I found this recipe on Eating Well and I made some adjustments to suit our tastes. The original recipe calls for goat cheese. I don't mind goat cheese, but I don't normally have it on hand, so I used cream cheese. I also used orange zest rather than lemon zest. Again, I didn't have a lemon on hand. I know, weird, I did actually have figs on hand, but then I love figs. Another big thing that I changed is the cooking temp and time. They had it at 425 but that is way too hot to cook a muffin. Enjoy!
Filling:
6 oz reduced fat cream cheese
2 T honey
1 t lemon zest (or orange)
1/4 t vanilla
Dry ingredients:
2 c whole wheat flour
1 1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t cardamom
Wet ingredients:
2 eggs
3/4 c brown sugar
1/2 c milk
1/2 c orange juice
1/3 c canola oil
1 t vanilla
1 1/4 c dried chopped figs
3 T turbinado (or granulated) sugar for topping
Preheat oven to 350. Line 18 muffin cups with paper liners or coat with cooking spray. Thoroughly combine filling ingredients in a small bowl and set aside. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. Lightly beat eggs and egg white in a medium bowl. Add brown sugar and rest of wet ingredients. Stir until smooth. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Stir until just combined. Fold in figs. Spoon half of the batter into the muffin cups. Add about 1 teaspoon of filling mixture to each cup. Add remaining batter. (The filling should not be visible.) Sprinkle the muffins with sugar. Bake until the edges start to brown and the tops spring back when gently pressed, about 15 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool. Enjoy!
