Cherry Muffin Recipe (Bakery‑Style Lemon Cherry Muffins)
Glazed Lemon Cherry Muffins
These bakery‑style cherry muffins are soft, fluffy and loaded with juicy cherries and bright lemon flavor. They bake up tall with golden tops and a sweet lemon glaze that makes them taste like they came straight from a bakery. Perfect for breakfast, snacks, or a dish to pass at work.
Michigan is known for its incredible cherries, and Traverse City is the cherry capital. These lemon cherry muffins are one of our favorite ways to use fresh Michigan cherries, but frozen cherries work beautifully too.
Why You’ll Love This Cherry Muffin Recipe
- Bakery‑style muffin tops that rise tall and golden
- Fresh or frozen cherries both work
- Bright lemon flavor without being sour
- Simple lemon glaze that adds sweetness and shine
- Ready in about 30 minutes
- Perfect for breakfast, snacks, or sharing at work
Ingredients (No Measurements)
Muffins
- Flour
- Baking powder
- Sugar
- Egg
- Fresh lemon juice
- Melted butter
- Sour cream
- Cherries (fresh or frozen, pitted, drained and quartered)
Lemon Glaze
- Powdered sugar
- Lemon juice
- Water (as needed)
Tips for Perfect Cherry Muffins
- For extra tall muffins: start baking at 400°F for 5 minutes, then reduce to 350°F.
- Frozen cherries: thaw slightly and drain to avoid extra moisture.
Muffin Variations
- Lemon blueberry muffins
- Almond cherry muffins
- Cherry chocolate chip muffins
- Cherry crumble muffins
- Cherry lime muffins
Storage & Freezing
- Room temperature: Store in an airtight container for 3 days.
- Refrigerator: Up to 5 days.
- Freezer: Freeze muffins (without glaze) for up to 3 months. Thaw and glaze before serving.
Can I Use Frozen Cherries?
Yes. Thaw slightly and drain well to prevent excess liquid.
How Do I Keep Cherries From Sinking?
Toss cherries in a tablespoon of flour before adding them to the batter.
Can I Make These Without Lemon?
Yes. Replace lemon juice with milk and skip the glaze for classic cherry muffins.
Can I Use Canned Cherries?
Avoid canned pie filling. Use jarred or canned cherries packed in water, drained well.
How Do I Store Cherry Muffins?
Store at room temperature for 3 days or freeze for longer storage.
Cherry Muffin Recipe (Bakery‑Style Lemon Cherry Muffins)
Ingredients
Muffins
- 2 cups flour
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- large egg
- 1 cup sugar
- juice from 2 medium size lemons and zest
- ½ cup melted butter and cool
- ½ cup sour cream
- 2 cups pitted and quartered cherries (drained if using frozen cherries)
Lemon Glaze
- 1 cup powder sugar
- 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
Instructions
Muffins
- Preheat the oven to 350℉ degrees.
- Melt the butter and set aside to cool.
- Spray the muffin tin or use cupcake papers (much easier clean up to use cupcake papers).
- In a large bowl, add the flour, sugar and baking powder and mix.
- Add the egg and mix and then add the cooled butter and blend together.
- Add the lemon juice, zest and sour cream and blend together.
- Add the cherries and mix well.
- Fill every other muffin tin to the top of the liner or top of the muffin tin.
- Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown and the toothpick comes out clean.
- Let cool the muffins cool before putting on the lemon glaze.
Lemon Glaze
- In a bowl mix the powder sugar and lemon juice together
- Add a little water if not completely incorporated together.
- Take about 1/2 teaspoon of the glaze and drizzle over each muffin.
Notes
Epic failure! These muffins were more like warmed-up batter that never cooked into a cake-like texture, and they did not brown. In retrospect, I should have questioned 1 cup of sour cream, 1/2 cup of melted butter and 1/2 lemon juice. I would not recommend anyone waste the ingredients and make this recipe. I think the author needs to retest this recipe.
Donna. I’m so very sorry the muffins turned out this way for you. I remade them this morning. I see where I missed the amount for the ingredients. I should have just said juice from 2 lemons. I used 2 medium size lemons today and their zest. I also used 1/2 cup sour cream versus a cup. It gives a thicker batter.
I’ve updated the photos as well so you can see what to expect when the batter is done. It should be thicker.
Hi Regina,
I am looking forward to trying this recipe…I will use blueberries instead so hope that will still work. I was wondering if I could replace the sour cream with a vegan yogurt? I am allergic to cow dairy.
Hi Kate. Replacing with blueberries works! And the sour cream is there to add moisture and softness. I know you can replace sour cream with yogurt. It should work with vegan, try and let me know. I have not done it. I did a quick search online and it says yes, and to use equal amounts.
I was so excited to find this recipe! I wanted to find a good recipe for cherry lemon muffins and these looked delicious!
However…you don’t have any salt in your ingredient list yet do have it in the recipe instructions…very confusing. And you don’t say how many muffins it makes (it makes about 18) My muffins came out extremely dry and gross, very disappointed! 🙁
Sorry to hear that Erin. I cook with salted butter, so no need to add salt, but you can add more if you want. I am just guessing, but it sounds like your oven may bake at a higher temp and that is why they were dry.