Last month I used dried cherries in my #FoodieExtravaganza post. I had some dried cherries leftover and conveniently found a recipe to use them in  Tyler Florence’s Real Kitchen.

If you recall, my parents were in town the weekend I made the ice cream. (My dad was my inspiration for using dark chocolate!) I whipped up these muffins the night before my dad had to leave. He was catching a very early morning flight and had to leave at 4:30! I made these muffins so he could have something to eat in the car if he so desired.

I didn’t have a full cup of cherries leftover so I simply polished off the bag using what I had. The result was delicious poppy seed muffins with a few dried cherries here and there. You could substitute with your favorite tart dried fruit in this recipe if you wish – cranberries, blueberries, chopped apricots could work well too!

Oh, and I forgot to sprinkle the tops of the muffins with extra sugar so they didn’t quite have that expensive coffee shop look, but we didn’t seem to mind.

Poppy Seed Muffins with Dried Cherries

Ingredients:

• 2 C flour
• 1 C sugar
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 C milk
• 1 stick butter, melted
• 1 tbsp poppy seeds
• zest 1 orange
• 1 C dried cherries

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease a standard muffin tin or line it with paper liners.
2. In a large bowl whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
3. In another bowl whisk together eggs and milk. Stir in the poppy seeds and orange zest.
4. Combine the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.
5. Toss the dried cherries in a little bit of flour to coat. Gently fold into the muffin batter.
6. Fill prepared muffin try 2/3 of the way full.
7. Sprinkle with extra sugar (optional).
8. Bake 20 – 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out cleanly.

*This recipe is adapted from Tyler Florence’s Real Kitchen*

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