Cherry Almond Muffins

I never know what to bake with fresh cherries. I mean, besides cherry pie, of course. 

I could eat buckets of fresh cherries just off the tree, obviously not a great idea for my poor tummy, so baking with them is the next best thing. I decided to whip up some easy peasy muffins and throw some cherries and almonds in there for good measure. 

It only requires a handful of fresh cherries so in the off season you won't break the bank getting them at the store. During the cherry season it's a great way to use up the leftovers after making a cherry pie. 

Do you have 20 minutes? Then you could be eating delicious cherry almond muffins. What are you waiting for?

Cherry Almond Muffins

Ingredients

2 cups flour

1 Tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

pinch salt

1/2 cup butter, melted

2/3 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 cup buttermilk

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp almond extract

1 cup fresh cherries, pitted and quartered

Topping

sliced almonds

Directions

Preheat oven to 400. Lightly spray a 12 cup muffin tin with cooking spray (or line with paper baking cups), set aside.

In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. 

In a separate bowl, whisk together melted butter and sugar until well combined. Beat in eggs. then beat in buttermilk, vanilla, and almond extract. 

Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until barely combined - some flour streaks will still be visible. Fold in the chopped cherries.

Scoop into the prepared muffin tins. Sprinkle each one with some sliced almonds. 

Bake at 400 for about 15 minutes, until tops are lightly golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Let cool 5 minutes before running a butter knife around the edge of the muffin and removing from pan. Let cool completely on a wire rack. Serve warm or room temp.

Muffins are a perfect meal for after school, after work, hiking, picnics, breakfasts on the go, car trips, pretty much any time! Eat as is or warm up and serve with butter/jam. 

From start to finish in under half an hour. Nothing to complain about there. 

FYI - these freeze really well too. 

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