Spring seemed to be on its way last week with warm temperatures, tweeting birds, and sunshine. The trees in my neighborhood even started to show their pink blossoms here and there. I love this time of year and, for some reason, always start craving cherries when I see those blossoms.
Today, though, was blustery and cold. It was dark and raining sideways. I had a little extra time this morning along with a craving for something baked and loaded with cherries. Given my huge love of all things muffiny, these were a natural choice!
Cherry Vanilla Muffins With Pecan Streusel
Makes 9-11 muffins
1 1/2 cups frozen cherries
1⁄3 cup flax meal (ground flaxseeds)
1 cup non-dairy milk
1⁄3 cup sugar
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour (or more whole wheat)
1 1⁄2 teaspoons baking powder
1⁄2 teaspoon baking soda
1⁄4 teaspoon salt
1⁄4 cup canola oil
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract (or more vanilla)
Streusel topping:
1⁄3 cup pecans
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 margarine (preferably Earth Balance)
- Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Coat a muffin pan with cooking spray.
- Pulse cherries in a food processor until coarsely chopped.
- In a small bowl, add the milk, flax meal, sugar, oil, vanilla, and almond extract. Combine well. Add the cherries and set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the wet mixture and combine with a rubber spatula just until the dry ingredients are moistened.
- Pulse the pecans, brown sugar, and margarine in the food processor to make the streusel. Scoop the batter into the prepared pan and top the muffins with the streusel. Bake until lightly golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 26-28 minutes. Let cool for about 5 minutes in the pan before moving to a cooling rack.
You didn't hear this from me, but I think dark chocolate chips would make an excellent addition to these muffins! You're welcome.
For some extra cherry goodness, I'm in love with the Snow Geisha tea from Teavana. It is a loose leaf white tea that smells like cherry lollipops (it has a light cherry flavor when brewed). Awesome.
We visit our Costco warehouse store about once every month or two. Lately I have been really happy with some of the new things that I've been finding there. They are carrying more and more organic products and some new things that I haven't seen in other stores.
Here are a few of my recent favorite Costco finds:
- Organic spinach
- Organic apples
- truRoots organic products- beans, lentils, rice, quinoa
- Hannah organic hummus, single serving packs
- Hadley pitted dates
- Farro (a hearty Italian grain)
- Garofalo organic whole wheat spaghetti
- Organic Sunmaid raisins
- Organic applesauce
- Organic soymilk
- Nature's Path organic Ancient Grains cereal
- Ecover automatic dishwasher tablets
- Kirkland enviromentally friendly liquid dish soap
- Real maple syrup
- Veggie Patch falafel chickpea balls (for quick lunches)
- Marcona almonds- yummy salty/crunchy snack!
