If you find yourself with too many cherries and are wondering what to do with them, this cherry muffin recipe is for you! You can use frozen, fresh, and even canned cherries for these muffins.
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Why You Will Love This Recipe
- Simple ingredients. You only need a few things to make these muffins delicious!
- Texture. The soft bite along with the juicy cherries makes you want to eat more and more of these scrumptious muffins!
- Flavor. The coconut milk adds a coconut flavor to the muffins while cherries enrich the end result with their fruity notes.
- Easy recipe. All you need to do is mix ingredients, pop the batter into the oven, and bam, your fresh cherry muffins are ready to be served!
- Goes great with a cup of morning coffee or afternoon tea. With these muffins, you won't need to add so much sugar to the drinks (but you might want to try these lighter tea sweeteners).
What Makes Muffins Light and Fluffy?
First, you need to make sure your eggs, milk, and lard/butter are at room temperature. When those ingredients are added together at room temperature, they create a texture that allows for more air to be trapped within the muffin which in turn provides that fluffiness you are looking for. Another way to ensure your muffins are light and fluffy is to mix gently and just enough to bring all the ingredients together. Avoid overmixing and avoid using an electric mixer for the muffin batter.
Ingredients
Flour - I am using regular all-purpose flour in this recipe. My blog has mostly gluten-free recipes, but this one was posted before my blog took a gluten-free twist.
Lard - you can use butter or oil in place of lard!
Coconut milk - you can use regular milk in this recipe.
Vanilla paste - you can use pure vanilla extract instead.
Sugar - you can use coconut sugar if you prefer.
Substitutes and Swaps
Vegan
Substitute lard with dairy-free butter (you will need ¼ cup of butter for ⅛ cup of lard in this recipe) or check out this extensive list of great lard substitutes with vegan options. Then, substitute the eggs with chia eggs (1 tablespoon chia seeds plus 1 tablespoon water, let it sit for a few minutes).
Gluten Free
To make these muffins gluten-free you will need to follow a different recipe that is specifically designed for gluten free baking as the liquids’ measurements will also need to be adjusted. You can make my gluten free rice flour muffins, gluten free raspberry muffins, gluten free lemon muffins, or even gluten free sourdough muffins!
Sugar Free
Feel free to use coconut sugar in these muffins (although coconut sugar is still sugar). I have not tried this recipe with honey or maple syrup, but since the texture of these sweeteners is different, it will affect the texture of the muffins. So, I wouldn’t recommend substituting sugar for maple syrup or honey, but you may try and let us know how it went!
Cherries
You can use fresh, canned, or frozen cherries in this recipe. If you want to substitute for other berries, you can. Make blueberry muffins with this recipe by substituting cherries for blueberries!
Coconut Milk
Feel free to use any other milk in this recipe. Coconut milk is the creamiest dairy free milk out there plus it has a strong coconut flavor that you can taste in your muffins after baking. Those are the reasons for using coconut milk in this recipe, but if you prefer almond or soy milk feel free to substitute! Any other milk will do.
All-purpose flour
Many people ask whether they can use almond flour instead of all-purpose in this cherry muffin recipe. The answer is no because almond flour acts totally different compared to all-purpose flour in baking. You will need to search for a cherry almond muffin recipe that calls for almond flour instead of the regular all-purpose.
Lard
You can substitute lard for butter, in that case, use ¼ cup of butter for this recipe. I like using lard because it is cheaper than butter, yet, it adds the same richness to the muffins. You pretty much can’t tell the difference between muffins made with butter and the ones made with lard!
Eggs
To make egg-free muffins you can try using “chia eggs” in place of regular ones. To make one chia egg you will need to mix 1 tablespoon of chia seeds with 1 tablespoon of warm water and let the mixture sit for 5-10 minutes until it starts becoming more gel-like.
