Friday, February 20, 2015

Cherry Muffins Are So Tasty!

Cherry muffins really are so good... my family loves cherries and they love muffins, so it just made sense to combine the two. Every year we pick lots of sour cherries and my husband and children have done the pitting... for which I am VERY thankful! I put the pitted cherries into quart sized zipper bags and freeze them, leaving some of the juice in the bag.






After the muffin dough is pretty well mixed, I added the thawed cherries to the mixture and as you can see, there is some juice in it.
 It was very colorful all mixed in like this.

I grew up with a sour cherry tree in the back yard... This wasn't a drwarf tree, but was a full sized tree... we picked many many large dishpans full of cherries... and I got so tired of pitting them. My Dad love cherries and so did my siblings... then I married a man who loves cherries... and we have children who love cherries.

We really need to plant a cherry tree, but that will have to wait until we find a place with more land. We did plant one here years ago... but there was a sledding accident... and the cherry tree didn't survive.



All ready to go into the oven...



Mmmm, these look wonderful... and the house smelled so nice. :)  I made 6 batches of these muffins, so there were a lot of muffins to give that special scent to the house. Of course, the kids had to try them as soon as the muffins came out of the oven... and we had them for supper after my husband got home. 

When I was a teen babysitting for a family of lots of teenaged boys and younger children while the mom was in the hospital having a baby, I made all of the meals.  I was excited to see the home canned jars of cherries and knew I could make some wonderful muffins for the family, so I made an extra large batch... .and they smelled and looked so good. The husband was home for the meal also and as he and all of the kids began eating their muffins, I was so pleased and excited....... until someone found a pit... then someone else did... then everyone did. I was mortified... especially as a teen... it was so embarrassing. I found out that the mom, who had so many kids and did lots of canning, had started canning the cherries WITH the pits in, to save time... but the jars weren't marked that way. Well, everyone ate those muffins... by picking them apart, removing the pit and eating the rest of the cherry and muffin.. my special surprise was ruined, but the pieces did taste good with melted butter on them anyway.  :)

There were no pits in these muffins... the family had done a great job of pitting them. :) 
The muffins tasted really wonderful with the butter melted into them! I made 6 dozen and the family ate them for breakfast and snacks... my husband loved them.  What a blessing to have those cherries.
 




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                                                    Cherry Muffins

                 1/3 cup butter, softened... or melted
                 1/2 cup sugar if using sour cherries, 1/4 if sweet                
                 ...............................................................................................Cream together
                 1 egg
                 3/4 cup milk                                          
                  ...............................................................Add to above mixture... and mix together
                  1 3/4 cups flour
                  2 teaspoons baking powder
                  1/2 teaspoon salt                                    
                  .................................................................Stir gently into the batter
                  1/2-1 cup sour cherries (sweet can also be used, but reduce sugar as indicated above)
                  .................................................................Stir in gently, then spoon mixed batter into greased muffin pan - each muffin cup will be about 2/3 full. Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes.
Cool on wire racks... and enjoy! :) Makes about 12 muffins.

   The recipe can be doubled, tripled or muliplied as you wish... I usually mix up 6 batches all at once in my large stainless steel mixing bowl.
                                                                              gentlejoyhomemaker.blogspot.com
              ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~







Shared on:

Simple Saturdays
Friday at the Fire Station
Weekend Potluck
Foodie Friday and Everything Else
Paula's No Rules Weekend Party
Thursday Favorite Things
Share Your Cup Thursday
Homemaking Party
Penny Pinching Party
Wise Woman
Homestead Blog Hop
Wow Us Wednesday
Tasty Tuesday
Tuesday Cuppa Tea
Tuesdays with a Twist
Inspire Me Tuesday
Cooking and Crafting w/ j and j
Modest Mom Monday
Art of Homemaking Monday
Share Your Cup Thursday
Friends Sharing Tea

44 comments:

  1. I loved reading your post today. I am happy that they ate the muffins even though they may have had to open the up first. lol Your cherry muffins look delicious and I can just imagine the wonderful smell from your oven.

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    1. Thank you... what a fun comment. :) So glad you visited today.

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  2. Girl, this makes me want to go bake something. Those muffins look so tasty... so warm... with butter... okay, I must go now and rummage through my pantry! ~In Christ, Talya

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    1. They were so wonderful... warm w/ the melted butter... I hope you have been able to make some... ours are gone and I need to make some more. :) Good to hear from you.

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  3. Replies
    1. Oh, they really were... and we took a bag of them from the freezer and had them for breakfast.... they were so good again. :)

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  4. These look and sound delicious, thanks for sharing at Good Morning Mondays. I have had trouble with plum pits before and it is a challenge. Blessings.

