The Creamy Addition That'll Make Store-Bought Muffin Mix Taste Bakery-Worthy

Store-bought muffin mix encompasses a broad range of brands, not to mention flavors. And, like boxed cake mixes, all you need is some water or milk and the oven to transform the dry mixture into fluffy muffins. But many household staples can give store-bought muffin mix a homemade touch. Cream cheese is one such staple that'll take store-bought muffins from homemade to bakery-worthy.

Perhaps the most versatile type of cheese on earth, cream cheese has countless uses in both savory dishes, like pasta sauces, to the star of any cheesecake recipe. You're likely to have cream cheese sitting in the fridge for your morning bagels, so there's no extra expense or effort involved in a bakery-worthy muffin upgrade. Cream cheese brings a rich and tangy flavor to complement a sweet muffin. It also pairs well with all manner of flavors, from chocolate chips to bananas and blueberries.

As a wet ingredient with a substantial fat content, cream cheese also imparts moisture and tenderness to the muffin crumb. Since baked goods drying out is a common mishap for home cooks, a swirl or dab of cream cheese is a tasty preventative measure. Not only will the liquid and fat content make for a velvety and tender crumb, but depending on how you add cream cheese to your muffins, the cream cheese itself can create gooey pockets to savor with each bite.

It's simple enough to add cream cheese to any muffin mix, and there are several ways to go about it. Perhaps the simplest way to add cream cheese is directly out of the fridge. You can simply chop cold cream cheese into small cubes and sprinkle them on top of each batter-filled cup of a muffin tin. Finish the cream cheese off with a sprinkling of sugar to take it in a sweet direction. As the muffins cook, the cream cheese cubes will sink and disperse throughout the batter, creating those gooey pockets of goodness. This strategy works particularly well with a banana nut muffin, as you'd get gooey bits along with crunch from the nuts in each bite.

Another option is to create cream cheese-stuffed muffins by bringing the cheese to room temperature, whipping it with some sugar and perhaps vanilla extract, then layering it into the muffin mix. To do this, fill each muffin tin halfway with batter, add a dollop of whipped cream cheese, then top it off with more muffin batter. This will create a decadently gooey center. You can try this with a blueberry or chocolate chip muffin. You can also make a cream cheese glaze. Combine softened cream cheese with powdered sugar, vanilla, and butter with a whisk or hand mixer, and pour it over your next batch of cooled muffins. Try adding glaze to a pumpkin spice or gingerbread muffin.