To find the unit rate of muffins per cup of almonds, you divide the total number of muffins by the total cups of almonds:
\[ \text{Unit rate} = \frac{\text{Total muffins}}{\text{Total cups of almonds}} = \frac{36 \text{ muffins}}{4 \text{ cups}} = 9 \text{ muffins per cup} \]
So, the correct response is:
9 muffins