Jewel Osco Cherry Almond Muffins
Time:
45m
Difficulty:
Easy
Loot:
12 muffins
Like a few of these, it starts in a grocery store…
This one was from second grade, where during that rainy summer, Jewel Osco was the place to be. After my little sister got out of physical therapy for the day, my poor mom would wrangle her three little kids into a shopping cart, and take care of the groceries for the day. And if we were good, she would pick up a 4-count box of Jewel’s gigantic assorted muffins from the bakery.
It was like playing roulette every time, Pistachio, blueberry, banana nut, bran (yuck), double dutch chocolate, you name it. But my favorite was a bit of a sleeper-hit: the cherry-almond muffin. It was a dense, tender sakura-colored crumb – with little bits of maraschino cherry folded in. I remember I would pick every toasted almond off that wrapper and ride a nasty sugar rush until about noon.
It broke my heart when Jewel discontinued those muffins, and for years, I searched far and wide for a recipe. But, with the help of a little trial and error, generative AI, and deconstructed pistachio muffin recipes, I think I’ve finally done it.
But I will have to ask you one thing before you continue with this one: trust the process. You may raise your eyebrows at some of the ingredients, but it will be worth it in the end.
Word to the Wise
I don’t always have sour cream on hand. So I always just sub sour cream with ½ cup of buttermilk.
Use ½ cup of milk (you know the rules), and combine it with 1 ½ tsp of vinegar or lemon juice.
Stir gently and let it rest for 5-10 minutes until it curdles.
If you don’t have whole milk on hand, 2% should be fine, but it will be a little denser and will not be as fluffy the next day.
To get milk/buttermilk to room temperature, try microwaving each for roughly 25 seconds.
If you want to get the cake to be a bit pinker, add ⅛ to ¼ tsp of red food dye. But BE CAREFUL. Add too much, and it’ll throw off the liquid ratio and look like a red velvet mess.
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 pack instant cherry pudding mix (3.4 oz)
¼ tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
¾ cup white granulated sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
⅓ cup vegetable oil
¼ cup unsalted butter, melted
½ cup full-fat sour cream, room temperature
⅓ cup whole milk, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
⅓ cup turbinado sugar
½ cup sliced almonds
½ cup maraschino cherries, drained and chopped
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a muffin tin with paper liners.
Fill a small mixing bowl with warm water (below boiling), submerge your eggs and let them rest for 10-20 minutes.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cherry pudding mix, salt, and baking powder.
Microwave your milk and sour cream (or buttermilk) for around 20-25 seconds until roughly room temperature.
In a separate bowl, beat the sugar and eggs until light and fluffy. Add the vegetable oil, melted butter, sour cream (or buttermilk), milk, vanilla extract, and almond extract. Mix until combined.
Slowly fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, mixing until just combined. Avoid overmixing.
If using, gently fold in the chopped maraschino cherries.
Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups, filling each about ¾ full.
Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with turbinado sugar and sliced almonds.
Bake for 18-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Let the muffins cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.