These Chocolate Cherry Muffins are light, fluffy, and the perfect summer treat! They're made with fresh sweet cherries, and they're both gluten-free and freezer-friendly. They're so easy to make and delicious for breakfast, as a snack, or you can bring them to a picnic or a potluck!
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Why You'll Love These Cherry Muffins
Delicious, soft, and fluffy - Fresh cherries and chocolate are one of my favorite flavor combos, and they're so good in these muffins! They're made with gluten-free flour, but you'd never guess it because they're still extra soft and fluffy with a crunchy muffin top.
Great for meal prep and freezer-friendly - You can store these muffins in the fridge for a few days or freeze them for longer, and they'll still taste just as delicious as when they were fresh from the oven! They also travel well, so you can easily bring them to picnics or potlucks.
Ingredients
- All-purpose flour - I always use Bob's Red Mill 1:1 gluten-free flour for my recipes, but regular all-purpose flour works as well.
- Eggs - Eggs are the glue that holds everything together, and they help the muffins rise. I haven't tested any vegan substitutes, so I can't guarantee results.
- Cherries - I recommend using fresh cherries. I like to break them up into halves, remove the pits, and cut each half into 2 or 4 pieces, depending on how large your cherries are. This helps to spread the cherries in the batter so each bite has cherry pieces.
- Chocolate chips - I recommend using dark chocolate chips to avoid the muffins being overly sweet, but any chocolate chips work. I like regular chocolate chips rather than bigger chunks because they spread out in the batter more evenly. Mini chocolate chips are great as well if you can find them.
- Sugar - I went with regular cane sugar here to not overpower the flavor of cherries with anything with a stronger flavor. I haven't tried any substitutes, but I think coconut sugar should work here as well.
- Avocado oil - I use pure avocado oil in most of my baking and cooking, but you can use any neutral vegetable oil you have on hand. Alternatively, you can also use melted unsalted butter.
- Greek yogurt and milk - Yogurt adds moisture, and the acidity of it helps the muffins rise. I also add milk because too much yogurt would make the muffins too heavy and dense. Milk helps to make the batter more cake-like. I use almond or cashew milk here, but whole milk is great too.
- Turbinado sugar - This one is totally optional if you want to avoid the extra sugar, but I sprinkle a little bit of coarse sugar on most of my baked goods. It makes the muffin tops extra crispy and caramelized.
Variations and Substitutions
- Frozen cherries - While fresh, sweet cherries are the best here when they're in season, frozen cherries work well too. Don't defrost them and toss them with some cornstarch or tapioca starch first before adding them to the batter. I recommend adding 1-2 teaspoons of starch. This will help soak up any extra juice they release as they cook.
- Almond extract - Cherries and almonds go really well together, so if you like the marzipan-like flavor of almond extract, add ¼-1/2 teaspoon to the batter. You don't need much for a lot of flavor.
- Chocolate - You can use chopped dark chocolate instead of chocolate chips for a more rustic look and pockets of melty chocolate of different sizes. You can also use white chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate instead.
- Different fruit - You can also make these muffins with berries instead of cherries. I have a separate recipe for Chocolate Strawberry Muffins you can try!
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400°F and prepare a 12-muffin pan with paper muffin liners. Set aside.
- Add all-purpose flour, baking powder, and cinnamon to a medium bowl and whisk. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, cane sugar, avocado oil, vanilla extract, and fine sea salt until well combined.
- Whisk in Greek yogurt and milk. I do this separately to make sure the eggs are whisked with the sugar well first.
- Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients in two batches and whisk and fold in until just mixed. Don’t overmix the batter, it’s ok if there are a few clumps of flour.
- Fold in chopped pitted cherries and chocolate chips, reserving some of each for garnish if desired.
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- Spoon the batter into your 12 lined muffin cups and garnish with any remaining cherries and chocolate chips.
- Sprinkle each muffin with turbinado sugar if desired (I do about ½ teaspoon on each).
- Transfer the muffins to the preheated oven and bake for 5 minutes.
- Without opening the oven, lower the heat to 350°F and bake for another 22-24 minutes or until golden and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Let the muffins rest for at least 5 minutes in the muffin pan before transferring them to a cooling wire rack. Enjoy warm!
Tips & Tricks!
- Don't overmix the batter - When you overmix the batter, the muffins may not rise as much and will have a more dense texture.
