Blueberry Lemon Ricotta Muffins

What does one do with a tub of ricotta that will expire at the end of the week and a half pint of fresh blueberries that are about to shrivel away?

Make muffins, of course!

It coincidentally happened that I was going through some old bookmarked recipes of mine, and I came across this one. Hmmm…I thought…I have ricotta on hand.  And, why yes, I also happen to have fresh blueberries on hand that might be pretty good with this recipe.  And, since I’ve been doing a lot of studying lately (which actually equals having a mug of tea or coffee along by my side at all times and a secret desire for some sort of baked good), muffins actually sounded pretty good to me.  Especially blueberry ones.

It’s been very dreary here in Indiana the past couple of days, so the idea of fresh fruit was appealing.  Although, I guess when the weather is bad, I am forced to stay inside and get some much-needed work/writing done.  Poor Scout.  There was one day last week that was absolutely lovely outside, so I took her for a nice long walk.  Everyday she now looks at me and her leash, waiting to go out, but then she realizes it’s cold and rainy (she does not like the rain one bit!).  I’m ready for spring.

Mom, can we *PLEASE* go for a walk?

But, enough digression.  Let me tell you about these muffins.  Moist, soft, and sweet.  Soft lemon flavor.  Juicy blueberries. You could up the lemon factor a little bit if you desire.  If I make these again, I will definitely add some more lemon flavor to the batch.  Served warm from the oven, with a little butter and honey, and oh my!  You could get me to study anything if I had these to snack on all the time…….

Blueberry Lemon Ricotta Muffins

Servings: 16 muffins

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup ricotta cheese **I used low-fat, but I increased the butter in my adaptation for fear of dreaded muffin dryness

1/2 cup milk**I used skim

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

2 large eggs

Zest of 2 lemons

1 cup fresh blueberries

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

2. Line a muffin tin with desired paper liners, or spray with cooking spray.

3.  In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt, mixing well.  Set aside.

4. In your standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the ricotta cheese, milk, and butter at low-speed, mixing well.

5.  Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.

6.  Add the lemon zest, mixing well.

7.  On low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, until just combined.

8. By hand, gently fold the blueberries into the batter (you don’t want them to break apart from the intensity of the paddle) with a rubber spatula.

9.  Evenly divide the batter between your prepared pans, and bake until golden brown on top, about 25 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking.

10.  Let cool for 10 minutes in muffin pans before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Barely adapted from The Taste Space, as seen on A Year in the Kitchen, originally adapted from Rosa’s Yummy Yums.

February 22, 2011 - 6:10 am

janet - I love how you added blueberries to the muffins. I have been on a lemon-blueberry kick lately since they work so well together. 🙂

February 22, 2011 - 6:13 am

Blog is the New Black - Great use of about to expire ingredients! 😉

February 22, 2011 - 10:16 am

eat good 4 life - This looks awesome. I really like the idea of using ricotta cheese in this. I might venture and try these when I get home next week 🙂

February 22, 2011 - 12:33 pm

branny - I had a similar predicament with ricotta. I ended up making orange ricotta pancakes though, they were very good! My husband’s favorite fruit is blueberries, so I’ll keep this recipe in mind. He claims to hate ricotta, of course, but he can never tell when I actually use it.
BTW – love boxers, they are such family dogs!

February 22, 2011 - 7:06 pm

LeeYong - OMG! I love the pic of your pooch! Amazing colors of her eyes and body! Incredible! Enjoy her!

February 22, 2011 - 7:27 pm

Patty - Your dog it soooo cute!

Those muffins sound and look awesome. 🙂

February 22, 2011 - 9:44 pm

Jenny - Your baby, Scout, is beautiful! Is she a boxer?
We have a 2 1/2 year old brindle boxer named, Jasper. She also joins me in the kitchen while I’m cooking and often waits patronizingly for W-A-L-K-s (we have to spell the word because she knows what it means!)…

Your recipe looks delicious. 🙂

February 22, 2011 - 9:55 pm

srlacy - Hi Jenny!

Yes, Scout is a brindle boxer, too! She will be 4 this summer. I can’t wait to get her a brother or sister, but I will have to wait a while. Boxers are such great dogs!

February 23, 2011 - 7:04 am

Lauren at KeepItSweet - lemon, blueberry and rioctta is such a wonderful flavor combination! great use of some extra ricotta:-)

February 23, 2011 - 1:21 pm

Sarah - I made these last night and they were fabulous! So moist and not too sweet. Delish!

February 23, 2011 - 2:03 pm

srlacy - Woohoo! Thank you so much for the feedback, Sarah! That comment just made my day!

February 28, 2011 - 6:47 am

Annie - Beautiful as always. I really love the last photo! (Also, Andrew was reading this post with me and he got VERY excited about the “silly doggy” in the picture. Haha!)

March 1, 2011 - 7:03 pm

Kelli - Shan, I LOVE the pics on this one! My out-loud commentary was “yum and pretty plate”…”pretty doggie.” 🙂 xo

March 15, 2011 - 11:39 pm

Kristine - I just made some whole wheat blueberry muffins this past weekend, and now I want to try this recipe too! I love the blueberry and lemon combination, and I like the idea of using ricotta in a muffin. Thanks for sharing!

April 20, 2011 - 12:57 pm

Lynda Tatrai - I’ll make these for Easter, thanks for the recipe!

May 29, 2011 - 12:23 am

Melany - Very delicious and a great use of ricotta cheese. I’ve added this to my recipe box.

August 19, 2011 - 11:12 am

Katie - Delishious!

August 24, 2011 - 8:39 am

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Smiler - These look really yummy and defo my next bake. Thank you.

September 23, 2012 - 9:23 pm

Michael - I made these lemon blueberry ricotta muffins twice. The first time, I used the zest of five (5) lemons. I substituted 1/2 cup of almond meal for 1/2 cup of the wheat flour. The second try, I substituted 1 cup of almond meal for 1 cup flour. Also each time I added 1/4t lemon extract and 1/4t almond extract. Tasty.

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