Cherry Almond Muffins

Submitted by justcallmetoni

"I recently purchased a muffin and bread book at a used bookstore. Came upon this recipe and recalled the jar of maraschino cherries leftover from Easter and thought it was a tasty way of using up what I otherwise use strictly as garnish. It initially stuck me as odd to use maraschino cherries in an otherwise healthy recipe, but the results are so tender and tasty I think of this is redemption for the poor dyed and preserved fruit. What is presented here includes my changes to the original."

 

• Ready In: 28mins
• Ingredients: 12
• Serves: 12

ingredients

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1⁄4 cup Splenda sugar substitute or 1/4 cup sugar
• 1⁄4 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1⁄8 teaspoon cinnamon
• 3 large egg whites
• 1 cup plain nonfat yogurt
• 2 1⁄2 teaspoons almond extract
• 1 cup maraschino cherry, drained and halved
• 1⁄3 cup sliced almonds (unblanched or blanched)
• cooking spray

directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F
2. Lightly spray muffin tins with cooking spray. (You can also use liners but the direct contact with the pan gives the exterior a crisper exterior.)
3. In a large bowl combine the flour, Splenda, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder and baking soda.
4. In a medium bowl, beat egg whites until they are well-frothed but not stiff. If you have meringue, you’ve gone to far. Add the yogurt and almond extract and beat a few more seconds.
5. Add the liquid mixture to the dry ingredients, mix until just combined. Over mixing will result in some tough puck-like muffins. Gently fold in the cherries and almonds.
6. Fill muffin cups two-thirds full and bake for 18-20 minutes. A toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin should come out clean.
7. Serve warm. I like mine with Brummel and Brown spread.
8. Enjoy!

Reviews

[Pardeemom]

Great combo of flavors! I love cherries and almonds! I halved the recipe to get 6 muffins. I used all white sugar and 2 large egg whites. I did add in 1 T. cherry juice since the batter was a bit thick and that made the batter perfect. Next time I will chop the cherries smaller and mix in the almonds (I only put them on top as decoration). I have made a lot of muffins with wheat flour and while this one was dense, it happened to be the least dense of many recipes I have tried, maybe the extra egg white helped. Great recipe!

 

[Redsie]

Good healthy muffins. Loved the taste of the almond and cherries together. Found them a bit drier than my regular muffins but that might be because I am not used to making muffins with whole-wheat flour only. Will made them again with a mix of whole-wheat and regular flour. I used all sugar. Thanks toni!

 

[Mysterygirl]

I really liked this mufin recipe. The combination of almond and marachino cherry was killer. As the other reviewer said, they are dense but very good.

 

[Chef Mommie]

These were pretty good. DH liked the more than I did. The texture for me was a little too dense even though I made sure not to overmix. It was my first time for baking with splenda and using wheat flour, so it could have been that. Since DH said "there is nothing wrong with them" and they are healthier muffins- 4 stars.