• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Of Muses and Meringues

  • Home
  • Recipe Index
    • Appetizers
    • Bars and Squares
    • Bread
    • Breakfast
    • Brownies and Blondies
    • Cakes and Cupcakes
    • Candy
    • Cookies
    • Easy Entrees
    • Fruit Desserts
    • Lemon and Lime Desserts
    • Miscellaneous Desserts
    • Muffins
    • Pies
    • Salads and Side Dishes
    • Soup
    • Recipes Inspired by Musicals
  • Travel Index
  • Poetry Index
  • Writing Links
  • About My Books
  • About Me

January 28, 2013

Cherries in winter

January’s a time for healthy eating.  Looking back over the past month, I’ve posted two recipes for salad and one for soup.  We’ve loved them all.

But I think it’s time I posted something sweet again.  There’s nothing better than fruit desserts in the middle of winter.  These muffins would be wonderful made with fresh cherries in August, but I think they’re even better made with frozen cherries in January, when we really need their burst of vitamin C and their joyous sweet/tart flavour.

At times like this, I’m reminded of why I freeze fruit in the warm weather.  It’s such a treat to reach into my freezer and pull out a bag of blueberries, raspberries or cherries ready to be baked into something sweet, and to take me back to the summer.

“Oh, my orchard!  After the dark, stormy autumn and the cold winter, there you are again, young, new full of happiness, the heavenly angels have not forsaken you.”

– from The Cherry Orchard, by Anton Chekhov

Cherry Muffins
(from King Arthur Flour)

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup milk
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups cherries, pitted, coarsely chopped, and drained (either fresh or frozen)
1 cup slivered almonds, lightly toasted
1 tsp almond extract
granulated sugar for sprinkling

Cream butter and sugar until fluffy.  Beat in eggs, one at a time.

Combine dry ingredients and add them to butter/sugar mixture alternately with milk.  Stir in almond extract, then gently fold in almonds and cherries.

Spoon muffin batter into 12 muffin cups (either greased or lined with paper liners).  Cups will be quite full.  Sprinkle each muffin with a little granulated sugar.  Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 30 minutes, or until muffins test done.

Filed Under: Fruit Desserts, Muffins

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Patty says

    January 28, 2013 at 11:38 pm

    I agree January is the time for healthy eating- it just feels right!! But we bakers need to do our baking and I think your cherry muffins would really hit the spot right now πŸ˜‰

    Reply
  2. Bonnie says

    January 28, 2013 at 11:51 pm

    Beth, What perfect timing. This weekend I was craving something with cherries. I even thought of making a cherry pie. I might make these for school on George Washington's birthday. Bonnie

    Reply
  3. Gloria says

    January 29, 2013 at 12:27 am

    Beth these look absolutely yumm!

    Reply
  4. Natalie Aguirre says

    January 29, 2013 at 1:16 am

    I agree with Gloria. Yum!

    Reply
  5. Valerie says

    January 29, 2013 at 1:27 am

    Love everything about this post.
    Hurray for the return of the sweets! πŸ˜€

    Reply
  6. Lizzy Do says

    January 29, 2013 at 1:34 am

    Oh, you are lucky to have a stash of frozen cherries! These muffins look terrific, Beth!

    Reply
  7. Food Gal says

    January 29, 2013 at 1:34 am

    Frozen and dried berries are such a godsend. In fact, I'm about to grab some frozen blueberries to whip up a batch of muffins. πŸ˜‰

    Reply
  8. Claudia says

    January 29, 2013 at 1:43 am

    I just mentioned that I was ready for a fruit dessert. (Great minds….?) I do love the combination of cherries and almonds but probably won't see a cherry for awhile. But I want this – maybe loaded with berries…

    Reply
  9. Belinda says

    January 29, 2013 at 1:51 am

    Does eating a pound of M&Ms count as healthy? I should be eating this!!

    Reply
  10. bakewithjill.com says

    January 29, 2013 at 1:52 am

    These sound fantastic, and I love King Arthur's recipes. I've got some blueberries in the freezer, and I think of last summer every time I pull out that bag to toss some into my oatmeal.

    Reply
  11. amy (fearless homemaker) says

    January 29, 2013 at 2:04 am

    I love fruit muffins and these look fantastic! I adore treats like this, both in the summer + winter.

    Reply
  12. Kitchen Riffs says

    January 29, 2013 at 2:06 am

    I've read very little Chekhov; I should remedy that. And I should definitely consider freezing fruit in season so I can make something like this when the weather turns wintry. Love the flavors of this! And it's simple to make, too. Man certainly can't live on soup and salad alone. πŸ˜‰ Good stuff – thanks.

    Reply
  13. yummychunklet says

    January 29, 2013 at 3:16 am

    These cherry muffins sound great. I'm still trying to get into the swing of healthy eating myself!

    Reply
  14. Andrea_TheKitchenLioness says

    January 29, 2013 at 8:21 am

    Beth, Cherry Muffins in wintertime sound like such a treat! We use a lot of so-called "sour cherries" for baking and we used to have a sour-cherry tree in our garden that we adored. Nowadays you can find them frozen in some stores and I still love them in my baking – I am sure that your recipe would work very well with those too!
    Have a great Tuesday!

