A soft and fluffy muffin loaded with fresh, juicy cherries and mini chocolate chips.
Cherries are in season right now and I always like to enjoy fruits when they are at their best. I bought a huge bag of these gorgeous, sweet, and juicy cherries on sale from my local grocery store. But, since I couldn’t eat them all, I decided to do some baking with them.
I was originally thinking of a double chocolate muffin, but I was concerned that the bold flavor of the cocoa powder would dominate the cherry flavor and I wanted the fresh cherries to be the star of the show. So, I decided to go with a light and delicate sour cream muffin. The soft, fluffy texture and rich flavor from the sour cream, mixed with some vanilla extract, complimented the delicious cherries nicely. I do love chocolate and cherries together, so I added some mini chocolate chips which paired the flavors nicely without having the chocolate flavor dominating. You can use regular size chips too, but I prefer the minis since they disperse more evenly throughout the batter and you get some chocolate in every bite.
This recipe is so rich and buttery tasting, you won’t believe that it only uses 4 tablespoons of butter and 1/2 cup of sugar. It’s all thanks to the low fat sour cream I use. This means you can love what you’re eating without feeling guilty, and trust me, you’re going to love these muffins. They are my new favorite. I ate 4 the first day, and between my husband and I, all 12 muffins were finished in 3 days. I love how light, moist, and airy these muffins are and my husband loved the combination of cherries and chocolate chips. I had to make another batch as soon as the last one was eaten (don’t judge me until you try these for yourself).
This recipe is also super easy to make. There’s no mixer required, just 2 bowls, a whisk and a spatula, so clean up is a breeze. The muffins are baked at an initial high temperature of 425 degrees to create that nice high dome on top. Nothing beats a perfectly golden crispy muffin top, right?
So, next time you’re at the grocery store, grab a bag of cherries and whip up a batch of these delicious muffins. You’re going to thank me when you take your first bite. :)
Cherry Chocolate Chip Muffins
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 large egg
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup honey
4 tbsp melted unsalted butter
1 & 1/4 cups low-fat sour cream
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup fresh cherries, diced small (you can also use frozen)
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
Instructions
1) Preheat oven to 425°F and spray a 12 cup muffin tray with a non-stick cooking spray.
2) In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt, set aside.
3) In a large bowl, whisk together the egg, sugar and honey. Whisk in the melted butter, blend well. Then blend in the sour cream and vanilla.
4) Toss the cherries and chocolate chips in the dry ingredients. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Gently fold together until JUST combined.
5) Divide the batter into the 12 muffin cups and bake at 425°F for 5 minutes, then turn the oven heat down to 350°F and bake for another 20 minutes or until golden around the edges. Enjoy warm.
Muffins are best enjoyed the day of, but can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Recipe adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction
You might also like:
Do you think this could be done as a bread? And maybe with frozen cherries as it’s winter now and cherries aren’t in season 😦
Hi Ellen, you can certainly use frozen cherries, gently fold in the frozen cherries at the end and bake for a few more minutes. As for making this into a sweet bread, I’m not sure as I have never done so. Enjoy and happy holidays 🙂
Delicious! Your pictures are amazing 😀
Thank you and nice to meet you:)
You’re welcome! Nice to meet you too 🙂
I’m in love with the pockets of cherry in the muffin batter. Mouthwatering!
Lovely cherry muffins. I have cherries and I have chocolate chips. I will definitely try them:) thanks for sharing Lily.
you are welcome and nice to meet you:)
I’m so glad you used fresh cherries in these! My Mum loves cherries so when they are in season again you can bet I will be whipping up a batch of these for her! Thanks Lily 🙂
Cherries are exceptionally good this year, so enjoy them while they are at their best, thanks for stopping by:)
This looks absolutely delicious! Yumm
Thanks and nice meeting you:)
These look terrific! What a great combination! 🙂
Thank you and nice meeting you:)
same here! I am so thankful to FF and Angie for giving me the opportunity to meet so many new folks! 🙂
Lily, your Muffins are beautiful 🙂
Thank you for the compliment:)
Wow Lily, these look simply stunning! And what beautiful photos!! You know, they remind me of one of my favorite desserts, black forest cake, it’s usually made with cherry jam and chocolate too! Thanks for brining this to the Fiesta, I am sure it was a hit! Hope you enjoyed it too! hugs, Sylvia
Thanks Sylvia, always nice chatting with you X
i love chocolate and cherry. yum!
