Cherry Blueberry Muffins

A restless day off with more rain and a craving for muffins. A huge bowl of bright red cherries in the fridge. Plenty to munch on and some to spare for a baked treat.

Musing a few days earlier, the combination of cherry and almonds came into mind. There was some sadly neglected almond flour in the freezer and an unopened jar of almond butter in the cupboard that I purchased a while back to make Ricki's Almond Crusted Root Vegetable "Fries" (soon, as I have been thinking of the possibilities for months).

Turns out cherries and almonds are a winning combination, especially when you toss some blueberries, vanilla and lemon into the mix. The nutty flavour from the almond butter compliments the sweet cherries and blueberries perfectly. This is one of the finest muffin recipes I have come up with to date and they don't contain much sugar either, which is an added bonus. Packed full of luscious fruit, even sugar fiends will be delighted. I might add these are a particularly enjoyable breakfast option.

Cherry Blueberry Muffins with Lemon and Vanilla and Almond

1 1/2 cups of unbleached white flour
1/2 cup of almond flour
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/8 teaspoon of baking soda
1/4 cup of sugar
2 teaspoons of lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon of sea salt
1 cup of yogurt (I used goat milk yogurt)
2 eggs
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
2 teaspoons of vanilla
4 tablespoons of almond butter
1 cup of pitted cherries, roughly chopped
1/2 cup of blueberries


Grease twelve regular sized muffin cups well with butter or oil.

In a large bowl, combine the flours, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, lemon zest and salt. Make a well in the center of the ingredients and set aside.

In another bowl, combine the yogurt with the lemon juice. Add the eggs, one at a time, whisking well after each addition. Now add the vanilla and almond butter and whisk until well combined. Pour this mixture into the dry ingredients and stir just to combine. Gently fold in the cherries and blueberries.

Divide the batter evenly into the prepared muffin cups and bake in a preheat 350 degree oven for 20 - 25 minutes, or until a cake tester or toothpick comes out clean. Leave the muffins in the pan for 10 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Yields 12 berry filled muffins.

More berry muffins from Lisa's Vegetarian Kitchen:
Blueberry Goat Cheese Muffins
Blueberry Cornmeal Muffins
Raspberry Cornmeal Muffins

On the top of the reading stack: Green Hell: How Environmentalists Plan to Ruin Your Life and What You Can Do to Stop Them by Steve Milloy

Audio accompaniment: Diamonds on the Inside by Ben Harper

23 comments:

Ricki said...

How perfect! I have no doubt cherries and almonds are a perfect match (as are blueberries and almonds--or both). The muffins look incredibly moist (most likely due to the almond butter!) :)

Shri said...

Beautiful!They look so moist..

Pooja said...

The muffins look so delicious! I have never used almond flour before. Cherry and almonds pairs well. I love adding blueberries to muffins too :)

Cynthia said...

With cherries, so good!

Vidya said...

Lovely muffins, Lisa. Perfect for breakfast with hot coffee. What a beautiful combo with cherries and a hint of lemon, isn't it? I've been thinking about a chunky summer dip along those lines. I hope my crackers (that are supposed to go with the dip)turn out ok tomorrow.

Parita said...

Wow thats awesome combination, never used almond butter before..hmm sounds wonderful with cherries and blueberries, i too posted blueberry muffins yesterday :)

Suparna said...

hey Lisa,
Tha's some kinda combination to remember :) looks damn good!
Love to go through ur posts dear :)
Keep rocking!!
TC

Meeta K. Wolff said...

love the combination of cherry and blueberries. rain and being banned indoors sometimes creates some great baking recipes!

sunita said...

Cherries, blueberries, almonds...what a great combination Lisa, and those mufins look so pretty :-)

Sushma Mallya said...

cake looks very soft, fluffy and nice.......never heard of almond butter before nor used it...sure must be tasting good with all almond and berries in it

Trupti said...

those muffins looks perfect...I would like to have some :)

Trupti
Fashion Deals For Less
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Pari Vasisht said...

Yummy muffins. I will try making with the berries we get here.

Unknown said...

Lovely baked one. Should have tasted awesome with those cherries and berries.

Ivy said...

Oh, they look so tempting. Wish we could get some blueberries in Athens.

Nithya Praveen said...

Looks Lovely Lisa.....can i grab some?:-)

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Johanna GGG said...

yum - this looks delicious - actually I have been looking forward to this recipe - have never baked with almond butter but now I want to even though berries and cherries are not in season

A_and_N said...

Perfect for a weekend bfast :) I have both!

Ann said...

WOO!!that loos super delicious. I love the adiition of cherries..humm mouth watering

Snooky doodle said...

oh cherry and almond are delicious!

Juliana said...

Wow, these muffins look so delicious...moist and so tasty with all the fruits in it. Yummie!

Red Chillies said...

Great combination Lisa with almond flour and almond butter. Loved the last picture with the cooked cherries oozing out of the cake :-)

eatme_delicious said...

These sound awesome. I love that you added almond butter! I've been missing making muffins, but I will soon when the weather cools down a bit. I made a modification of some ricotta muffins I found on your blog not too long ago. =)