Muffin Mondays | Cherry Sour Cream Muffins

Cherry sour cream muffins. Juicy, sweet, nutty. The sour cream gives them a richness that almost tastes like cheesecake. The muffin is loaded with ripe cherries that bleed sweet fruit juice with each bite. I used half almond meal and half flour to create a light crumbly texture that is buttery and luscious.

I topped a few with a brown sugar almond meal crumble, I topped some with toasted sliced almonds and the others I left simple and unadorned. I loved the varitety.

Enjoy summer cherries in muffin form!

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recipe below…

CHERRY SOUR CREAM MUFFINS

Recipe adapted from Food & Wine

TOPPING

1/4 cup light brown sugar

1/4 cup almond meal

1 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

MUFFINS

1 cup plus all-purpose flour

1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon almond meal

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 large egg

3/4 cup sugar

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted

1 rounded cup sour cream

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

3/4 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

1 cup fresh cherries, pitted and sliced

Preheat the oven to 375°. In a medium bowl, combine the brown sugar, flour, butter and cinnamon. Rub with your fingers to form coarse crumbs. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Butter a 12-cup muffin pan. In a medium bowl, whisk the 1 1/2 cups of flour with the baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a large bowl, using a handheld mixer, beat the egg at medium speed until frothy. Add the sugar and melted butter and beat until pale yellow, 1 minute. Beat in the sour cream, vanilla and lemon zest until blended. Add the dry ingredients and beat at low speed until almost blended. In a bowl, toss the cherries with the remaining 1 tablespoon of almond meal. Using a rubber spatula, fold the blueberries into the batter.

Fill the muffin cups three-fourths full of batter and sprinkle with the topping. Bake for 25 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Remove the muffins from the pan and let cool on a rack.