- Add coarse sugar on top - To make them cafe-style, I like sprinkling some coarse Turbinado sugar on top before baking. The sugar caramelizes as the muffins bake and adds a nice crunch to the muffin tops.
- Start with a hotter oven - A higher temperature helps the muffins rise quicker. They're also less likely to fall as much once you take them out of the oven.
Serving and Storing
I recommend serving these muffins warm because it makes them softer and melts the chocolate.
Fridge - I recommend storing the muffins in the fridge to avoid them going bad too early, especially in the summer. Wait for them to cool completely at room temperature and store them in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Freezer - These muffins freeze really well and taste the exact same when defrosted! Store them in a freezer bag or a freezer-safe container in the freezer for up to 3-5 months, depending on the strength of your freezer.
Defrosting and reheating - If the muffins are frozen, you can defrost them in the fridge overnight or on the counter for about two hours, or in the oven on a defrost setting. I recommend warming them up in a preheated oven at 300°F because it makes them softer. This will take about 10 minutes if they're refrigerated and longer if they're still slightly frozen.
FAQs
I don't recommend using maraschino cherries or cherry pie filling. It would give the muffins a completely different flavor, and they would be too soggy. Fresh cherries are your best option, but you can use frozen cherries as well. Don't defrost them and toss them in 1 teaspoon of tapioca or corn starch first to absorb some of their moisture as they cook.
Yogurt and milk: You can use full-fat vegan yogurt, like coconut yogurt, and dairy-free milk like almond milk.
Flour: I always use Bob's Red Mill 1:1 gluten-free flour, so all my recipes are tested and made gluten-free by default.
Eggs: I haven't tested any substitutes for the eggs to make the muffins fully vegan, though, so I can't guarantee results.
Yes, you can! You'll just have to adjust the baking time because the muffins will be much smaller. Somewhere between 12-15 minutes will probably be enough.
Similar Muffin Recipes
If you want to try other similar muffins with chocolate or fruits and berries, check out any of the four below! The strawberry ones and the raspberry ones are super similar to these and great for using up any excess of Greek yogurt!
Head over to Breads and Muffins to see all the latest ones!
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Print📖 Recipe
Chocolate Cherry Muffins
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 24 mins
- Total Time: 34 minutes
- Yield: 12 muffins
- Category: Muffins
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
These Chocolate Cherry Muffins are light, fluffy, and the perfect summer treat! They're so easy to make and delicious for breakfast, as a snack, or you can bring them to a picnic or a potluck!
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (I use gluten-free flour mix by Bob’s Red Mill)
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup cane sugar
- ¼ cup avocado oil (or other neutral-tasting cooking oil)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp fine sea salt
- ½ cup Greek yogurt (or good creamy vegan yogurt)
- ½ cup milk (I use almond milk)
- 1 cup chopped pitted cherries
- ½ cup chocolate chips or chopped chocolate
- 1 tbsp turbinado sugar (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400°F and prepare a 12-muffin pan with paper muffin liners.
- Add all-purpose flour, baking powder, and cinnamon to a medium bowl and whisk. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, cane sugar, avocado oil, vanilla extract, and fine sea salt until well combined.
- Whisk in Greek yogurt and milk.
- Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients in two batches and whisk and fold in until just mixed. Don’t overmix, it’s ok if there are a few clumps.
- Fold in halved pitted cherries and chocolate chips, reserving some from each for garnish if desired.
- Divide the batter between your 12 muffin cups and garnish with any remaining cherries and chocolate chips.
- Sprinkle each muffin with turbinado sugar if desired (I do about ½ teaspoon on each).
- Transfer the muffins to the preheated oven and bake for 5 minutes.
- Without opening the oven, lower the heat to 350°F and bake for another 22-24 minutes or until golden.
- Let the muffins rest for at least 5 minutes in the muffin pan before transferring them to a cooling rack. Enjoy warm!
Notes
Storing: Store the muffins (once completely cooled) in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days or in a freezer-safe container in the freezer for 3-5 months.
Reheating: I recommend enjoying the muffins warm. If the muffins are frozen, defrost them in the fridge overnight first or reheat from frozen. Transfer the muffins to a small baking sheet and reheat at 300°F for 5-10 minutes or at 250°F for 15-20 minutes if frozen. You might have to slice them in half to get them to warm up in the middle if they’re frozen.
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Veronika Sykorova says
Nothing beats cherries and chocolate and these muffins are light, fluffy, and so simple to make. Hope you enjoy them as much as I do!