Strawberry and Cream Oat Muffins with Chia Seeds

Hi everyone! So sorry for my long absence again. Gosh I gotta stop doing this, disappearing and coming back being all apologetic, haha! But I reckon I will be slowing down in my posts here. No worries, I won't abandon it altogether but will still be lurking around, coming back with some awesome recipes to share, especially those that are in quite high "demand" in my Instagram account. I have to say it ain't easy to maintain two accounts....blog and IG. And since IG is a much easier posting, haha, I naturally lean towards that. Nonetheless will not leave my blog as I promised, so no worries!

Today's recipe is actually inspired by Jane's Sweets and Baking Journal. She has this really awesome recipe of strawberry cream cheese muffins which I made quite awhile back (not too sure have I posted it before, haha) But anyways, I decided to remaking it into a much healthier version, adding oat flour and chia seeds. Ok ok, back up you say? Chia what? Haha, it is the next BIG hit in super-food. Read all about its greatness here. Anyway, here is my baked muffin:

Note that all pictures posted on this post are taken using my iphone5...ehh yeah I kinda didn't expect to post this recipe so didn't even bother to whip out my DSLR, haha. So please pardon the slightly not up to standard qualities ya?  

Okay, here is my version of the recipe:
Ingredients for Strawberry & Cream Oat Muffins with Chia Seeds (Makes 16 of 4 oz cuppies)
1 cup buttermilk (I used 2 tsp of fresh lemon juice, combined with 1 cup fresh milk, rest 5 mins)
113g unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
180g cake flour
50g oar flour (50g rolled oats, blend till very fine)
140g light brown sugar
1/2 salt
2 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp chia seeds (adjust amount to your liking but do not add too much)  

Cream cheese filling
125g cream cheese, room temperature
1 and 1/2 Tbsp. of liquid from one whole egg that's been beaten lightly
1 tbsp of strawberry jam (optional)
3 tbsp confectioner's sugar
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
 
1 cup fresh ripe strawberries cut into small chunks

• In a small mixing bowl, add in cream cheese, powder sugar, egg, strawberry jam and vanilla. Stir and mix well till everything comes together into a smooth consistency.
• Chill the cream cheese mixture in the fridge till needed. 
• Preheat the oven to 175C.
• In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar till light and creamy. 
• Crack in an egg at a time, making sure it is well combined before adding the next one.
• Add in the vanilla extract and mix well.
• Next shift in half the amount of cake flour, baking powder and salt. Combine well.
• Then add in all of the buttermilk and again mix well.
• Add in the oat flour and combine, then lastly shift in the rest of the cake flour and stir well to combine.
• Sprinkle in the Chia seeds at this point if you are using and stir to mix it in evenly.
• Line the muffin cups and scoop about 1/3 amount of the cake batter in cupcake or muffin liners.
• Then scoop about 1 tsp amount of cream cheese mixture right in the middle of that cake batter.
• Then sprinkle a few chunks of cut up strawberries over the cream cheese. Then cover all this with another 1/3 amount of the cake batter.
• Making sure all these does not fill up more then 80% of the cupcake or muffin liner.
• Repeat till all the liners or tray are filled. Sprinkle some coarse brown sugar over the top for a nice sparkle.
• 
•  Bake in the preheated oven for 15-18 minutes till the top is golden brown and the cake tester comes out clean.

There you have it guys! For all those that has been bugging....sorry asking me for this recipe, hahaha! Just kidding! Happy baking ya! Oh wait!

How can me miss out this all important picture of how the cake look inside! Crisp on the outside and yet creamy on the inside. Not too sweet, just right with a slight tang from the fresh strawberries inside. You won't taste the Chia seeds at all if you are worried. It just add a tiny bit of crunch to every bite. ;) Hope it has tempt you enough! Thanks for staying with me and let me know how it turned out for you. ;))

Have a good one all! Cheers!