Cherry-Almond Muffins

My aunt has been in & out of the hospital recently so I was hoping to contribute a little something to their family. What better to bake Saturday morning than muffins! I decided on Cherry-Almond Muffins from Vegan with a Vengeance. The recipe calls for soy yogurt, sliced almonds & fresh bing cherries. I only had regular yogurt, whole almonds & the choice between frozen or dried cherries. I still fear the use of fresh fruits in certain baked goods, especially after my pear pie muffins became soggy. With my reservations in mind, I decided on dried cherries. I think frozen chopped cherries would work for this...I would probably remove the cherries from the freezer, quickly coarsely chop them & return them to the freezer. I would then mix them into the batter in their frozen state with as few strokes as possible, to reduce reddish messy batter. They may need another minute or so in the oven, not sure. I may try this later, I can imagine the extra moisture being a nice addition to these muffins. But they may need to be consumed sooner than later. These muffins have a very distinct almond flavor, which pair quite well with cherries. I also used almond milk & vanilla yogurt. The muffins were not at all sweet & the cherries added the extra specs of sweetness surprise.

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Cherry-Almond Muffins
2 cups AP flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

1/3 cup oil
3/4 cup rice/soy milk (half almond/half rice)
1 (6-ounce) container soy yogurt, plain/vanilla (regular yogurt)
2 tsp almond extract

1 cup sliced almonds (chopped almonds)
3/4 cup fresh bing cherries, halved & pitted (dried cherries, chopped)

• Preheat oven 350F.
• Lightly grease a twelve-muffin tin.
• In a large bowl, sift together dry ingredients & stir to combine.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together wet ingredients.
• Create a well in the center of dry ingredients & add wet ingredients.
• Mix with a wooden spoon until combined. Do not over mix.
• Fold in 1/2 cup almonds & all of cherries.
• Fill muffin cups three-quarters full; top & press in remaining almonds.
• Bake 18 - 22 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean.