Prepare the Oven and Pan: Preheat the oven to 425°F/220°C. Grease 12 standard muffin cups or line them with muffin liners.
Combine the Dry Ingredients: Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl. Add the sugar and mix until the dry ingredients are evenly combined.
Mix the Wet Ingredients: In a separate medium bowl, combine the slightly beaten egg, yogurt, oil, vanilla extract, and almond extract, mixing until blended.
Make the Batter: Pour the wet mixture into the bowl of dry ingredients. Using a wooden spoon or rubber spatula, gently fold everything together just until combined. Avoid overmixing; the finished batter should remain quite thick and lumpy.
Add the Cherries and Almonds: Gently fold the halved, pitted cherries and ½ cup of slivered or sliced almonds into the batter. Fold carefully to help prevent the cherries from staining the batter excessively.
Fill the Muffin Cups: Divide the thick batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups, filling them almost to the top. Sprinkle additional, untoasted sliced or slivered almonds over the tops if desired.
Start Baking: Place the muffins in the preheated 425°F/220°C oven and bake for 3 minutes.
Reduce the Temperature: After the initial 3 minutes, reduce the oven temperature to 375°F/190°C without removing the muffins.
Finish Standard Muffins: Continue baking standard muffins for an additional 12–17 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Finish Jumbo Muffins: For jumbo muffins, continue baking for an additional 22–27 minutes after reducing the temperature to 375°F/190°C, checking for doneness with a toothpick inserted into the center.
Protect the Tops if Needed: If the muffins begin to brown too much before they are finished baking, loosely cover them with aluminum foil.
Cool the Muffins: Let the baked muffins cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