Thank you and nice to meet you:)
These look brilliant Lily! Cherris and chocolate, lovely! And love your photos 🙂
Thanks, enjoy the rest of your weekend:)
What a wonderful combo idea! I love those cherries and with the mini chocolate bits…. you can’t go wrong! I also use that 425 degree higher oven tip in the beginning to yield a higher muffin. It works! Great recipe! 🙂
Thanks, I learned that trick from the great Sally@Sally’s Baking Addiction. She’s awesome, one of my favorite blogs.
These look so yummy, I love chocolate and cherry together, its one of my favourite combinations. Have a great weekend x
you too Michelle x
They look delicious and so pretty!
Thanks and nice chatting:)
These look amazing! Love cherries and chocolate! 😀
Thanks Jess:)
Oh wow, Lily! it doesn’t get any better than chocolate and cherries! Your muffins look divine! Great photos too! 😀
Thank you for the compliment, i am flattered:)
Gorgeous! I wonder if I could try dried cherries? Maybe rehydrate them a bit?
yes, you can use dried cherries, won’t be as juicy, but the flavor will be more concentrated, so I don’t think you need to rehydrate them, let me know how they turn out:)
Makes sense. Thanks! I’ll give you the update soon 🙂
Chocolate and cherries sounds amazing! Thanks a lot Lily for bringing these muffins to FF, I’m happy to discover your blog!
You’re welcome and I’m glad you stopped by:)
Lovely combination… cherries and chocolate! Thanks for sharing!
You’re welcome and thanks for shopping by:)
They look so delicious! I love chocolate +cherries 🙂
Me too and thanks!
Thanks for posting, and Happy Fiesta Friday! I just got some cherries, so this’ll come in handy!
Awesome, let me know what you think when you make them:)
I will. I like muffins that don’t need a paper liner, too, so this is going to happen. 🙂
Lily, I made them, and they are really good, as I thought they’d be. I tried to do the 425 degrees, but something started smoking, so I had to cut that short somewhat. (Someone needs to clean the bottom of the oven, hehe…) Seriously, these were great!
http://davebakes.com/2014/07/05/cherry-chocolate-chip-muffins/
I just read your post, super happy you liked them, you made my day X
oh they look so good! I’m with you on the chocolate/cherry combination. I made some cherry Nutella blondies recently and it’s such a great combination. I’ll be trying these muffins 🙂
You had me at cherry nutella blondies, omg I have to try that, nice chatting:)
Wow!! cherries and chocolate? What’s not to love there 🙂
I know, eh? Love it too, on my 3rd batch, don’t tell anyone lol
What a brilliant idea! I just got a bunch of cherries from the farmers market ! I love cherry season! Thanks for bringing them to the party!
You’re welcome, cherries are awesome this year, the weather must have been good for the trees this season
Looks absolutely delicious! What great photos!! Perfect recipe for the holiday weekend. I wonder if you could sub Greek yogurt for the sour cream?
Yes, you can most certainly substitute the sour cream with Greek yogurt – enjoy!
One fact about me: I eat only fresh cherries. I don’t like the ones you put on top of sundae (what do you call that, btw?). And these muffins look so good with fresh cherries and did you say you will not feel guilty? Yummier. 😀 Happy FF23, Lily.
PS: I haven’t been pinning lately; I will resume soon. 🙂
I’m not a big fan of maraschino cherries either, they are pretty, but so artificial tasting, these muffins are definitely lighter in calories than your average muffin, I can’t say they are healthy with the chocolate chips, but life is short you have to enjoy:)
Mouth watering pics Lily:)
Thank you very much, that’s my goal:)
It is such a pretty picture!
Thanks:)
I ❤ anything chocolate, yet this little guy looks delicious.
Thanks Leah, nice to see you:)
Oh wow, these photos are so magazine worthy. And cherries and chocolate together are really a winner. Beautiful and delicious looking, thank you for bringing!
You’re welcome Sue and thank you so much for the compliment about my photos, that means a lot to me, the photography is the most challenging and rewarding part of running my blog.
These look fantastic! I just moved, and was thinking about baking some cookies to take to the neighbors, but these look like a way better choice – YUM!
Your neighbours will love you for it, thanks for visiting:)
This sounds and looks amazing!
Happy Fiesta Friday!
Thanks Sarah:)
Cherries + Chocolate?! One of my favorite combinations! These sound fantastic!
Same here, thanks Lori and have a great weekend!
Beautiful pictures, these muffins look fantastic 🙂
Thanks Jess, happy FF:)