Fluffy Cherry Muffins with Almonds on top are an easy and sweet treat
These beautiful muffins are loaded full of cherries because we love getting a little cherry in every bite
Almonds and cherries are a well known match made in heaven and these cherry muffins prove it!
We added a bit of almond extract and some slivered toasted almonds to the top of these muffins for a perfect delicious pairing of flavors
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Ingredients for Cherry Almond Muffins
- Unsalted butter
- Sugar
- Almond Extract and Slivered Almonds
- Eggs
- Flour
- Baking Powder
- Salt
- Cardamom – optional but recommended!
- Whole Milk
- Cherries, fresh or frozen – we use sweet cherries but sour cherry muffins are a delicious option, as well
- Muffin Liners and Muffin Tins
How to make Cherry Muffins:
- Lightly toast the almond slivers in a dry skillet until just fragrant and set aside. Line your muffin tins
- In a large bowl cream the room temperature butter and sugar until light and fluffy, which takes 3-5 minutes (photo 1)
- Beat in the almond extract, and then add the eggs one at a time. Lightly mix until blended (photo 2)
- Sift all the dry ingredients together – flour, baking powder, salt and cardamom
- Add 1/3 of the flour mixture into the butter mixture along with 1/3 of the milk. Blend gently and continue alternately adding all the milk and flour until it is all added and evenly combined
- Do not over mix – this is important for the light springy muffins that we all love! The batter will be thick and that’s OK!
- Gently fold in the chopped cherries and lightly blend by hand. We like to quarter our cherries but roughly chopping is ok too
- Spoon the batter evenly into the muffin tins until it reaches almost the top of the liners
- Sprinkle a little sugar and slivered toasted almonds on top of the muffins
- Bake for about 22-25 minutes and cool completely
The secret to great muffins
We’ve all had over-baked dry muffins. No thanks! There are a few simple tricks to making muffins that are delicious, light and fluffy! These tips are also recommended when making pancakes, waffles, and quick breads.
- Start with room temperature ingredients – butter, eggs, milk
- Mix wet ingredients and dry ingredients separately
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and DO NOT over mix – this is critical because you do not want to overwork the gluten that’s in the flour
- Add your fruit last and gently fold in so that everything is just combined
- Line your muffin tins – it really makes everything easier! We love to use a variety of interesting muffin liners and one of our favorites are the parchment tulip liners like the ones in our photos
- Fill the liners evenly – we use an ice cream scoop to make it easier
- Don’t overfill the liners or the muffins won’t rise properly
- Bake immediately
Are Fresh or Frozen Cherries better?
The simple answer is – they are both good! If fresh cherries aren’t available in the market, or aren’t in season, then choose a quality bag of frozen fruit.
We used frozen, thawed, cherries for this muffin recipe, cut into quarters.
Most fruit is flash frozen right after being picked to maintain peak freshness. In some cases, frozen fruit is actually preferred over the fresh variety because it was frozen immediately upon picking. If you are trying to save a little time frozen is a great option for cherries because they are already pitted. We’ve used used frozen, as well as fresh, blueberries in our Blueberry Lemon Scones with equal success.
If using frozen cherries be sure to thaw them in a strainer over a bowl to capture the amazing cherry juice! Save the fruit juice for another use because it is truly delicious. Try using it in mixed drinks, as part of a vinaigrette, or as flavoring in a drizzle for cakes and other sweets.
How do you know when muffins are done?
Every oven cooks a little differently so the best and easiest test to determine if muffins are ready is to insert a toothpick into the center of one of the muffins. If it comes out clean or with a few small crumbs clinging to the toothpick then the muffins are done.
Cool for a few minutes in the pan and then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
The best way to store Cherry Almond Muffins:
- Let cool completely
- Line an airtight container with a paper towel (this will help absorb any moisture), add muffins and seal
- Store at room temperature for up to 4 days
- Do not refrigerate muffins – this will dry them out quickly
- You can easily freeze these muffins. Store, individually wrapped, in a resealable freezer bag and they will keep for about 3 months. Let them come to room temperature before eating.
- These storage tips also work well with quick breads such as our Buttermilk Banana Bread, Easy Zucchini Bread, Pumpkin Bread, and Blueberry Apple Bread
Great substitution ideas and tips:
- Any berry or stone fruit works well in place of cherries – try blueberries or cranberries
- Substitute buttermilk for the whole milk for a nice tangy upgrade
- Try adding pecans instead of slivered almonds, or 2 Tablespoons of chopped almonds to the muffins
- Vanilla Extract works in place of almond extract if needed. Have you tried our 2-ingredient easy homemade Vanilla Extract yet?
- Make 6 Jumbo Muffins or 24 Mini Muffins with this recipe
- Toss in some mini chocolate chips or chunks to make Chocolate Cherry Muffins. Cherries and chocolate are a naturally delicious pairing
- We made this successfully with 1:1 Gluten-Free baking flour (do not use All-purpose gluten-free flour). No other substitutions needed.
- Sprinkle some Demerara sugar on top of the muffins before baking for an extra sparkly top. Demerara sugar is a large granule sugar which provides a nice, crunchy texture in baked goods.
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Cherry Muffins with Almonds
Ingredients
- 4 ounces butter, softened (8 Tablespoons)
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 Tablespoon almond extract
- 2 eggs
- 8 ounces Flour (2 cups)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon cardamom (optional)
- ½ cup whole milk
- 2 cups cherries, fresh or frozen drained, pittted and roughly chopped
- 2 Tablespoons Demerara sugar or regular sugar (for tops of muffins)
- 2 Tablespoons toasted slivered almonds
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F with the rack in the middle of the oven.
- Lightly toast the almonds slivers in a dry skillet and set aside.Lightly grease a 12-well muffin pan, or line with paper liners.
- In a large bowl cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes.
- Beat in the almond extract and then the eggs, one at a time, until blended.
- In a medium bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and cardamom.
- Add 1/3 of the flour mixture into the butter mixture with 1/3 of the milk, blend lightly and continue adding alternately until all flour and milk is combined.
- Fold in the chopped cherries and blend by hand until combined.
- Spoon the batter into the muffin tins until it reaches almost the top of the liner or tin. Sprinkle a little of the sugar and slivered almonds on the top of each muffin.
- Bake for about 22-25 minutes or until muffins are springy when touched. Let cool in pan for about 5 minutes and then remove to a cooling rack to finish cooling
- Can be stored, sealed, at room temperature for about 3-4 days or frozen, tightly sealed, for about 3 months.
Diana
Best muffins ever !!! I kept cooking them each week since I discovered the recipe in June. Only change, I add half a cup of silvered almonds in the paste.
Yesterday I substituted cherries with an apple in chunks and half a cup of blackberries. De-li-cious !!!
Cyndy
Oh I like all of these ideas! Thanks for your feedback and fun substitution ideas. I’ve made them with strawberries too!
Anjali
These cherry muffins made a perfect after school snack for my kids today!! They loved this special treat and asked if we could have it every day!! 🙂
Andrea
I’ve never had cherry in a muffin before. This looks and sounds amazing!
Saif
This cherry muffin looks amazing and delicious. The add on of the almond makes better.
Eden
Wow, these muffins were absolutely AMAZING! The whole family loved them, including my picky 8 year old! A keeper for sure.
Sara Welch
Enjoyed these for an afternoon treat and they did not disappoint! Fluffy and delicious with the perfect amount of crunch!