I have a good friend who adores dessert. Dessert makes her inordinately happy. All dessert. Well almost all – cake type things that are a little dry, or even thinking about being dry, just don’t cut it.
So, when I decided to make cherry muffins for dessert last night, I could see the disappointment flicker across her face (despite her effort to hide it). Just to be safe, I made her a bowl of supplementary whipped cream to put on top of the muffins in case they were too dry for her.
After her first bite of muffin, she lit up and said I should make sure and tell you something. Rather than paraphrase, I’ll let her tell you. Her exact words were, “you know how with most muffins, only the top is really good and the rest is just kind of dry and boring? Well these muffins are delicious all the way through!”
I used frozen cherries for this recipe. I’ve found that using the fruit frozen works better in baked goods than thawing it first. For reasons that I can’t explain, frozen fruit works perfectly and thawed fruit turns into a watery mess that dyes the dough strange colors. Fresh is, of course, great too, but then you’re limited by the seasons. Given the time of year, cherry muffins would be out of the question at this moment. If you’re lucky enough to have access to a Costco, that store is a bonanza of relatively inexpensive frozen organic berries and fruits. These muffins feature their incredible frozen organic cherries.
This is a very easy, 1 bowl recipe. These muffins freeze perfectly. Let them cool, put them in a big Ziploc bag or cookie tin and freeze them. To defrost, just take out a few muffins, and heat on 350° until warmed through. They sometimes get a little crisp on top as they’re reheated, and that tastes especially good. Like my friend pointed out, you don’t have to worry about them getting dry!
- 6 eggs
- 1 cup sweetener: all xylitol (for sugar free), all coconut sugar, or a mixture (I use half and half)
- 1 1/4 cups whole milk
- 2 cups almond flour, preferably Honeyville
- 3/4 cup coconut flour
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 stick unsalted butter, melted
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract
- 2 1/2 cups quartered frozen cherries (or roughly chopped if you don't have time or patience to quarter them)
- 3 tablespoons sliced almonds (optional) for garnish
- Put 20 liners in muffin tins or grease tins with butter or coconut oil. Put oven rack in upper middle of oven and preheat oven to 350°.
- Batter may be mixed by hand, with an electric mixer, or a standing mixer.
- Put eggs in a large bowl and beat. Add all other ingredients except cherries and sliced almonds and mix well. Taste for sweetness and add more sweetener as necessary.
- Add cut cherries and gently mix by hand with a spatula.
- Divide batter evenly between 18 - 20 muffin cups. Batter should come just about to the top of the muffin tin but under the top of the liner (if using).
- Bake for 25-28 minutes or until muffins feel a little firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Muffins may be cooled and frozen in a plastic bag for about a month.
