This recipe is fantastic! These chocolate cherry muffins are packed with real cherries and chocolate chips, more like a cupcake than a muffin. So sweet and delicious, each muffin is topped with half a sweet cherry for a pretty muffin that is perfect for chocolate lovers. The classic pairing of cherries and dark chocolate makes these muffins so delightful you won’t be able to eat just one!
When I went to make chocolate cherry muffins, I thought of my partner Aunty Carol. She was a recipe lover who sadly passed the other year. But before she did, she had sent on a few recipes, so I dug one out, tweaked it, and voila, you have a delightful sweet treat in her honor.
Dark chocolate chips offer a slight bitterness that pairs beautifully with fresh spring cherries. It’s the height of the cherry season, which means I am in heaven! Is there anything tastier than a freshly picked sweet cherry? I recall fondly growing up, my mother attempted to have a small fruit orchard, which is challenging in this zone. Aside from apples and plums, fruit trees can be temperamental here. So there, my dear mother was attempting to grow Bing cherries, I recall. Every year we would walk down to her orchard that grew alongside our drive and count the few cherry blossoms praying they would be pollinated.
One year they did get pollinated. They’re growing in the orchard were a few little cherries. It was such a thing to celebrate, and when they ripened, I recall sharing those few cherries with my mom. It’s easy to find cherries in the store now, but growing up, we never had fresh cherries at home. So now I love eating fresh springtime fruits anyway I can, and this muffin recipe is super yummy, with natural fruit packed inside each bite.
If you love the cherry chocolate flavor, you will also want to try our oatmeal cherry chocolate muffins!
So let’s start making these tasty muffins!
The first thing you should always do when baking is gather the ingredients. This step allows for fewer mistakes when measuring each component. After you’ve picked the tools and ingredients needed, you can begin.
Start by mixing the butter with the sugar in a mixing bowl. After that, you will add the eggs and cocoa powder. Mix well and add in the Greek yogurt. Measure your dry ingredients and add to the wet. While mixing, you will need to add some of the water. Add this as necessary to get desired consistency in your batter. It’s going to be a thick, cakey batter. When finished, it’s time to add your cherries and dark chocolate chips.
Cut the pitted fruits into halves and then quarters. Be sure to save some to cut in half to top the muffins before baking. You will want to mix the fruit and chips in well until combined.
In a prepared muffin pan, fill the cups too full. (I generally spray my pans with Pam cooking spray-no need for liners.) This will make big bakery-style muffins! On top of each muffin, center half a cherry. Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for 25-30 minutes or until the muffins test for done. Cool on a wire rack before removing it from the muffin tin.
What Substitutions Can You Get Away With?
- Instead of using white sugar, you can use coconut sugar with success.
- While butter may make this cake tasty, using vegetable or coconut oil will also work.
- I used Greek Yogurt, but you can also use sour cream instead.
- Instead of the sweet cherries, swap them out for raspberries. Yummy!
Expert Baking Tips For Muffins.
- Instead of using paper liners for your muffins, grease the cups well.
- Baking bakery-style muffins is as easy as filling your muffin cups too full.
- Removing a cooled muffin from a well-greased pan should slip out. If you need extra help, you can slide a butter knife into the side of the muffin and gently lift it upwards.
- If the muffin tops are lying on the pan and not lifting, you can use the same trick with the butter knife to free the tops.
- Letting muffins cool before removing them from the baking pan ensures they won’t fall apart.
Aunty Carol's Chocolate Cherry Muffins
Equipment
- 1 mixing bowl
- 1 Tablespoon
- 1 Teaspoon
- 1 Mixing Spoon or Mixer
Ingredients
- 2 Cups Flour
- 2 Cups Sugar
- ¼ Tsp Salt
- 1 Cup Plain Greek Yogurt
- ¾ Cup Water
- ½ Cup Butter
- 1½ Tsp Baking Soda
- 2 Eggs
- 1 Cup Quartered Fresh Cherries
- 1 Cup Dark Chocolate Chips
Instructions
- In your mixing bowl blend the butter and sugar together.
- Add in the eggs and sour cream.
- Mixing well add in the cocoa powder.
- Add in the other dry ingredients and start to mix.
- While mixing slowly add the water in as you go.
- When everything is combined add in the cherries and chocolate chips.
- Blend just enough to evenly distribute the cherries and chips.
- Fill prepared muffin tins to full.
- Top each muffin with half a cherry in the center.
- Bake muffins for 25-30 minutes in a 350℉ oven. Test for done and remove from oven.
- Allow to thoroughly cool before removing from pan.
- Muffins will last for up to four days if stored covered.