Watermelon Muffins

Still searching for a new use for watermelon - or it's curd version? Well, apparently I was too slow in eating my second jar, and my mom told me on the weekend that it needed to be used up or thrown out to make room for BBQ leftovers and groceries. Hmph.

Well, I did manage to use it up in one go, along with the last of some shredded coconut and mini chocolate chips. Doing what I do, I baked the lot into a batch of muffins... though granted, they are sweet (even though there's no sugar in the batter - only the curd and chocolate chips), with a tender, cakey texture, so I'd be more tempted to call them "naked cupcakes". Either way, they make use of a good portion of curd (I'm sure lemon or strawberry curd would work deliciously in this too),and get extra structure and moisture from a trifecta of dairy: yoghurt, cream cheese and butter. To boost the flavour of the melon a little more, a few drops of watermelon flavouring got stirred in too - just enough to add interest without brashly declaring "yes, I am watermelon. Hear me roar".

Now, I mentioned that I didn't add sugar to the batter... and I didn't. But these are sweet, thanks to some of the Pyure Bakeable Blend Stevia Sweetener I had on hand. Normally I wouldn't use the replacement exclusively in muffins or cakes - it isn't as hygroscopic as "normal" sugar so the finished bakes tend to dry out - but with all the other moisture going on I figured it would be pretty safe to do this once. Of course, if you don't have it on hand, regular or coconut sugar would work too - just watch them closely for overbrowning.

In the end, they were an unexpected sweet treat for the party, which surprised everyone when the "secret ingredient" was revealed!

Watermelon Muffins
Makes 12 large muffins
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1 oz salted butter, softened
1 tbsp canola oil
½ cup Pyure All Natural Bakeable Blend Stevia Sweetener (or sugar)
2 eggs
1 tsp fresh grated ginger
1 tbsp vanilla
1 drop watermelon flavour (optional)
1 ¼ cups Watermelon Curd
¼ cup plain, low-fat (or homemade) yoghurt
½ cup flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tbsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
pinch salt
⅓ cup shredded unsweetened coconut
⅓ cup miniature chocolate chips
2 tbsp cacao nibs (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 F and line or grease muffin tins
2. Cream together the cream cheese, butter, oil and stevia until well blended (you can see I didn't beat my cream cheese well enough - do better than me!).
3. Add the eggs, ginger and vanilla, beating well.
4. Add the watermelon curd and yoghurt and blend in.
5. Add flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Mix just until combined.
6. Fold in the coconut, chocolate chips and cacao nibs.
7. Bake 20 - 25 minutes for standard muffins (15 - 18 minutes for mini-muffins). 
8. Cool immediately on a wire rack. 

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 201.5
Total Fat: 10.2 g
Cholesterol: 46.7 mg
Sodium: 58.7 mg
Total Carbs: 24.3 g
Dietary Fiber: 2.5 g
Protein: 4.6 g

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