CHEESECAKE MUFFINS from Beth

I discovered this recipe while watching Semi-Homemade Cooking with Sandra Lee. I loved to make these for the girls in the dorm and sometimes even gave them as gifts on occasions like Christmas. People love them!

Ingredients
1 box moist white cake mix
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sour cream
2 eggs
1/4 cup plus 1/2 cup sugar
2 cups graham cracker crumbs (I buy the prepacked crumbs from Kroger.)
6 tablespoons butter, melted
1/4 cup cherry preserves (I have experimented with different flavors.)

Cream Cheese Filling:
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon freshly-squeezed lemon juice

Directions:
Lightly grease a 12-cup muffin pan and set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
To make the batter, in a large mixing bowl, combine cake mix, softened cream cheese, sour cream, eggs, and 1/4 cup sugar. Beat on medium speed for 3 minutes. (The batter will be very thick so make sure you've got a good mixer!)

To make the crust, combine graham cracker crumbs, 1/2 cup sugar, and melted butter in a small bowl. Set aside.

In a smaller mixing bowl, beat together all ingredients for cheese filling until smooth. Set aside.

Divide half of the graham cracker mixture among the 12 muffin cups and lightly press into bottoms. Fill cups all the way to the top with muffin batter. Place 1 teaspoon of preserves on top of muffin batter and with a teaspoon, lightly cut preserves into batter.

With the back of a spoon dipped in water to keep from sticking, indent the batter and top with a dollop of filling to cover the cherry preserves. Sprinkle remaining graham cracker mixture over the top of muffins. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes before removing muffins from pan.