Cherry Garcia Squares

Ben and Jerry's Cherry Garcia Ice Cream is one of their best sellers and also my personal favorite! I picked up some cherries the other day cuz they were on sale and immediately knew I wanted to recreate the same flavors in baked form. I made squares but you can certainly use a regular muffin pan or loaf pan. If you're making a loaf, you'll need to increase the amount of baking time to around 1 hour. They do taste a lot like Cherry Garcia Ice Cream so if you like the flavor, you've gotta give these a try!

Ingredients: (12 squares)


1/2 c (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 c granulated white sugar
3 large eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 c all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 c yogurt (I used Cherry flavored)
1-1/2 c fresh cherries, pitted and chopped
1/2 c chocolate M&'s


Prep:


1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray loaf pan with cooking spray.


2. In the bowl of your electric mixer, beat the butter until softened (about 1 minute). Add the sugar and continue to beat until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.


3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and ground cinnamon. With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture (in 3 additions) and yogurt (in 2 additions) alternately, starting and ending with the flour. Mix only until combined. Gently fold in the cherries and M&M's.


4. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake about 20-25 minutes, or until the bread is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.