Wednesday mornings, we have ballet.   There is a lot of rushing around to get out the door on time, me, frantic, sweating, begging/barking at my kids to get their shoes on, to eat their breakfast, to sit still while I brush their hair.  Inevitably, just as we are about to walk out the door, I will find my son happily playing in the toilet, or worse, with a perfectly timed poopy diaper.  Wednesday mornings are hectic.  I like to try and make something easy for breakfast the night before.

It is worth it though, because there is nothing cuter than a room full of three year olds dancing ballet.

Lucky for me, during my once-a-year freezer cleaning this week (which is done every November so that I can wrestle two twenty pound turkeys into it) I discovered that I had about two cups of frozen blackberries that were picked over the summer.   So, it was decided.  Blackberry cream cheese muffins.  I didn’t have a recipe for that, but it sounded good, and I knew I could figure something out.

The “Bismark” part of the recipe name didn’t come about until I was pulling these babies out of the oven, drizzling them with glaze, and I realized that my house smelled like a donut shop.  A Bismark donut shop. Even though it was almost dinnertime, I couldn’t resist sampling one.  Yum.  These taste exactly like the donut, but in muffin form.

You will have some extra leftover blackberry compote, try not to eat it all with a spoon.  At the very least, spread it on some toast.  Try to be respectable, instead of eating it with a spoon over the kitchen sink before finally dumping dish soap in it to stop yourself, like I did.  Stay classy, y’all.

This recipe would work really well with blackberries, blueberries, or strawberries too.  Just sub out the berries.

**UPDATE** These were excellent warm and fresh from the oven, they were even more delicious the next morning, after being refrigerated in an airtight container overnight.

Enjoy!

A Rumbly in my Tumbly original

Ingredients:

for the muffin batter:
1/3 cup room temperature butter
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 cup of yogurt or sour cream
1/2 cup milk (the higher fat content, the better)
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

for the blackberry compote:
2 cups of frozen or fresh blackberries
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon cornstarch

for the cream cheese filling:
4 oz room temperature cream cheese
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

for the glaze:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons milk or cream

Directions:

First, make your blackberry compote by simmering your berries and sugar over low heat until bubbling.  No need to mash them up.  Once the mixture is nice and bubbly, remove about 1/4 cup of the liquid and mix it with the cornstarch.  Pour the mixture back in to your simmering pot, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture has thickened to the consistency of jam.  Set aside to cool.

Preheat your oven to 350° and line a muffin tin with paper liners.

Now, make your cream cheese mixture by mixing together cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla until smooth.

In a separate bowl, start your batter.  Cream together the butter and sugar.  Add the eggs, milk and yogurt and mix well.  Add dry ingredients and mix until just combined.

Fill the bottoms of the muffin liners evenly with 2/3 of the batter.  Place a tablespoon each of the blackberry compote and the cream cheese mixture in each.  Top with a dollop of the remaining batter, and then swirl each one around with a butter knife.

Bake for 12- 15 minutes until lightly browned and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  Mix glaze ingredients together, and drizzle over the top.

Enjoy!