These scrumptious cherry muffins are bursting with flavor and studded with rich chocolate chunks! Perfect for a light dessert or an indulgent snack.
While summer isn't my favorite time of year, there are definitely some things about the season that I dig. Like cherries! Whether I'm just snacking on them or putting them into a recipe, I LOVE my summer cherries. Can't get enough of them, and I can never have enough cherry recipes.
Are you with me on this? If so, you'll definitely want to bake up a batch of these muffins. If there's one thing that's better than cherries, it's cherries and chocolate (okay, that's two things), and that delicious combination is the star of this recipe!
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What You'll Need
- Flour. This recipe calls for all-purpose flour, though you could substitute whole wheat pastry or spelt flour if you'd like.
- Brown sugar. Use organic to keep the recipe vegan.
- Baking powder.
- Cinnamon.
- Salt.
- Non-dairy milk. Use any variety that's unsweetened and unflavored, such as soy milk, almond milk, or cashew milk.
- Almond butter. Any creamy variety will do. I'm a big fan of Trader Joe's almond butter.
- Oil. The recipe calls for canola oil, but feel free to substitute your favorite baking oil.
- Vanilla extract.
- Almond extract. You can leave this out if it's not something you normally buy, but it adds a lot of flavor.
- Cherries. I used fresh summer cherries, but you can use frozen if they're not in season.
- Vegan chocolate chips. I used Enjoy Like semi-sweet mega chunks. They're vegan and available at many supermarkets.
- Rolled oats.
How to Make Cherry Muffins
The following is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you'd like to skip right to the recipe!
- Stir your dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl: flour, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
- Stir your liquid ingredients together in a small bowl or large liquid measuring cup: milk, almond butter, oil, vanilla extract, and almond extract. Be sure to mix the almond butter in completely. You can warm the mixture up if this helps, but just a bit — don't get it hot!
- Add the liquid mixture to the dry mixture and stir just until combined. Don't overmix the batter.
- Fold in the cherries and chocolate chips.
- To make the topping, stir together oats, brown sugar, oil, and a pinch of salt.
- Spoon the batter into a paper-lined muffin tin and sprinkle with the topping.
- Pop the tin into the oven and bake the muffins for 20 to 25 minutes. You can test them for doneness by gently pressing a finger into the top of one muffin — it should spring back if it's done.
Shelf-Life & Storage
Muffins will keep in a sealed container at room temperature for about 2 days, in the fridge for about 5 days, or in the freezer for about 4 months. I recommend storing them in the fridge or freezer if it's warm in your house.
Frequently Asked Questions
You could probably substitute a gluten-free all-purpose flour blend, but I haven't tried this, so no promises.
You can use whole wheat pastry flour. I haven't tried the recipe with regular whole wheat flour, but I'd recommend using a 50/50 blend of whole wheat and all-purpose flours if you'd like to try.
You sure can! I'd recommend thawing them out first.
I prefer to simply do it by hand. Remove the stem, then dig the pit out with your thumb. Wear gloves if you don't want cherry stained hands though!
More Vegan Muffins
- Vegan Blueberry Muffins
- Vegan Banana Muffins
- Vegan Carrot Muffins
- Vegan Double Chocolate Muffins
- Vegan Pumpkin Muffins
📖 Recipe
Chocolate Chunk Cherry Muffins
Ingredients
For the Topping
- ⅓ cup rolled oats
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon canola oil (or your favorite baking oil)
- Pinch salt
For the Muffins
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ¼ cups unsweetened and unflavored non-dairy milk
- ⅓ cup creamy almond butter
- ⅓ cup canola oil (or your favorite baking oil)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- 1 ½ cups pitted fresh cherries
- ¾ cup vegan chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a 12-cup muffin tin with papers.
- Make the topping first by stirring the ingredients together in a small bowl.
- To make the muffin batter, first stir the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt together in a large mixing bowl.
- Stir the milk, almond butter, oil, vanilla and almond extracts together in a small bowl or liquid measuring cup.
- Pour the milk mixture into the bowl with the flour mixture and stir everything together just until blended.
- Fold the cherries and chocolate chips into the batter.
- Divide the batter among the muffin cups and sprinkle evenly with topping.
- Bake the muffins for 20 to 25 minutes, until the tops spring back when lightly touched with a finger.
- Place the muffin tin on a cooling rack and allow the muffins to cool for a bit before removing from the tin.
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Can the almond butter be substituted with something?
Most nut or seed butters will work. You could try peanut butter, sunflower butter, or tahini, to name a few. The muffins would have a different flavor to them, but I think they'd be delicious!
OMG these are so good! Like, dangerously good! Thanks for another awesome vegan recipe 👍💜
Look so delish! love the photos too!
Thanks Caitlin!