Step by step instructions
Step 1 - Preheat the oven
Preheat the oven to 350F/175C. Grease the muffin tin or line it with muffin baking paper. I use silicone muffin tin which doesn’t require any greasing or paper lining, so if you are using the same kind of muffin baking tin then you can skip this step!
Step 2 – Combine the dry ingredients
Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Sieve them to get the best results and to avoid an excessive amount of lumps. The more lumps you have the more temptation you have to keep mixing, and the harder the crumb will be!
Step 3 – Combine the wet ingredients
In a medium size bowl add eggs, melted lard, coconut milk, and vanilla paste. Whisk to combine.
Step 4 – Combine all ingredients
Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Stir to combine, avoid overmixing. You need to make sure that all ingredients are evenly combined but if you overmix, your muffins will turn out tough. Add the cherries and gently fold them into the muffin batter.
Step 5 – Bake
Fill your muffin tins about ¾ of the way full, and place them into the preheated oven. Bake for 22-25 minutes. To check whether the muffins are ready you can insert a toothpick and if it comes out with a few crumbs without wet batter attached to it then the muffins are good to go! Take them out and cool for about 10 minutes before taking them out from the tins. You can top your muffins with whipped cream, jam, or frosting, or just eat them as they are with a warm cup of coffee!
Tips for Success
- Do not use an electric mixer to mix the muffins batter. You can use an electric mixer for the wet ingredients only, but if you mix the batter with a hand or a stand mixer you are in for a very tough crumb! The muffins taste best when the interior is soft and not "bready". So, make sure to be gentle while mixing your ingredients together.
- You can use fresh cherries, canned cherries, or cherry pie filling in place of frozen cherries for this recipe. If your cherries are wet, just coat them in some flour before mixing them into the batter.
- Don’t overbake your muffins. Take them out after 22-25 minutes or when the toothpick comes out with a few crumbs attached to it.
- If you want your muffins to be sweeter you can top them with jam or frosting. Check out my peanut butter mascarpone frosting recipe or make the standard sugar frosting from my raspberry muffin recipe.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, let the muffins cool completely, then wrap them individually in plastic wrap. Place them in the freezer and they will keep for 3-4 months! To defrost you can either let them thaw at room temperature or reheat them in a microwave or oven.
You might have overmixed your muffins before baking or left them inside the oven for too long.
📖 Recipe
Cherry Muffins with Frozen Cherries (Dairy Free)
Equipment
- Muffin tins that can hold at least 15 muffins
- 2 large mixing bowls
Ingredients
- 2 cups (240 grams) of all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoon of baking powder
- ½ tsp of salt
- 2 eggs at room temperature
- ⅛ cup (26 grams) lard can substitute with butter, use 2 tablespoon butter (30 grams)
- ½ cup (100 grams) white granulated sugar
- ¾ cup coconut milk you can use coconut drink as well, however, good quality coconut milk will add to the flavor
- 1 teaspoon vanilla paste or extract
- 1⅓ cup (300 grams) frozen cherries pitted
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F/175C. Grease the muffin tin or line it with muffin baking paper. I use silicone muffin tin which doesn’t require any greasing or paper lining, so if you are using the same kind of muffin baking tin then you can skip this step!
- Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Sieve them to get the best results and to avoid an excessive amount of lumps. The more lumps you have the more temptation you have to keep mixing, and the harder the crumb will be!
- In a medium size bowl add eggs, melted lard, coconut milk, and vanilla paste. Whisk to combine.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Stir to combine, avoid overmixing. You need to make sure that all ingredients are evenly combined but if you overmix, your muffins will turn out tough. Add the cherries and gently fold them into the muffin batter.
- Fill your muffin tins about ¾ of the way full, and place them into the preheated oven. Bake for 22-25 minutes. To check whether the muffins are ready you can insert a toothpick and if it comes out with a few crumbs without wet batter attached to it then the muffins are good to go! Take them out and cool for about 10 minutes before taking them out from the tins. You can top your muffins with whipped cream, jam, or frosting, or just eat them as they are with a warm cup of coffee!
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