adapted from King Arthur Flour
Preheat oven to 375° F.
Yield: 12 muffins
1/2 cup butter
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup milk
1/3 cup sour cream
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups cherries, pitted, coarsely chopped and drained
1 cup slivered almonds, lightly toasted
1 tsp almond extract
1 tsp vanilla
Raw sugar
Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Mix in the sour cream.
Sift together the dry ingredients and add them, alternately with the milk to the butter/sugar mixture. Stir in the almond extract and vanilla, then gently fold in the almonds and cherries.
Spoon the muffin batter into 12 greased muffin cups. The cups will be quite full. Sprinkle each muffin with a bit of raw sugar. Bake in a preheated oven for 20-25 minutes. Check the muffins at 20 minutes.