I have another whole grain muffin recipe for you this week! These cherry almond chocolate chip muffins have a subtle almond flavor and are studded with delicious tart cherries and dark chocolate while being 100% whole grain.
I love using white whole wheat flour to make baked goods. It is softer with a more mellow flavor than regular, or red, whole wheat flour while still being 100% whole grain. It is not neseccarily an easy flour to find, but my local Target carries it. Sometimes you find it labeled as golden whole wheat as well.
These muffins are light, fluffy, and airy with just enough sweetness that they feel like an indulgent dessert, more similar to a cupcake than a breakfast muffin.
I use frozen tart cherries in my muffins. To measure them, I let them thaw, then use a slotted spoon to pull out 6 oz of thawed, pitted cherries, measuring on my kitchen scale. You should have about 1 packed cup of the thawed, pitted cherries.
I reserve and use the tart cherry juice from the thawing process in the muffins for extra cherry flavor, and to prevent the delicious juice from going to waste. If you want to try the recipe with fresh cherries, or don’t have enough reserved cherry juice, I have also used almond milk in its place.
I have tried many variations of this recipe. The recipe as written is the best version, but bellow you can see what I tried if you are looking for alternative methods or ideas.
Variations to the Cherry Almond Chocolate Chip Muffins recipe:
- Less Sugar: I tried this recipe with only ½ cup brown sugar and no white sugar. While the muffins turned out just fine, sugar locks in moisture and the recipe was not as desirable with less sugar in my opinion. That being said, this is a good option if you are looking for a less indulgent breakfast muffin instead.
- No stand mixer: I tried this recipe using melted butter instead of creaming the butter and sugar together in my stand mixer. Again, it worked but the texture was not as fluffy and tender due to no air being trapped in the butter mixture. If you go this route, mix together all the wet ingredients, including the melted butter, then fold all the dry ingredients, no mixer required.
- Oven temp: I cooked these muffins at 350F for 23 minutes, and they were good, but not great. The high oven temperature to begin baking helps them to rise taller and be more fluffy and light.
- Topping: I skipped the crumb topping and added a few more chocolate chips to the top instead. This variation was one of my favorites because it was easier but still very tasty.
- Why 10 Muffins? I am the only person in my household eating sweets, therefore I prefer to make small batches because they are always best fresh. I reduced a larger recipe when I developed this one and 10 muffins was the best way to do it mathematically. I do admit it is an odd number for a muffin recipe, but it works. You could always stretch the batter to make 12 smaller muffins if desired.
- 6 oz tart frozen cherries (liquid reserved)
- 4 TBS softened salted butter
- ⅓ cup brown sugar
- ⅓ cup white sugar
- 1 large egg at room temperature
- 1 tsp almond extract
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 ¼ cups white whole wheat flour
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ cup chocolate chips
- ¼ cup white whole wheat flour
- 1 ½ TBS brown sugar
- 1 ½ TBS butter, melted
- Preheat the oven to 425F.
- Thaw and drain cherries and reserve about 6 TBS of cherry liquid. If you don’t have enough, use almond milk or water to make 6 TBS total liquid. You should have about 1 packed cup of thawed, pitted cherries.
- Cream together the butter and the sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the egg and beat until incorporated. Add the almond and vanilla extracts.
- In another bowl, sift together the white whole wheat flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Add the flour mixture to the bowl of the stand mixer and mix on low until it is almost combined. Add reserved cherry juice and mix until just combined. Fold in the cherries and chocolate chips
- Mix together all the ingredients for the topping with a fork.
- Transfer the batter to paper lined muffin cups and top evenly with the crumb topping. You should get about 10 muffins.
- Bake at 425 for 5 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 350 and bake an additional 18 minutes.
- Let rest 10 minutes before transferring out of the muffin tin to cool completely. Once cool, store in an air tight container at room temperature for 5-7 days.
