Berry Medley Muffins

I knooooow! They're doing that weird thing in the middle. But, ya know what? That's what happens when you put yummy gooey goodness inside.

It's all under control. No worries. Except for the fact that I can't decide if these are for breakfast or dessert. (as if that's going to dictate when I eat them!)

Not too long ago I was given a whole little pile of coupons for free Duncan Hines and Comstock-Wilderness Fruit Filling stuffs as part of the Foodbuzz Tastemakers program. Perfect timing with the holidays coming up. A girlfriend of mine found cans of Comstock Fruit Filling....Limited Edition Berry Medley. Limited Edition? I've never experienced limited edition food.....kinda makes ya feel a little special or something.

Limited Edition.

Why limited? Why not always? Are they testing the market....to see how much we like the combination of Strawberries, Raspberries and Blueberries? Come on....no test needed guys. It's wonderful! Let's remove the "limited" and make it a permanent "New" Edition to the Comstock family line. Seriously.....out of all the pie fillings I've tried, this is my favorite. There's something about those particular berries that work so well together.

Although...I didn't use mine in a pie. You see, after my little Duncan Hines shopping spree (you should see my cupboard!!! I've got some fun things in there to play with), I grabbed the box of 100% Whole Grain Blueberry Streusel Muffin Mix and the can of Limited Edition Berry Medley and went to work on a combination of my own.

Berry Medley Muffins
Printable Version

1 box of Duncan Hines 100% Whole Grain Blueberry Streusel Muffin Mix
2 eggs
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup vegetable oil

Filling:
1/2 can Berry Medley, Comstock Pie Filling & Topping
4 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/2 tablespoons of a beaten egg
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 375' F. Line 12 muffin tins with cupcake liners. 

For the filling, combine the cream cheese, 1 1/2 TB egg, sugar and vanilla. Mix with a spoon until mostly smooth. Lumps will happen. But if you use a mixer, all the filling will end up stuck on the beaters. Set the filling aside, but do not chill, while we get the muffins going.

Follow the instructions on the back of the box. Easy stuff really...combine the stuff in the box with the eggs, water and oil....but being careful not to over stir. Lumps.....no worries. Rinse the can of blueberries that came in the box with the muffin mix and fold them into the batter.

Now for the fun part. Not the "funnest" part....but just fun. (the funnest part comes at the end when you get to eat them!)

Fill each muffin cup about 1/2 full with the batter, reserving the remainder of the batter. Then put a dollop (about a tablespoon) of pie filling in the middle

Now get that filling that we set aside earlier and put a dollop on top of the berries.

I think its about a tablespoons worth as well. Just eyeball it as you try to evenly divide the filling amongst all 12 muffins.

Get the remainder of the batter and evenly divide it between the muffins to cover up the filling. If it's not perfect....don't stress. It'll all be fine in the end. I had a few that weren't completely covered with batter. Once you have distributed the remainder of the batter, top with the streusel that's provided in the box of muffin mix.

Place in the oven and bake for about 20 - 23 minutes. Or until the tops are golden brown and the crumb mix is lightly brown. You can't do the toothpick test....the inside is just too darned gooey.

Gee, darn.

Let it cool for about 5 - 10 minutes

But wait!!!

You need a fork! Trust me on this one. This is one muffin you can not eat without some sort of utensil

You know what happens when you take a photo like that? It ends up in your mouth. So then you take another photo, just in case...different angle and pose.....and poof! That one ends up in your mouth. After a few more shots......

 

Ya...thats what happens. True story.