Cranberry Apricot Cream Cheese Muffins

I always try to have some sort of muffin or bread for breakfast in the morning. We like things that are prepared and easy to grab and relatively healthy :) I found this recipe in a cookbook from a friend: Cooking with HealthyRoads. I was happy to see that I had everything on hand that I needed to make these and I was excited to try them since they sounded so good. They really turned out pretty good. I wouldn't bake them quite as long next time so they are just a bit more moist. Overall, these were a yummy change from zucchini and banana bread.

Cranberry Apricot Cream Cheese Muffins
1/4 cup low fat cream cheese
1/4 cup sweetened dried cranberries
1/4 cup dried apricots, diced
2 cups flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups low fat buttermilk
3 T vegetable oil
1 large egg
2 large egg whites
cooking spray

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine the cream cheese, cranberries and apricots; stir (the cookbook says with a whisk-good luck with that if that's what you want to mix it with).

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and the next 5 ingredients (through the salt) in a medium bowl; make a well in the center of the mixture. Combine the buttermilk, oil, egg and egg whites; stir well with a whisk. Add to the flour mixture, stirring until just moist.

Spoon the batter into 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray, filling each of them 1/3 full. Top each with approximately 1 tsp cream cheese mixture, dividing the remaining batter evenly over the cream cheese mixture. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes or until muffins spring back when touched lightly in the center. Remove muffins from pans immediately, and place on wire rack.