Chocolate Chip Cherry Muffins

emily hauer's Note:

I created these muffins this morning when I couldn't find a recipe for what I wanted. I get my dried cherries from nutsonline.com, and they are very moist (for a dried fruit, that is), so I didn't need to plump them first. Because there is so little fat in the batter, muffin papers will stick, so grease your muffin cups well. These do not rise very high, but they taste wonderful.

• Total Time: 27 mins
• Prep Time: 7 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 12

Yield: 12.0 muffins

• 1 ¾ cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ¾ cup low-fat milk
• ¼ cup low-fat vanilla yogurt
• ¼ cup egg whites or ¼ cup egg substitute
• ¼ cup brown sugar , packed
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• ½ cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
• ½ cup dried sour cherries

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400.
2. Grease a 12-cup muffin pan.
3. Mix whole wheat pastry flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.
4. In a slightly smaller bowl mix milk, vanilla yogurt, egg whites, brown sugar, and almond extract.
5. Pour wet ingredients on top of dry ingredients. Mix until dry ingredients are just barely moistened.
6. Gently fold in chocolate chips and dried cherries.
7. Spoon into muffin cups, about 2/3 full.
8. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean.
9. Let rest in muffin pan for 5 minutes, then remove the muffins and place them on a cooling rack.

Reviews

[So Cal Gal]

These are incredible: so decadent, yet so healthy! I particularly enjoyed them warm...the gooey chocolate, the chewy tart cherries, the scent and taste of almond...oh my!!! I'll be making these again--SOON! Thanks for such a great recipe emily!