Jane’s Sweets & Baking Journal -- http://janessweets.blogspot.com -- July 2010

Jumbo Sweet Cherry Muffins

This recipe has been adapted from the book, Crust and Crumb: Master Formulas for Serious Bread Bakers, by Peter Reinhart. Ten Speed Press, 1998; pp. 164-167. 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line muffin pans with paper liners and spray the inside of the liners with baking spray. (This recipe will make 9 jumbo muffins, 12 generous regular size muffins, or 18 smallish regulars.)

3 and 1/2 cups unbleached All-Purpose flour

1 and 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. baking soda

3/4 tsp. salt (I actually used 1 scant tsp. kosher salt; I’d recommend you do this too!)

2/3 cup canola oil (you could use melted butter instead, if you prefer)

1 and 1/2 cups brown sugar, tightly packed (I used light brown)

2 large eggs

1 and 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. almond extract

1 pinch ground cinnamon

1 pinch ground nutmeg

1 and 1/4 cups buttermilk (I used regular buttermilk, not low fat)

 2 cups of pitted, coarsely chopped, sweet cherries (I used half black cherries and half Queen Anne)

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg into a medium size bowl. Add the brown sugar and whisk it in thoroughly.

In a large bowl, mix together the oil, eggs, vanilla extract, almond extract, and buttermilk. (I did this by hand, and my muffins turned out great, but Reinhart instructs doing this part in your mixer. You decide!)

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir just until the dry ingredients are absorbed.

With a portion scoop, fill the muffin cups about halfway full. Using your hands, sprinkle on a couple tablespoons worth of the chopped fruit and gently pat it down into the batter. Scoop another glob of batter atop that. Sprinkle the remainder of the fruit over that. If any batter remains in the bowl, dab it equally over the top of the muffins. It's fine if some of the fruit is exposed and not buried in batter.

Place the muffin pan on top of a baking sheet, and bake for 10 minutes. Then, lower the oven temperature to 375 and bake for 10 minutes more. Check the muffins at this point to see if they're browning too quickly; if they are, cover them lightly with foil. Bake the muffins until golden brown, and until the tops spring back when lightly touched. Mine took barely 30 minutes in total. I also checked mine with a toothpick inserted in the center to ensure they were fully done.

Let them cool in the pan, on a rack, for a few minutes before attempting to remove to the rack to finish cooling.