Moist Cherry Almond Muffins

Back in college when I was working at the Blue Heron Coffeehouse, Cherry Almond was a popular muffin flavor that showed up in the bake case at least once a week. Since my reader favorite Blueberry Muffin recipe already had almond flour in it, I decided that it would be very adaptable for this nostalgic flavor. It works beautifully in this base recipe, and is a perfect way to start a morning. These muffins are light with a tender crumb, and almond flour and almond extract give them a well-rounded flavor.

Some muffin tips from my testing:

*I found adding almond flour keeps the crumb tender and light, and also adds rich flavor. I don’t recommend swapping it with all-purpose flour.

*Since muffin pans are all unique, I like to bake a test muffin when I first try a recipe to see how it bakes up in my pan. This way I know how to adjust how much batter to put in the pan if the muffin spills over while baking.

*Filling the muffin cups so that every other cup is empty can help the muffins bake higher. Leaving that extra space in between muffins gives them more room to rise, and their tops won’t bake into each other in the pan. This does mean you will have to use two pans for baking, but I find it is worth the extra trouble. I don’t fill the empty cups with water – I leave them empty.

My Preferred Muffin Pan

Standard muffin pans are surprisingly varied. After baking thousands of muffins in dozens of different pans over the last two decades, I can report that nearly every brand of muffin pan is slightly different. Because of this, your muffins may not bake up exactly like mine.

When testing recipes for this book, I found that I preferred Nordic Ware Naturals twelve-cup aluminum muffin pans. My round scoop matched the dimensions of the muffin cups perfectly, and I liked the way my muffins baked up. I give an amount of batter for each cup and how full the cup should be for this recipe, but baking a test muffin in your pan to see how it performs is a good idea.

The smaller taller muffins in these photos were baked in a popover pan – I thought it would be fun to try that out and see how they baked up. I loved how elegant they looked. I used the same amount of batter as I did in a normal pan, and put a half sheet pan on an oven rack below just in case any batter spilt. If you try this and your popover pan is a different size, you may have to adjust the batter amount.

Here’s What I Know About Greasing Muffin Pans

If you’re using muffin liners, you don’t have to grease the muffin cups. Otherwise, it is absolutely necessary. Your best bet is to use a pastry brush to “paint” butter into the cavities and then dust with flour. Pan spray works well too. If the muffins are not in liners, I also like to give the top of the pan a spray, so the muffin tops don’t stick as much.

I use a floured pan spray in the cavities, and a non-floured pan spray for the tops (the flour can burn on the top of the pan as the muffins are baking in the oven). I find this usually ensures an easy release.

Moist Cherry Almond Muffins

Servings: 12 muffins

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 18 minutes minutes

These cherry muffins are light with a tender crumb, and almond flour and almond extract give them a well-rounded flavor. Sweet cherries add a fruity pop to each bite.

Sarah Kieffer

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Ingredients

• 5 tablespoons [70 g] unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 1 cup [200 g] granulated sugar, plus more for sprinkling
• 3/4 cup [180 g] buttermilk, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup [50 g] almond flour
• 1/3 cup [75 g] vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup [60 g] sour cream, at room temperature
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 tablespon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon fine salt
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 cups [284 g] all-purpose flour
• 7 ounces [198 g] sweet cherries, chopped into bite-sized pieces
• sliced almonds for sprinkling, optional

Instructions

• Position an oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F [190 degrees C]. Grease two standard twelve-cup muffin tins.
• In a large bowl whisk together the melted butter, sugar, buttermilk, almond flour, oil, sour cream, eggs, lemon juice vanilla, almond extract, baking powder, and baking soda until completely combined. Add the all-purpose flour and use a spatula to gently mix until almost all combined.
• Fold in the chopped cherries until just incorporated, as to not overwork the batter. It should not be completely smooth; there should be some visible lumps and bumps.
• Scoop a scant 1/3 cup of the batter into every other muffin cup. The batter should fill the cup and mound slightly (using a scoop helps the tops mound). Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with sugar, or cover with sliced almonds if desired.
• Bake until the muffins are light golden brown and toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out with a few crumbs, rotating the pan halfway through baking, 17 to 20 minutes. Let the muffins cool in the tin for about 5 minutes, then gently remove and transfer to a wire rack to cool. Muffins are best the day they are made, but can be stored in airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.

Notes

*Not all muffin pans are the same! I recommend baking a test muffin if this is your first time making the recipe, to see how it turns out in your pan. Putting a half sheet pan on a lower oven rack will help catch any almonds that don’t stay put. 

*The sliced almonds look beautiful on top, but I have to admit I don’t love biting in to them as much as a sugar-coated top. Choose your own adventure here. 

*Throughout my recipes posted on this website, 1 cup of flour equals 142g. Please note that 1 cup of flour can range anywhere from 120g to 142g, depending on the baker or website. I found that after weighting many cups of flour and averaging the total, mine always ended up around this number. Weighing your flour instead of using cup measurements is the surest way to get the result I intended when developing the recipe.

*Different brands of flour have varying levels of protein, ranging from low to high, which can result in very different outcomes when baking. I’ve found Gold Medal all-purpose unbleached flour to be the best option for many of my recipes; I use it in all the baked goods that don’t use yeast.