Chocolate Cherry Muffins

I saw all the reviews talking about dryness, so lowered the oven temp to 375 degrees and used frozen sweet cherries (one cup) rather than dried. I did chop them coarsely. Also added a teaspoon of vanilla extract. The texture was fine; very moist and tender. I pulled them at 17 minutes, as they were just 'springy' then. The flavor is not very sweet. If I make again, a cherry sauce or jam to add additional cherry flavor would be nice. Perhaps just sprinkling some sugar on the top would have been helpful as well.

• Kathy D

• Georgetown, KY,

• 4/25/2023

Can use as a doorstop. Sooooo dry. When I tasted this batter I told my husband that these would be the best muffins he had ever had, but boy was I wrong. I made them for my book club Sunday brunch and no one ate more than a nibble. Everyone left them on their plate. They went from wet toothpick when tested at 12 minutes to overdone at 14. My husband thinks they're not even worth tweaking to figure out the moistness problem. Maybe I'll just make the batter again and eat that! Any suggestions? Canola oil? Sour cream?

• calevas

• Patchogue, PPatchogue, NYPat

• 1/11/2017

Followed the recipe precisely. My first bite reminded me of something from my 1960s Easy Bake Oven. My dad used to say it was the best chocolate cornbread he ever had. I thought the muffin tasted like chocolate cornbread. My second bite made me think of a mix...the muffin taste as if it's from a box, not homemade.

• riverdalecook

• The Bronx, NY

• 1/30/2011

We LOVED this muffin recipe. We used fresh cherries but changed nothing else. It is not to sweet. So yummy warm. Very moist.

• AnnieVO

• 8/10/2010

Didn't have quite enough bittersweet chocolate, so I improvised with some white chocolate. After reading everyone's reviews about them being not so sweet, I added a dash of almond extract for fun. Also, used frozen cherries (didn't have dried ones on hand), threw them into a saucepan for a bit to thaw/simmer, pulsed in food processor & added to mix. Great muffins.

• MidCityMosaics

• New Orleans, LA

• 1/2/2010

These worked well for a big company meal in place of boring bread & butter. Next time I will do a few things differently, however. I used frozen cherries to get the moisture, but they weren't sweet enough. Next time, will try dried cherries boiled in white wine to reconstitute them. Also, I would cut the second part of the chocolate either in half or out entirely to make the chocolate flavor a little less heavy. Fact is, however, even without the changes, we just kept eating them.

• jtromweb

• Atlanta

• 4/18/2009

These were excellent! I used frozen sour cherries I had bought last summer at the farmer's market. Not super-sweet, but with the dark chocolate, an excellent combination. Only took 15 minutes to bake, no changes otherwise.

• darceyr

• Falls Church, VA

• 1/6/2009

我的家人喜欢松饼。我用新鲜的樱桃and added 3 tablespoons of cherry jam.

• Anonymous

• Adelaide, Australia

• 11/5/2007

Not chocolaty enough and the chewey cherries in the muffins was just all wrong. Cherries would work in brownies...but muffins? No way. I won't be making this again.

• egirl2u

• Los Gatos, CA

• 9/21/2007

A huge hit with my husband and son who are chocolate lovers.

• Anonymous

• Wilbraham, MA

• 1/27/2007

Why all the bad reviews?! We thought these muffins were great! I found the recipe because I have quite a few fresh cherries I need to use, so I did make with fresh (pitted and quartered) rather than dried. Because some other testers found the muffins dry, I baked them for 10 minutes, checked (very underdone), then 12 (still underdone), and finally took them out at 14. I used high quality dark chocolate...maybe that has something to do with it...higher cocoa butter content? We will be making these again and again...I think they'd be great with blueberries, too!

• kathrynhd

• Alexandria, VA

• 7/20/2006

These muffins were indeed dry. After having read the previous reviewer's comments about dryness, I used the full stick of butter instead of the 3/4 stick, and still they were dry. I really don't know why, either. I made a few adjustments for high altitude (I live at 7,000 ft.) but nothing that would have made them as dry as they were. Also, I even baked them for the minimum time. I probably should have taken them out of the oven at 10 minutes.

• Prosopopoeia

• Santa Fe, NM

• 10/11/2005

I have made this several times and it has always been a hit. It isn't cloyingly sweet. It is perfect for a afternoon treat with a cup of tea.

• Anonymous

• Iowa

• 9/14/2005

Needs vanilla and/or a little bit more salt to bring out the chocolate flavor. Guests said they liked them, but there were sure a lot left!

• litabelle

• sacramento, ca

• 8/14/2005

These were so dry! Easy to make, but not worth wasting good chocolate and cherries in our kitchen. I ended up throwing some out, which saddened me, as I have to haul dried cherries over here from Michigan.

• Anonymous

• Stockholm, Sweden

• 3/18/2005