Gluten Free Strawberry Cheesecake Muffins

Step 1

In a large bowl, whisk together the gluten free flour blend, light brown sugar and xanthan gum.

Step 2

Add the cubed cold butter and rub it into the dry ingredients with your fingertips until you get a crumbly mixture that forms clumps when you press it together. You want a mixture of small “crumbs” and larger pea-sized pieces.

Step 3

Set aside until needed.

Step 4

In a bowl, mix together the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until well combined and smooth.

Step 5

Transfer the mixture to a piping bag fitted with a round nozzle (or just cut off the end of the piping bag without a nozzle). Set aside until needed.

Step 6

Adjust the oven rack to the middle position, pre-heat the oven to 375ºF (190ºC) and line 11 holes of a 12-hole muffin pan with paper liners. Depending on the size of your muffin pan holes and your paper liners, the recipe makes 11-12 muffins.

Step 7

Add the sugar and lemon zest to a large bowl, and use your fingertips to rub the zest into the sugar.Tip: This helps to release more essential oils from the zest, and it will make your muffins even more lemony and fragrant.

Step 8

Add the melted butter, oil, yoghurt, eggs and vanilla to the sugar, and mix well until combined.

Step 9

In a separate large bowl, whisk together the gluten free flour blend, almond flour, baking powder, baking soda, xanthan gum and salt.

Step 10

Add the chopped strawberries directly to the dry ingredients, and mix well with a rubber spatula or a wooden spoon until all the strawberries are coated in flour.Tip: This essentially mimics the step you often see in recipes which calls for coating berries in flour before you add them to the batter (to prevent sinking), but here this happens in situ.

Step 11

Add the wet ingredients to the dry, and use a rubber spatula or a wooden spoon to mix everything together into a fairly thick batter. Make sure that there are no flour clumps and that the strawberries are evenly distributed throughout the batter.

Step 12

Use an ice cream/cookie scoop or a spoon to divide the batter evenly between the muffin liners, filling each about ¾ full. Depending on the size of your muffin pan holes and your paper liners, the recipe makes 11-12 muffins.

Step 13

Pipe a generous amount of the cheesecake filling into the centre of each muffin – you shouldn't have any filling left over.When piping the cheesecake filling, don’t just pipe it on top of the muffins – stick the end of the piping bag into the centre of the muffin and then, as you’re squeezing the piping bag, move it upwards and finish it off with a small dollop of the cheesecake filling on top of the muffin. (See blog post for photos.)

Step 14

Press a halved strawberry (or quartered, if your berries are on the large side) on top of each muffin, then sprinkle on a generous amount of the streusel topping, you shouldn't have any left over.

Step 15

Bake at 375ºF (190ºC) for about 20-24 minutes or until the muffins are well risen, golden brown on top and an inserted toothpick or cake tester comes out clean.

Step 16

Allow the muffins to cool in the muffin pan for about 5-10 minutes, then transfer them out of the pan and onto a wire rack to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Step 17

The gluten free strawberry cheesecake muffins keep well in a closed container in the fridge for 3-4 days. Allow to stand at room temperature for 5-10 minutes before serving for the optimal texture. (Note that the crumble topping will soften with time as it absorbs the ambient moisture and also the moisture from the muffins.)