Name: Easy Cherry Muffins With A Quick Sugar Crunch Topping
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 2 eggs; 1/2 tsp fine salt; 3/4 cup milk; 1/2 cup vegetable oil (or melted butter); 1 tsp vanilla extract; 1/4 tsp almond extract; 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour; 1/4 cup whole grain flour (or whole wheat); 3/4 cup white sugar; 1 tbsp baking powder; 2 cups pitted cherries, halved; 1 tbsp coarse sugar

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Last Updated on September 15, 2025 by Sabrina Currie

There's nothing better than fresh cherries and these easy cherry muffins with a quick sugar crunch topping are the perfect balance of sweet, tart and juicy. They rise tall with slightly crunchy, golden tops, tender centers, and juicy cherries in every bite. A hint of vanilla and almond adds cozy, fragrant flavor. (30 minute recipe)

A cooling rack of golden muffins with bright red cherries peeking through.

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Why You'll Love This Recipe
Ingredients
Substitutions + Variations
Tips For Pitting + Preventing Cherries From Bleeding Juice
Step By Step Instructions
Serving + Storage
Save This Recipe
More Delicious Muffins
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Why You'll Love This Recipe

Bakery style - Tall, fluffy muffins that are lightly sprinkled with coarse sugar for that perfect sparkle. Makes a dozen but you can easily double the recipe.
Easy - Made with simple pantry ingredients you probably already have.
Fresh - Bursting with juicy cherries, this recipe highlights one of my favorite fruits of summer.
Versatile - You can swap in quick oats, a handful of chocolate chips, nuts or even use dried cherries if you like. (See substitutions and variations below)

Whether you're serving them warm at the brunch table, packing them into lunchboxes, or enjoying one with coffee in the morning, these delicious cherry muffins are sure to become one of your favorite muffins.

For a fancier cherry dessert, try these cherry fritters, yum!

Ingredients

This recipe needs just a few simple ingredients for a basic muffin batter that gets elevated with almond extract and a coarse sugared top. These fresh cherry muffins are the perfect way to celebrate cherry season!

Cherries - Any fresh cherries are delicious in these muffins. They are sweet enough to use sour cherries but not too sweet to use dark cherries (what I've used for the photos). If you have a cherry pitter, use that to pit the cherries, if not, see below how I used a knife to cut them in half and remove the pits. (I have a cherry pitter but couldn't find it!)
Whole Grain Flour - To add a little nutty depth of flavor, I've used a bit of einkorn flour along with the all-purpose flour. In place of einkorn, any whole wheat or other whole grain flour or quick oats will work just as well.
Coarse Sugar - This ingredient is optional but it really takes these muffins up a notch adding a pleasant crunch and sparkle on the tops. I highly recommend using it. If you don't have it, simply omit from the recipe.

(Love fruit muffins as much as I do? Try my strawberry rhubarb oatmeal muffins, banana rhubarb muffins or blueberry oatmeal muffins. For a festive treat, gingerbread muffins are perfect!)

Substitutions + Variations

Cherry Almond Muffins - Stir in ½ cup slivered almonds to the batter along with the cherries and sprinkle another ¼ cup of slivered almonds on top before baking.
Chocolate Cherry Muffins - Stir in ¾ cup of chocolate chips or chunks of dark chocolate for a decadent treat.
Fruit Muffins -Swap the cherries for an equal amount of chopped rhubarb or fresh berries like blueberries, raspberries, or strawberries.
Mini Muffins - Divide batter into a prepared mini muffin pan for bite-sized treats and reduce baking time to 8-10 minutes.

Tips For Pitting + Preventing Cherries From Bleeding Juice

The easiest method to pit cherries is with a cherry pitter tool. If you don't have one, I've read you can use a sturdy straw or even a chopstick to push out the pit. I found they kept slipping out of my hand so I used a knife to cut them in half. Sometimes the pit came out easily, sometimes I cut the half with the pit again to get it out.

A cherry cut in half and in quarters with the pit removed.

To prevent bleeding, add the cherries to the flour mixture before it is added to the liquid mixture. Then, when mixing the wet and dry ingredients, don't overmix. If your cherries are particularly juicy, you can pat the chopped cherries dry with paper towels to absorb excess juice before adding them.

Step By Step Instructions

Start by preheating your oven to 400°F and lining a 12-hole muffin tin with paper muffin cups or spraying the tin with non-stick baking spray. These moist muffins will be finished in a flash!

Step 1. Crack eggs into a medium sized bowl.

The eggs are whisked into a frothy pale yellow mixture.

Step 2. Whisk the eggs until frothy.

Dark vanilla extract, milk and oil has been added to the eggs.

Step 3. Add the milk, salt, oil, vanilla and almond extract and whisk again.

All the dry ingredients are in a separate bowl.

Step 4. Combine flour, sugar and baking soda together and whisk well.

The pitted cherry halves are in the bowl on top of the flour mixture.

Step 5. Add the cherries.

The cherries are stirred in and coated in the flour mixture.

Step 6. Toss gently until they are all covered in flour.

The wet ingredients have been poured over the dry ingredients.

Step 7. Pour the egg and milk mixture into the flour mixture. Stir gently, just until combined.

The batter with chunks of cherries is thick and creamy beside a muffin tin lined with paper muffin cups.

Step 8. Do not overmix. A few lumps should remain for a tender crumb and if overmixed, the batter will start to become a muddy color from the cherry juice.

Each muffin cup is filled with batter and topped with coarse sugar.

Step 9. Fill muffin cups almost to the top of the paper liners. Sprinkle the coarse sugar over each.

Step 10. Place in the oven and bake until they are golden brown on top and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. About 12-15 minutes.

Finished cherry muffins on a cooling rack.

Let the muffins cool for 5-10 minutes in the pan, then remove them from the muffin tins to a wire rack to finish cooling completely before storing.

Muffins on a cooling rack with one muffin broken open showing the cherries inside.

Serving + Storage

You can serve cherry muffins while warm with coffee, tea, or a cold glass of milk, or let them cool and serve at room temperature. They shine on a brunch table alongside scrambled eggs and a fresh fruit salad or in weekday lunch boxes.
Store muffins in an airtight container or zip top bag at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the freezer for a month. To store for up to 3 months, double wrap the muffins to prevent freezer burn. Thaw them at room temperature and rewarm in the oven if you like.

Save This Recipe

If you make this homemade muffin recipe, share it on Pinterest or Facebook with your friends. And I'd love for you to leave a rating on the recipe card, your feedback helps others discover this recipe for cherry muffins with a quick sugar crunch topping!