Baking with C: Cinnamon Mango Muffins

Charlotte loves mango! I happened to come across this mango muffin recipe and thought it would be a fun baking activity for us to do together on a Friday afternoon.

I’ve never made muffins using cream cheese instead of butter but I happened to have exactly half a block left from the Creamy Spinach Artichoke Chicken Stew so I decided to try it.

Charlotte loved these! The muffin was very moist (thanks to the cream cheese?). Next time I’ll chop the mango more finely so it is more evenly distributed in the batter. The cinnamon dominated the ginger flavor; so, if you don’t have any ground ginger, the recipe would work with just cinnamon. I didn’t have vanilla bean paste for the glaze so I just used some vanilla extract.

A little taste of sunshine on a winter day.

Cinnamon Ginger Mango Muffins with Vanilla Bean Glaze
Julie Menghini, Hostess at Heart

Muffin Batter

• 4 oz cream cheese softened at room temperature
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup milk I used almond milk but any will do
• 1/2 cup brown sugar packed
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 eggs 
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt (table or kosher is fine)
• 8 oz frozen mango chunks thawed, drained on a paper towel, and chopped
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger

Vanilla Bean Glaze

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
• 6 tbsp milk

Instructions

• Preheat your oven to 350°F and fill 17 to 18 muffin cups with cupcake liners or grease well.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream softened cream cheese, sugar, and brown sugar together on medium speed until light and fluffy. 
• Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition and then the vanilla and milk.  Mix until blended together.
• In a medium-sized bowl combine the flour, baking powder baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and salt. Whisk to combine.
• Add the flour mixture to the liquid mixture.
• Fold the mangos into the batter. 
• Fill muffin cups 3/4 full. Bake 17 to 18 minutes. Muffins are done when a toothpick comes out clean.  Turn the muffins out of the pan onto a cooling rack.
• Combine the powdered sugar, vanilla bean paste, and milk one tablespoon at a time until the glaze is thin enough to drizzle.
• Store in an air-tight container.