Cherry Muffins with Fresh Basil and Cream Cheese Glaze
These cherry-studded muffins are a delicious way to start the day.
These cherry muffins are what you get when you combine fresh summer fruit with a lazy morning, except the recipe starts with a homemade muffin mix, so the lazy morning is not required, it’s just desirable.
Regardless of how lazy your morning is, these cherry-studded muffins are a delicious way to start the day. They are loaded with juicy cherries, kissed with just enough fresh basil to make people say, “Wait, what is that?,” and topped with a tangy cream cheese glaze that absolutely knows what it’s doing.
At first glance you may think that fresh basil in muffins is not the sort of thing you’d want to eat. But, please reconsider because basil is the perfect complement to cherries. These muffins contain only 2 tablespoons of very finely chopped basil, which is just enough to highlight the flavor of the cherries but not so much that you’d call these basil muffins. They are still firmly in the cherry muffin category.
This recipe starts with my favorite homemade muffin mix. I try to keep a container of this all-purpose mix in the pantry at all times because it makes whipping up a batch of warm, homemade muffins so easy!
If you already have the muffin mix made and pit and chop your cherries the night before, mixing up the batter in the morning only takes a few minutes.
Recipe Notes:
Homemade Muffin Mix is perfect for anyone who loves the ease of a boxed mix but prefers the flavor and comfort of something truly homemade. The recipe includes the addition of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, or cloves. For these cherry muffins, I suggest leaving those spices out to allow the flavor of the cherries and basil to shine through.
Using a cherry pitter to remove the pits from fresh cherries makes quick work of what is otherwise a labor-intensive task. I have this Oxo Cherry Pitter and I love it.
When you’re dividing the batter among 12 muffin cups, you’ll think there’s too much batter, but just keep pressing more onto the tops of the muffins until you’ve used it all up.
A few more muffin recipes that take full advantage of fresh summer fruit
Chocolate Blackberry Muffins. Packed with juicy blackberries and chocolate chips, these are so rich and fudgy they are almost brownie-like.
Blackberry Muffins with Oatmeal Streusel. These are the kind of thing you make when you want a rich, bakery-style muffin that's too good to be anything but homemade.
Raspberry Muffins with Crumb Topping. The crumb of these muffins is exceptionally soft and tender, a perfect match for delicate, sweet raspberries. And the butter crumb topping literally melts in your mouth.
Sour Cream Streusel Blueberry Muffins. These are light and tender, can be made with either fresh or frozen blueberries, and laced with the flavors of vanilla, almond, and a touch of lemon.
Mixed Berry Muffins with Streusel. These delicious mixed berry muffins are packed with fresh or frozen berries and topped with loads of buttery brown sugar streusel.
Blueberry Lemon Muffins. These have a soft, light, cake-like texture that's flavored with lemon and vanilla, packed with blueberries, topped with a buttery crumb topping, and drizzled with lemon glaze for even more bright citrus flavor.
Welcome to Let’s Get Lost! I’m Rebecca, a recipe developer, food photographer, passionate people watcher, and chaser of new experiences. You might know me from my recipe websites, Of Batter and Dough and A Little and A Lot.
My husband and I are nomads without a home base but with many modes of transportation, namely an RV, a motorcycle, and a sailboat. I write recipes and stories for curious people who believe experiences are more important than things and who want more adventure. Find out more.
Yum. I love the "When you’re dividing the batter among 12 muffin cups, you’ll think there’s too much batter, but just keep pressing more onto the tops of the muffins until you’ve used it all up."
Adding this to the list of recipes to try when I get in a land where things like fresh cherries and basil are available . . .