    Reply
  15. Angie's Recipes says

    January 29, 2013 at 8:56 am

    I love my muffins loaded with fruit! These must be really wonderful with fresh cherries.

    Reply
  16. Barbara says

    January 29, 2013 at 12:53 pm

    We love those fresh cherries, Beth. I made some Valentine hearts with them recently….have some left, so I'll try these. Looks delicious!

    Reply
  17. Jess says

    January 29, 2013 at 3:28 pm

    Yummy! I really need to freeze more fruit to enjoy throughout the year. My hubby is going low-carb lately and that's put a damper on my baking…but I might just have to make a batch of muffins and hide them somewhere to munch on when he's not looking πŸ˜‰

    Reply
  18. Kittie Howard says

    January 29, 2013 at 5:49 pm

    I'm drooling! Cherries are my absolute favorite, with blueberries second. And, my apologies for not e-mailing just yet but we're in the throes of finalizing our trip. The glitch is the return date. I think this trip has gotten legs of its own, LOL!

    Reply
  19. Guru Uru says

    January 29, 2013 at 8:13 pm

    I could eat anything with cherries, frozen cherries, fresh cherries – thank you for this recipe πŸ˜€

    Cheers
    Choc Chip Uru

    Reply
  20. Beth says

    January 29, 2013 at 8:46 pm

    No problem, Kittie. I'm looking forward to hearing about your trip whenever you're ready!

    Reply
  21. Jemi Fraser says

    January 29, 2013 at 9:19 pm

    Yummy! I only ever remember to freeze blueberries in the summer. I'll have to do better than that!

    Reply
  22. Chocolate Shavings says

    January 30, 2013 at 12:26 am

    Re-visiting summer's fruit in the wintertime is that much more of a treat!

    Reply
  23. Medeia Sharif says

    January 30, 2013 at 8:36 am

    I don't think I've ever had the pleasure of eating cherry muffins. I'd sure like to try them.

    Reply
  24. Monet says

    January 30, 2013 at 3:12 pm

    Freezing berries in the summer makes the winter all the brighter. Thank you for transporting me with your pictures! I hope you are having a lovely week. Stay warm, eat well, and enjoy the weekend!

    Reply
  25. Joanne says

    January 30, 2013 at 5:26 pm

    One of these days I'm going to have the forethought to freeze berries in the summer. These muffins look fabulous! Cherries are my favorites. πŸ™‚

    Reply
  26. Katerina says

    January 31, 2013 at 11:34 am

    King Arthur Flour has the best recipes when it comes to baking! These muffins are perfect Beth!

    Reply
  27. Cucina49 says

    January 31, 2013 at 5:22 pm

    Ooh, those look delicious! I've been cooking about 80% good, 20% treats this month–one can't be good all the time.

    Reply
  28. grace says

    January 31, 2013 at 10:09 pm

    that crackly sugar topping looks great! i will always welcome your savory posts, but the sweet ones are my favorite. πŸ™‚

    Reply
  29. Jenn Kendall says

    February 1, 2013 at 4:37 am

    such gorgeous muffins! i love the idea of freezing berries during the summer, i am definitely doing that this year!

    Reply
  30. Gina Stanley says

    February 1, 2013 at 4:28 pm

    Usually I would have a bag of cherries in the freezer waiting for something this wonderful to be made, but I'm out at the moment. Will have to freeze more next year, because there is nothing better than a fresh fruit muffin.
    -Gina-

    Reply
  31. Kathy says

    February 1, 2013 at 10:34 pm

    Oh Beth, My mouth is watering for your beautiful muffins! I love the way the cherries are just oozing out…luscious!

    Reply
  32. Lorraine says

    February 4, 2013 at 11:18 am

    Good morning Beth! I made a batch of these muffins yesterday and they are delicious! Just had one for breakfast and packed one for my husbands snack in work. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  33. Beth says

    February 4, 2013 at 12:01 pm

    I'm so glad you enjoyed them, Lorraine! We loved them too.

    Reply
  34. Cindy says

    February 4, 2013 at 9:39 pm

    These look delicious–I want one right now!

    Reply
  35. Lorraine says

    February 6, 2013 at 2:48 pm

    Hi Beth. I just posted this muffin recipe you shared with a link back to you πŸ™‚
    http://gratefulprayerthankfulheart.blogspot.com/2013/02/cherry-muffins.html

    Reply
  36. Beth says

    February 6, 2013 at 5:19 pm

    Thanks, Lorraine! I'll be right over to check it out.

    Reply
  37. Sue says

    February 9, 2013 at 2:12 am

    These sound delicious, especially with the almond extract!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Connect Online

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • Welcome
  • Categories
  • Archives
Welcome to Of Muses and Meringues. Thanks for stopping by! I am Beth! Writer, traveller, baker, mother.
Categories
Archives

Copyright © 2021 · Of Muses and Meringues · designed by blogger boutique · Genesis Framework