These are the perfect cherry muffins, packed with cherries and pecans, and topped with a delicious streusel. This recipe makes 16 big, beautiful muffins you won’t want to share.
We love fresh cherries and go cherry crazy all summer long. From cherry bars to cherry cobbler to cherry muffins, my cherry pitter is in full use all summer long.
Ingredient Overview
These muffins are full of flavor cherries and pecans and have touch of cinnamon.
- Fresh Cherries: The fresh cherries are the star of these muffins. You can use frozen pitted cherries, but jarred or canned cherries would not work.
- Nuts: The nuts add in texture and substance to the muffin. Pecans compliment the cherry flavor.
- Extracts: The combination of vanilla and almond extracts help pull together all the flavors.
- Yogurt: Plain greek yogurt provides the structure of the muffin.
- Baking Soda/Powder: The combination of baking soda and baking powder give the muffins their height and airiness.
- Cinnamon: The touch of cinnamon in both the batter and streusel adds warmth and flavor to the muffins.
- Streusel Topping: This topping gives the muffins a coffee cake bakery feel to them.
See recipe card for quantities.
Cherry Muffins Overview
These muffins come together quickly and no special equipment is needed. The streusel can even be made ahead of time and kept in the fridge for a up to a week.
- Mix together the melted butter, sugar, yogurt, eggs, vanilla, and almond extracts
- In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. Stir into the wet ingredients.
- Add in the cherries and pecans and gently fold them into the batter
- Scoop the batter into lined muffin tins and top with the streusel.
These muffins benefit from an initial burst of heat for the first five minutes to help them rise. Then they finish at a lower temperature so they cook evenly.
Storage
The muffins will keep for 3-4 days in an airtight container at room temperature. They are best eaten the first day, but no one turned down a muffin on day 3.
Cherry Streusel Muffins
Ingredients
Streusel Topping.
- 2 tablespoons butter melted
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Muffins
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup plain yogurt preferably greek
- 2 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 cups cherries pitted and chopped
- 1/2 cup pecans chopped
Instructions
Streusel
- In a small bowl, mix together the flour, brown sugar and cinnamon.
- Pour the melted butter into the flour mixture and gently stir until it starts to clump. Do not over mix, the clumps are the streusel. I find it best to use my fingers to gently stir it together. Then set aside.
Muffins
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees and line two muffin pans with liners. This recipe makes about 16 muffins.
- In a large bowl, mix together the melted butter, sugar, yogurt, eggs, vanilla, and almond extract until well combined.
- In a medium bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon together.
- Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Stir until all the flour has been absorbed. The batter will be thick. Scrap the bottoms and sides to check for flour pockets.
- Gently stir in the cherries and pecans.
- Scoop batter into the prepared muffin tins. I like to use a cookie scoop. Fill to the top of the liner. The muffins should rise up over the tins.
- Top with the streusel. Pressing down gently will help it stick to the batter.
- Bake at 425 for 5 minutes then reduce the temperature to 350 for about 12 more minutes.
- The muffins are done when a cake tester inserted comes out clean and the muffins spring back when gently pressed. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes and then move to a cool rack.
Notes
- Frozen cherries would work as well, thaw them just enough to give a rough chop
- Muffins taste the best on the day the are made, especially warm from the oven. But they will keep in an airtight container on the counter for 2-3 days. We have never had any left to freeze, but I bet they would freeze well.
- The streusel can be made ahead of time and kept in the fridge for up to a week.
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