Sweet Cherry Almond Muffins

I made these sweet cherry muffins last weekend with the first really good looking cherries I've seen at the market, in fact when I walked in the market these cherries looked so good they became the focus of all my attention! I wanted to eat them plain right out of the bag because they looked so sweet but I also wanted to bake something with them so I decided to pick up some almonds and make sweet cherry almond muffins. I actually have a cherry tree in my backyard but the truth is that I've never in the past maybe 10 years ever eaten a cherry from that tree. The first year we planted it we had 2 cherries and I said to my husband, great one for you and one for me. But that was not to be because a little bird swooped down and ate both our cherries! In subsequent years we've had more cherries but along with the cherries came even more birds and they like to eat the cherries way before they ripen. It's an amazing thing to watch those birds when they strip the cherries from the tree sort of like what happens to some hapless guy who gets thrown to the piranha fish in a James Bond movie. Anyway, I guess I should try throwing a net over the tree, like right now would be a great time to do that when the cherries are small and green before the birds start showing any interest in them. But that would involve setting up a ladder and probably making a few moves that might cause me bodily harm. So, the birds get the cherries from my tree for free and I buy mine at the market.

The classic flavor marriage of cherries and almonds is certainly present in these muffins. I like this recipe because it's simple to make first thing in the morning for a weekend breakfast. After all this is the season to enjoy cherries and baking them into muffins is one way to save them from the birds!


Ingredients and directions for sweet cherry almond muffins

2 cups sweet cherries, pitted and chopped
1 cup slivered almonds
1 stick unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Sugar to sprinkle on top

Preheat the oven to375°F

In a standing mixer cream together the butter and sugar. Add the eggs one at a time.
Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium size bowl. Add the dry ingredients alternately with the milk to the butter/sugar mixture. Stir in the almond extract. Gently stir in the almonds, reserving about 1/4 cup to sprinkle on the top of muffins, and the chopped cherries. Use a small ice cream scoop to put the batter in the muffin cups.

Makes 12 regular size muffins.