Thank God it's Saturday. Oh, and thankful I am.

Yesterday, I did not once proclaim, 'Thank God it's Friday!' If I did, it would have implied that I was happy it was Friday and could deal with the day's worth of issues because tomorrow was Saturday.

Yeah, not so much. Not this time.

I had the *craziest* week. I can't remember the last time I felt so many emotions in one go. It was ridiculous. I won't bore you will all the details of my going-ons, but trust me when I say that if I had a button to stop the world just so I could get off, I would have pushed in on Tuesday at 7am. It's like the saying goes, 'When it rains, it pours'. Someone for sure got that right. It's also like the....sorry, I'm going to stop. Now. I'm starting to sound like those frustrating friends that put vague statuses on their Facebook page.

Yeah, and can we just talk about that for one quick second? Seriously, what is that? We all have at least ONE friend on our list that does this, so I know you know what I'm talking about.

"Jane Bag of Doughnuts is weighing out the options..." or "Jane Bag of Doughnuts is hoping for the best...." or "Jane Bag of Doughnuts thinks it's a good thing this has happened..." 

And that's ALL they give you.  

Really? REALLY? You're gonna make me go there? You're going to make me ask, "What options, Jane?" "What's going on?" "Are you alright Jane?" Even when I feel like indulging them and ask, I still don't get an answer much of the time! Why Jane? I deserve at least that much. Of course I care about you and truly hope you're okay, but don't make it like pulling teeth. It's frustrating as all get out.

However, I don't need a Facebook status to say these muffins are incredible, but they are. Oh, they are. The weekend already looks brighter.

"I think it's a great idea..." 

"...to make these muffins! Now."

Don't worry, I'd never leave you hanging. 

Unless you're hanging off the side of a skyscraper. Then it's all you baby.

INSIDE OUT CARROT CAKE MUFFINS

Recipe adapted and slightly modified from King Arthur Flour 

FILLING

1 (8 ounce) package of cream cheese, at room temperature

¼ cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract 

2¼ cups all purpose flour

½ cup granulated sugar

½ cup light brown sugar, firmly packed

1½ teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons cinnamon

½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice or nutmeg

¾ teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

¼ cup buttermilk

½ cup water

⅓ cup butter, at room temperature

1 cup grated carrots

Preheat oven to 375ºF. Line a 12 cup muffin tin with paper liners.  

In a large bowl, using a hand mixer, beat cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla; Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk the dry ingredients together. In another bowl, beat the eggs, butter, buttermilk, water, and vanilla together. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.

Fold in the grated carrots.  

Drop about 2 tablespoons of batter into each muffin cup, making sure to completely cover the bottoms. 

Drop about a tablespoon of filling into each cup on top of batter. I piped the filling into the centers of the muffins as it was less of a mess and I knew that the filling would be right in the middle.

Cover with enough batter to fill the muffin cups. You can sprinkle with sanding sugar if you like. We added pink sanding sugar to half of the muffins because, well, why not?

Bake for 20 minutes or until you can insert a toothpick into the muffin (not the filling) and it comes out clean. 

Yields: 12 muffins.