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    1. Thank you... they really are. The plum pits are something we only encounter when my husband and kids eat plums fresh... I haven't cooked with them. :)

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  5. Cherry muffins! They sound and look wonderful! My husband is a lover of cherries {I may have told you that already} and he would thoroughly enjoy these. So glad you shared this recipe at ROI. Enjoy your day, my dear!

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    1. You did... and these should be enjoyable for him... I know my husband LOVES them. :) I love reading your comments, Stephanie... I hope you have a wonderful day also. :)

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  6. YUM - these look delicious. Pinned them to try one day!

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    1. Thank you... they are wonderful... thank you for pinning and hope you get to try them sometime. :)

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  7. Ooh these look so tasty and light - Cherries just give the best colour! Found you through Thank Goodness its Thursday - Feel free to join in with #Bakeoftheweek too x

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    1. They really are good.... and you're right, the cherries do give nice color to the muffins. I am so glad you visited. :)

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  8. I love any fresh fruit muffins! In fact I shared a raspberry muffin on my blog yesterday. Cherries are so delish and I know that I would love these! Thanks for sharing the recipe with SYC.
    hugs,
    Jann

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    1. Raspberry muffins sounds great!!! These cherry ones are really good too... so glad you stopped by. :)

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  9. Oh my, your muffins with a cup of tea, would,sure hit the spot. Thank you for sharing the recipe!

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    1. It was... and I was reminded that we need to do this again... AFTER we pick and store cherries again. sigh. Thank you for visiting. :)

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  10. Thanks for sharing. Have a happy Easter. Sylvia D.

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  11. Wonderful! I've been making lots of muffins lately, and these sour cherry muffins look perfect! What a treat they would be today with my tea.

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    1. I hope you enjoy them as much as we did. :) I really need to make some more... they were delicious. Thank you for visiting.

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  12. I love cherries and these sound super yummy!! Thanks for sharing the recipe with SYC.
    hugs,
    Jann

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    1. They have certainly passed the "family test" here. :) Cherries are a favorite. Thank you for visiting... and for the wonderful party.

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  13. The muffins look delicious! I will enjoy trying your recipe with the cherries from my tree.

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    1. They really are delicious... and my younger daughter just made another batch today! :) Yum.

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  14. Making these to go with our "breakfast for supper" meal this evening.
    Thank you and God bless
    Mrs.O

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    1. That sounds great... we do tend to do "breakfast for supper" also.... just too busy in the morning to make too many breakfast foods. :)

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  15. These sound yummy! :)

    I would love for you to share this with my Facebook Group for recipes, crafts, tips, and tricks: https://www.facebook.com/groups/pluckyrecipescraftstips/

    Thanks for joining Cooking and Crafting with J & J!

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    1. Thank you... I had one for breakfast today and it tasted wonderful! :)

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  16. Don't thos look scrumptious! I agree it's nice to have a helper to do the pitting. Your photos are lovely too! Have a lovely week and thanks for linking to Tuesday Cuppa Tea
    Ruth

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    1. Thank you... they are delicious and you are right... having a helper (or several!) to pit is a huge help. :) Thank you for visiting.

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  17. I can't wait to try these. My hubby loves muffins in the morning for breakfast so I am always looking for new ones to try.

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    1. These have been wonderful for breakfast... it is so nice to make them ahead and just heat them up and add butter. :)

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  18. I love cherries, and these look so delicious! Growing up we had a sour cherry tree in our yard. Mom called them 'pie cherries'. Us kids would climb up and eat those sour things and loved them. Of course mom bottled plenty. The tree was huge and full every year. At least in my child's mind. :) thanks for sharing with SYC.
    hugs,
    Jann

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    1. We had one when I was a kid too... and picked SO many cherries off of it... and pitted them too. ( I did not like to pit them.. still don't! ) We sure loved those cherries though. These muffins were especially good because of the memories they brought. :)

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  19. Those muffins are making me drool! And I loved your cherry stories! I'd sure love to have a cherry tree, too, but no room.

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    1. They are good! Thank you... what a fun comment. :) We hope to have one some day. :)

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  20. These look sooo yummy. I adore tart cherries (bing?) and my kiddos do too. It sounds like that runs in your family too. YUM!

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    1. They are so good... these are sour cherries...sometimes called pie cherries. I think Bing cherries would be sweeter, but they would also taste good in these. :) Yes, my whole family loves cherries... I will be making cherry pie soon for my husband's birthday... :)

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