Cherry Cheesecake Muffins

By MarieR

Ingredients

• 1 box (18-ounces) moist white cake mix
• 1 package (8-ounces) cream cheese softened
• 1/2 cup (4-ounces) sour cream
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 cup sugar
• Crust
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 cups (8-ounces) graham cracker crumbs
• 6 tablespoons butter melted
• 1/4 cup cherry preserves
• Cheese filling
• 1 package (8-ounces) cream cheese softened
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Details

Servings 12

Preparation

Step 1

Prep Time: 20 minutes, Inactive Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes,
Yield: 12 servings

Lightly grease a 12-cup muffin pan and set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

To make the batter, in a large mixing bowl, combine cake mix, softened cream cheese, sour cream, eggs, and 1/4 cup sugar. Beat on medium speed for 3 minutes.
Set aside.

To make the crust, combine graham cracker crumbs, 1/2 cup sugar, and melted butter in a small bowl. Mix this well till it holds together.
Set aside.

To make the cream cheese filling, in a smaller mixing bowl, beat together all ingredients for cheese filling until smooth.
Set aside.

Divide half of the graham cracker mixture among the 12 muffin cups and lightly press into bottoms. Make sure the crust holds together for a firm bottom crust.

Fill cups all the way to the top with muffin batter.

Place 1 teaspoon of cherry preserves on top of muffin batter and with a teaspoon, lightly cut preserves into batter.

With the back of a spoon dipped in water to keep from sticking, indent the batter and top with a dollop of filling to cover the cherry preserves (push the cream filling deep as the cake batter will rise to cover it).

Sprinkle remaining graham cracker mixture over the top of muffins.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes.

Let cool 10 minutes before removing muffins from pan.