Cheery Cherry Muffins

Submitted by HeatherFeather

"We were very lucky to have once had a home with a cherry tree that produced an abundance of fresh baking cherries. I used to make these muffins a lot when I had fresh cherries on hand, and I kept bags of them in the freezer pre-measured for this recipe. These are not sweet eating cherries - these are baking cherries. The original recipe came from a flyer from the Cherry Marketing Institute."

 

• Ready In: 45mins
• Ingredients: 10
• Serves: 12

ingredients

• 2 1⁄2 cups frozen unsweetened tart red cherries, pitted,divided
• 1⁄2 cup sweet unsalted butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 1⁄2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄2 cup half-and-half cream, whole milk or 1/2 cup light cream

directions

1. While cherries are still frozen, cut them into halves, then set aside to thaw and drain in a mesh colander over a bowl.
2. Cream butter and sugar using an electric mixer.
3. Add eggs, almond extract, and vanilla and beat well.
4. Crush 1/2 cup of the thawed cherries with a fork; add the mashed cherries to the batter.
5. Mix flour, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl.
6. Fold half of the flour mixture into the butter mixture using a spatula; do not overmix.
7. Add half of the cream or milk, mixing just enough to combine.
8. Add remaining flour, then remaining milk; again avoid overmixing.
9. Fold in the remaining cherry halves.
10. Fill 12 paper-lined muffin tins with batter.
11. If desired, you may sprinkle the muffins with some extra sugar.
12. Bake in a preheated 375 F oven until golden brown, about 20-30 minutes.

Reviews

[ltdsaloon16r]

Yummy muffin recipe. I bought frozen cherries from the supermarket, the amount was just over 2 Cups. (muffins were still full of cherries) I really liked the hint of almond flavour throughout the muffin. Next time Im going to add some chopped almonds as well. Delicious!

 

[Quiltingqueen]

Yum! I made these with fresh bing cherries, but otherwise followed the recipe. I also sprinkled a little cinnamon sugar in the bottom of the muffin cups and on top. Fantastic!

 

[BostonMark]

This is a keeper. Easy recipe, great cherry and almond combo taste. And I agree with Evie, next time I might add chopped almonds (maybe on top).

 

[FitWitch]

So, I needed to clean out some space in my freezer and thought I'd find a use for some of the cherries I'd frozen last summer, and came upon this recipe.<br/><br/>Delicious! I subbed some lemon extract for the almond and it gave the muffins this awesome lemon undertone that worked beautifully with the cherries. Cut the sugar back to about 2/3 cup. I chopped almost all of my cherries - left only about half a cup halved - because I made minis and I wasn't sure how well the larger pieces would do. 1.5 cups chopped to 0.5 cup halved worked well for two pans of mini muffins! Remember if you do minis to shorten your baking time - 12 to 15 minutes worked best for me.

 

[jane49423]

These are awesome. I didn't have almond extract, so I used vanilla. baked for 27 minutes. Also used fat free milk.