffin cup
10. Prepare little indentations in the center of each muffin for the filling (I used a butter knife for this)
11. Divide the cheesecake filling between the muffins
12. Top each muffin with the remaining cake batter to cover the cheesecake 
13. Sprinkle the crumbs on top
14. Bake until the crumbs are a golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean (for me this took 20 minutes)

The batter will be thick..  I used a cookie scoop to fill the muffin tins.  

As I sit here eating my birthday treat, I’m feeling okay about being in my thirties.  I hope this recipe can hold me over until next year, when my party will have to account for 3 years of celebrating!

Thanks for stopping by to celebrate with me!  What would your dream birthday dessert be??