Cheddar Cheese Cupcakes

Oh man, get out of here January!  You are the freaking worst!

I thought I told you not to come back here.

Every year it's the same.  At the beginning of the month I'm all delusional in a post-holiday glow, certain that this will be the year, THIS will be the one year I can finally stand January.

My hopes start to fade some time after my birthday (a bright spot!) and continue to die until, at the end of the month, I'm this ragged, grumpy, squint-eyed curmudgeon shaking my fist at the sun because it had the audacity to set before 4:00 pm.  Why did you bother rising at all.

Yes that is a toddler hand reaching for the goods.

Potato chips and Doctor Who are all I have to get through it (and YES I've already seen them all....lea'mealone).

February is only three days away.  I know it is.  It's so close.  But I'm going to die of cold and dark before I get there, I know it, passed out on the track with my fingers clawing desperately but hopelessly toward the finish line.

It's right about now that my mom, having read my blog, calls and asks "Anna are you taking your Vitamin D?"

NO.  I'm not.  It's too far away from my couch nest.  Ask me again in February.

Cheddar Cheese Cupcakes (recipe borrowed from Adora's Box)
Getting crazy in here y'all!  CHEDDAR.  CHEESE.  CUPCAKES.  Please be brave and try these.  It took my husband several days of eying them suspiciously before he put one in his mouth and you know what?  He loved them.  They are soft, white, creamy and rich.  The cheddar taste isn't strong, it just adds the slightest salty nuance to an otherwise sweet, milky experience.  They are more like milk cupcakes, really, with sweetened condensed milk playing a low-key but crucial role (have you had sweetened condensed milk?  Like, omg).  These.  Are.  Awesome.

Makes 12 cupcakes

1 1/3 cups plain flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
225 grams butter, room temperature (that's almost a stick, the number of grams will be on the label)
1/2 cup sugar
3 large eggs, room temperature
1/2 cup cream cheese
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
1 cup grated mature cheddar cheese

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a 12-cup muffin pan with papers.  Whisk the flour, salt and baking powder together.

Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well (up to 1 minute) after each addition.  Add in the cream cheese, condensed milk and vanilla and beat 1 more minute.

Add in the flour mixture and blend gently in until combined.

Fill your muffin pan, filling each about 2/3 full.  Top each cupcake with 1 tablespoon of grated cheddar cheese.

Bake for 20 minutes or until the tops are browned and a cake tester comes out clean.