These delectable sweet cherry muffins are some of my very favorite muffins ever. Their lightly sweet, tender crumb is soft and melt-in your mouth. And the amazing flavor of is out of this world good.
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Hello, my friends!
I am so excited to share these sweet cherry muffins. The recipe came rather out of necessity as my son and I sort of accidentally picked 20 pounds of cherries one day.
True story.
My Mom’s neighbor was so gracious to share her abundant cherry crop and I guess we got a little carried away. The crazy thing is that even after picking that many (plus we had picked a few days earlier and my sister had come picking as well), the tree still looked like it hadn’t been picked at all. Not at all. AND the owner told me that she had picked over 50 pounds herself. Crazy things those cherry trees. I can’t believe how much they produce.
Since I couldn’t very well let all those cherries go to waste, I’ve been making cherry EVERYTHING for the last couple of weeks. And believe me, I’m not complaining.
How to pit cherries
Well I guess if I had any complaints it would be the pitting. But even that’s not bad if you know a few tricks. I’ve used this fancy cherry pitter (aff. link) that I borrowed from a neighbor in the past. It works well, but does make a bit of a mess (think sticky cherry juice EVERYWHERE). But in case you’re still in denial that you need to buy one like me, here’s the easiest way I’ve found to pit them:
Using a narrow neck bottle, place the cherry on the top. Then I take either the non-pointy end of a wooden skewer or the flat part of a wooden chopstick (or something similar in shape) and poke the pit down through the cherry into the jar. The jar seems to contain most of the mess and keeps things fairly clean. I still wear gloves (so I don’t dye my hands reddish brown) and use paper towels around to catch any squirting juice. I’ve tried several methods and thus far, but this is the one that seems to work the best.
This recipe actually calls for chopped cherries so you can get away with just halving the cherries and digging out the pits, which works fine too.
Make sure to drain the cherries well with paper towels after chopping so there’s not too much liquid. That will help ensure you end up with perfectly delicious and stunningly beautiful muffins.
A few tips for perfect sweet cherry muffins
I absolutely LOVE the flavor of these beauties. They are sweet without being too sweet. This is not your sickeningly sweet unfrosted cupcake recipe. And if you want to go for VERY lightly sweetened muffins, I sometimes cut the sugar from 2/3 cup down to 1/2 cup (or 3.75 ounces) and actually love them that way too.
The little hint of coconut-almond flavor has me speechless. Every time I take a nibble somehow before I know it the entire muffin has disappeared before I know what’s hit me.
In order to really appreciate the true flavor you need to know about the coconut oil that I use. I use this organic unrefined virgin coconut oil (aff link) in this recipe and most other recipes that call for coconut oil. It’s the best coconut oil I’ve ever found and well priced too. I just found out it’s available on amazon and just ordered some (as I was running out…making too many muffins I guess).
This coconut oil actually has the flavor of coconut oil. I’m no expert on why it’s better for you than others, but I’ve been told that the way coconut oil is processed matters to preserving its health benefits. And I’ve also been told this is the good stuff for you. But all I really know is it tastes amazing and I love it. So there you go.
Use the good stuff, my friends. It will make a difference. Case in point: I can’t stop thinking about these muffins. They are completely bedazzling. Make them okay?
Sweet Cherry Muffins
These delectable sweet cherry muffins are some of my very favorite muffins ever. Their lightly sweet, tender crumb is soft and melt-in your mouth. And the amazing flavor of is out of this world good.
Ingredients
- ¾ cup (about 6 ounces) pitted and chopped fresh sweet cherries divided, see note
- 1 ¾ cups (8.75 ounces) all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream
- ⅔ cup (5 ounces) granulated sugar see note
- ½ cup coconut oil melted, see note
- ½ teaspoon pure almond extract
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
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Wash, pit, and chop cherries and place on paper towels to drain excess juices.
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a standard 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners or grease with nonstick cooking spray.
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In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
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In a medium bowl whisk the eggs lightly. Then add sour cream, sugar, melted coconut oil, almond extract, and vanilla extract. Whisk until smooth and combined.
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Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the wet ingredients. Gently stir with rubber spatula until only a few dry streaks remain. Add ½ cup chopped, drained cherries and stir very gently until barely incorporated and no dry streaks remain.
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Divide the batter evenly between the muffin cups (I like to use a #20 cookie scoop). Sprinkle tops with remaining chopped cherries. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 20-25 minutes or until the muffins are lightly brown, tops spring back to the touch, and inserted toothpick comes out clean.
Recipe Notes
1. I’ve only ever used fresh sweet cherries for this recipe. You can experiment with frozen cherries, but be sure to drain well. I would probably let them thaw completely before chopping, then let them drain on the paper towels for about 10-15 minutes.
2. I use organic unrefined virgin coconut oil (aff link) in this recipe. It’s the kind of coconut oil that actually smells like coconut (along with having other health benefits as well). It gives the muffins a wonderful flavor and I highly recommend using a good coconut oil for this recipe.
3. These muffins are already lightly sweetened, but for VERY lightly sweetened muffins you can cut the sugar to ½ cup or 3.75 ounces.
Recipe Source: Heather @ The Cook’s Treat
All images and text ©The Cook’s Treat
Disclaimer: post contains affiliate links for items on Amazon.
