Cherry season will be here soon! I am extra excited this year seeing as the only fruit that we’ll be getting from our little orchard this year will be cherries and pears(and our vine fruits, of course). Our apricot, peach, nectarine, and apple trees got hit by a bout of frost just as they were beginning to blossom. At first, I was a little devastated. But, with a baby coming this summer, it may be a blessing in disguise. The workload that comes with a bountiful season of fruit may not be the best thing for our brood this year, so I am going to be grateful that I won’t have to deal with it and just enjoy the fruits we end up with. Like cherries!!
In honor of cherry season’s quick approach, I made these cherry oat muffins. Super soft, yet dense, given heart with the use of oat flour and studded with sweet dark cherries, these muffins are delightful on their own. But it’s the glaze that makes them SO good. Grass-fed butter is browned(why grass-fed? besides being a more healthy choice, it has ALL the flavor) and mixed with vanilla bean seeds. Sweetened with powdered sugar, it’s simple, but insanely flavorful and it goes oh-so well with those cherries and oats. My six year old even said that these are the only food he wants to eat for the rest of his life! Haha. Can you imagine? I mean, they are good. Really good. But bacon still exists, so there is that to consider.
You can use fresh or frozen cherries in these muffins. If you do use frozen, chop them up while they are only slightly defrosted – but mostly frozen. Much easier than trying to slice up squishy berries.
- FOR THE MUFFINS:
- ½ cup Coconut Palm Sugar
- ½ cup Raw Cane Sugar
- ¼ cup (1/2 stick) Butter, softened
- ¼ cup Coconut Oil, melted
- 2 Eggs
- 1½ teaspoons Vanilla or 1 teaspoon Vanilla Powder
- 2¾ cups Oat Flour
- 2 tablespoons Tapioca Starch
- 1½ teaspoons Baking Powder
- ¼ teaspoons Baking Soda
- 1 teaspoon Himalayan Pink Salt
- 1 cup Milk
- 1¼ cups Fresh or frozen cherries, chopped(I used frozen for these muffins. Let them thaw slightly but chop while still mostly frozen for easiest slicing)
- FOR THE GLAZE:
- 4 ounces Grass-fed Butter
- ½ Vanilla Bean
- 1 cup Powdered Sugar
- water, as needed
- FOR THE MUFFINS:
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking tin with 12 muffin liners.
- Place the sugars, butter, and oil in a large mixing bowl and cream together with a whisk or electric mixer until smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time, until fully combined. Whisk in vanilla.
- In another mixing bowl, whisk together the oat flour, tapioca starch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Whisk the flour mixture into the wet mixture, alternating whisking in the milk mixture, until both are mixed in and batter is smooth.
- Fold the chopped cherries into the batter.
- Divide the batter evenly among the muffin liners. Liners should almost be full to the top.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 15-18 minutes, or until golden brown and puffed on top. Muffins will crack on the surface - if the inside of the cracks are shiny, the muffins are not done yet.
- Remove and let cool.
- Drizzle with the brown butter glaze.
- FOR THE GLAZE:
- Place the butter in a skillet and heat to medium/high. Melt butter and continue cooking until it turns a golden brown color and gives off a nutty aroma. Remove from the stove and pour into a mixing bowl. Scrape the seeds of the vanilla bean into the butter. Whisk in and let cool for a few minutes. Add the powdered sugar to the butter and whisk in until smooth. Add tiny amounts of water, as needed, and whisk in until desired consistency is achieved. I leave my glaze relatively thick so that it doesn't spread over the muffin tops too much.
recipe adapted from King Arthur Flour.
