Cherry season is upon us! It seems like we just got summer started, but here it is quickly passing us by; as eager as I am for the temperatures to drop a little, I am a summer girl through and through so I am defiantly not ready for it to be ending so soon. Since there is nothing I can do to control the seasons, I am eating and cooking with as much fresh fruit as I can. Since cherries are in season now I picked up a huge bag, but then realized there was no way I could possibly eat them all before they went bad so I turned to my dear friend, Google. Google never lets me down, and when I saw the title “Cherry Almond Muffins”, I knew it had steered me in the right direction. I was thisclose to making a cherry pie or cake, but I am SO GLAD that I went with these instead. I am so excited to share these with you guys because they are amazing!! They have a warm almond flavor and the texture is on point for a muffin, not to mention all the amazing cherries they are stuffed with. If you make one cherry thing this season, let it be this! Even better, double the deliciousness and stock your freezer up like I did! From my kitchen to yours, enjoy!

Cherry Almond Muffins   (Print Me)

Yield: 12 standard or 6 large muffins

Ingredients:
6 Tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cup white sugar
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups all-purpose/white-wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp table or fine sea salt
1/4 cup milk
1/3 cup plain yogurt or sour cream
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
1 1/2 cups fresh sweet cherries, pitted and quartered
Sliced almonds

Directions:
With the rack in the middle of the oven, preheat your oven to 375°. Line or lightly grease a 12 cups standard-size or 6 cup large-size muffin pan. In a large mixing bowl or in the  bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar. Add the beaten eggs and mix until light and fluffy.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Add to the egg & butter mixture and mix until just combined. Add the milk, yogurt/sour cream, vanilla extract and almond extract. Mix until incorporated (the batter will be pretty thick). Carefully fold in the cherries until distributed in the batter, then divide the batter between the muffin cups (each cup should be close to full).

Sprinkle sliced almonds over each muffin. Bake muffins for about 25 minutes for regular sized or about 35 minutes for large,  or until the muffins are golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (be sure not to over bake!). Cool muffins for 5 minutes in the pan, then gently remove and transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Source: Seasons & Suppers