Sunday Morning Goodness: Cherry Chip Muffins with Brown Sugar Streusel

Fresh produce is a terrible thing to waste. I've not always been good about using up the inventory, but more often I'm looking to the fridge and pantry to decide what to make rather than simply going out and buying everything I need. So, with that in mind, this morning I decided to base breakfast around the aging bag of bing cherries in my fridge. After peeking in the backs of cabinets and around the fridge, I realized I had 4 eggs, 2 sticks of butter, some brown sugar, plenty of flour, and a half a bag of white chocolate chips (not the lightest list of ingredients, I'll admit). Cherry Chip muffins it is!

I encountered some difficulties with my first batch of muffins that I successfully avoided with the second. On the first batch, I filled the muffin cups too full, waited to add the streusel, and under cooked them by about 10 minutes. The recipe and directions below reflect the process I followed for the second batch, which turned out fluffy and delicious. Make sure the muffins cool almost entirely before you eat (read: devour) them. The result is a pink, fluffy cupcake with a deliciously sweet top, and surprising bits of cherry and chocolate in every bite. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

Muffins:
2 cups chopped organic bing cherries
2 1/2 cups flour
1 stick butter, melted completely
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 bag (about 1 cup) white/milk/dark chocolate chips

Streusel:
2/3 cup flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 stick butter, chilled and chopped into small pieces

Preheat oven to 380. Next, start by removing the pits from your cherries. I removed the pits by cutting the cherry all the way around the pit and twisting until one of the sides of the cherry broke away. Then, I used the tip of a grapefruit spoon to dig the pit out of the center. I know this sounds time-consuming, but it's a pretty quick process. I was able to do 30 cherries in about 15 minutes.

Next, chop up your cherries into the consistency you desire. If you like chunks of fruit in your muffins, cut each cherry into halves or fourths. If you prefer the cherry taste without the chunks, consider dicing them. Just note, the finer the cherries, the heavier the muffin.

Next, in a large bowl combine flour, white sugar, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In a standing mixer, add eggs and beat vigorously with beater attachment until light and fluffy. Add milk and continue to beat, creating a frothy mixture. Slowly add melted butter a little bit at a time in order to temper the eggs and maintain the consistency of the mix.

Add flour mix to egg mix a bit at a time, mixing constantly with paddle attachment. Once combined, fold in cherries and chocolate chips and stir.

Next, make your streusel by adding brown sugar and flour to a medium-sized bowl. Add in the copped butter and combine the mixture with your hands until you have a crumb-like consistency.

Add muffin batter to tins lined with paper muffin cups (coated with a non-stick spray) until each cup is no more than 2/3 full. Top with streusel until cup is full. Place in oven and bake for 28-30 minutes. Let muffins cool for 30-45 minutes before enjoying. Serve with Noosa yogurt, devonshire cream, or on their own!

Enjoy!

xo, LNH