Cherry Coffee Cake Muffins

By Addie

My husband grew up on a simple, but excellent coffee cake recipe–one I refer to when I need a quick dessert requiring zero fancy ingredients. I decided to adapt the recipe to accommodate both my love affair with cherries (directly inspired by Jaime Mormann of Sophistimom who makes the best cherry crumb cake!!), and my love for individual desserts. Because sometimes you just need something sweet and if it’s in muffin form then portion control is in place. If it’s just one big cake, then it’s easier to down half the cake before realizing what is really going on…or is it just me that finds herself in that situation?

Ingredients

• Cake:
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1/4 teaspoon pure almond extract
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1 1/2 cup flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon good quality sea salt
• .........................................
• Spiced Topping:
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 Tablespoons flour
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1 pinch fresh ground nutmeg
• 1 pinch good sea salt (optional*)
• 2 Tablespoons melted unsalted butter
• ........................................
• Additional layer:
• 1 can cherries in water, drained

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Combine the oil, egg, milk and pure almond extract in a medium/large bowl. Mix the dry ingredients together using a whisk. Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture and incorporate well.

Line a muffin tin with paper liners. Place 1 Tablespoon of batter into each liner. Top with 6 or 7 cherries and then sprinkle one heaping teaspoon of spiced topping atop the cherries. Then spoon on an additional tablespoon of batter. Top with the last layer–a teaspoon of remaining spiced topping.

Slip the muffin tins into the preheated oven for about 18 minutes. Cool on a wire rack and then enjoy!

Makes 12-14 muffins.