Do you have some leftover ricotta? How about making these Lemon Ricotta Muffins? These are perfectly sweetened with a light texture. The lemon sugar topping provides an extra burst of citrus with a little crunch.
Lemon Ricotta Muffins
There is no better combination than lemon and ricotta.
These ingredients are great in both sweet and savory dishes. Some great examples are pancakes, cookies or simply topping lemon pasta with a big scoop of ricotta cheese.
Today, we will be using the simplest method to make these moist muffins. The dry and wet ingredients are first combined separately, then they are quickly blended together and baked.
The result is a lightly sweetened lemony quick bread that is great to have at breakfast, as a snack or quite frankly, anytime!
Let me show you how easy this is!
How to make lemon sugar
Place ½ a cup of granulated sugar and 2 teaspoons of lemon zest (organic) in a small bowl.
Use your fingertips to rub these two ingredients together for a couple of minutes.
Remove 1 tablespoon and set it aside. This will be used to sprinkle over the muffins before they are baked.
Instructions
Let’s begin by preheating the oven to 400° F (200 ° C).
Place the oven grate in the middle of the oven.
Grease or line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners; set aside for now.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk the dry ingredients together for 1-2 minutes.
More specifically: 2 cups of all-purpose flour, 2¼ teaspoons of baking powder, ½ teaspoon of salt and the lemon sugar.
Next, let’s combine the wet ingredients.
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk two eggs with ¼ cup of vegetable oil, ⅓ cup of milk, 1 cup of ricotta and ½ teaspoon almond extract.
For best results, take out the eggs, milk and ricotta 30 minutes before planning to start the recipe.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir, until just combined and you no longer see any dry streaks. Make sure to properly scrape the sides and the bottom of the bowl.
Notice that this is a thick batter.
Fill the muffin tins two-thirds full with the help of a disher or ice cream scoop.
Sprinkle lemon sugar evenly over the tops.
Bake for 18 to 22 minutes or until top bounces back when lightly touched.
Remove from heat. Gently lift out the muffins and transfer to a wire rack to cool off.
Tips
- Preheat the oven to 400° F (200 ° C).
- For best results, take out the eggs, milk and ricotta 30 minutes before planning to start the recipe.
- Use high-quality ricotta for the best results.
- Use a micro-plane or a box grater for grating the lemon zest, the bright yellow outer layer of the peel. Avoid grating the white pith as it is bitter tasting.
- Whisking the dry ingredients together is important to properly distribute the baking powder. This prevents large air tunnels in the finished product.
- Once the wet and dry ingredients are combined, quickly portion the batter as the baking powder is activated.
- Sprinkling lemon sugar over the top of the muffins before baking ensures glistening, crispy muffin tops.
How to store lemon ricotta muffins
Store at room temperature, for up to 2 days, in an airtight container. For longer storage, wrap individually in plastic wrap and freeze.
Does the ricotta need to be drained?
If using homemade ricotta, no. If you see an excessive amount of liquid from your commercial product, it is probably best to strain it.
More lemon ricotta recipes
If you like lemon ricotta recipes, take a look at these Fluffy Pancakes. Truly the perfect recipe for a weekend treat. If you prefer something a little sweeter, these Lemon and Ricotta Cookies are for you.
Recipe origins
As much as I love making biscotti, muffins are another obsession of mine.
From the beginning of my career as a dietitian, I got the privilege of working with some wonderful individuals.
Looking back, at one particular hospital experience, I was very fortunate to be involved with the social committee of this institution.
My colleagues and I got to plan holiday parties, children’s Christmas parties and my favorite, bake sales that raised funds for our residents!
Over 10 years ago I bought a cookbook that focused on baked goods for fundraising activities. The recipe for citrus muffins were an instant hit.
As usual, I made a couple of changes to the original recipe. I swapped the butter for oil and used lemon sugar.
Often times, I will add just a few drops of almond extract.
Bakery-style muffins with a lemon sugar crunch… I do hope you get a chance to try them.
Enjoy!
THANKS SO MUCH for following and being part of the She Loves Biscotti community where you will find Simple & Tasty Family-Friendly Recipes with an Italian Twist.
Ciao for now,
Maria
★★★★★ If you have made these Lemon Muffins, I would love to hear about it in the comments below and be sure to rate the recipe!
Lemon Ricotta Muffin
Ingredients
Lemon Sugar:
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest freshly grated
Dry Ingredients:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour 284 grams
- 2¼ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
Wet Ingredients:
- 2 eggs
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- ⅓ cup milk
- 1 cup ricotta cheese
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
Instructions
To Make the Lemon Sugar:
- Place the granulated sugar and the zest (organic) in a small bowl.
- Use your fingertips to rub these two ingredients together for a couple of minutes.
- Remove 1 tablespoon of lemon sugar and set it aside. This will be used to sprinkle over the muffins before they are baked.
To Make the Muffins:
- Preheat the oven to 400℉/200℃. Position rack to middle.
- Grease or line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners; set aside for now.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk the dry ingredients ( flour, baking powder, salt and lemon sugar) together for 1-2 minutes. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the room temperature wet ingredients.
- Add the wet mixture all at once to the dry ingredients. Stir just until moistened. This is a thick batter.
- Fill the muffin tins two-thirds full with the help of a disher or ice cream scoop.
- Sprinkle lemon sugar evenly over the tops.
- Bake for 18-22 minutes or until top bounces back when lightly touched.
- Remove from heat. Gently lift out the muffins and transfer to a wire rack to cool off.
Notes
- Preheat the oven to 400° F (200 ° C).
- For best results, take out the eggs, milk and ricotta 30 minutes before planning to start the recipe.
- Use high-quality ricotta for the best results.
- Use a micro-plane or a box grater for grating the lemon zest, the bright yellow outer layer of the lemon peel. Avoid grating the white pith as it is bitter tasting.
- Whisking the dry ingredients together is important to properly distribute the baking powder. This prevents large air tunnels in the finished product.
- Once the wet and dry ingredients are combined, quickly portion the batter as the baking powder is activated.
- Sprinkling lemon sugar over the top of the muffins before baking ensures glistening, crispy muffin tops.
Melanie
Just made these and they’re absolutely delicious! The ricotta makes them so moist. I used a citrus extract (from KA Flour) instead of almond, and I added frozen blueberries (tossed in a little flour) into the batter, as well. I will be pinning these so I can definitely make again!
I appreciate that the entire recipe only uses 1/2 cup sugar, too.
Maria
How wonderful! Thanks for sharing Melanie!
Mary Jane
Hi Maria. Happy to know that you live in Montreal. So do I . I live in the West Island lots of Italians here. I was wondering if I could put some chocolate chips or raisins in this recipe? I have grand daughters and they love my baking. Thanks
Maria
How wonderful Mary Jane! I think that would be a great variation! Enjoy!
Jane
Ok, I am either blind OR there is no sugar in the muffins other than on the zest topping???????
Maria
Thanks for your interest Jane. You will notice this ingredient when making the lemon sugar. Enjoy!
Julia
This is a fantastic recipe. I like that it does not include sugar in the muffin itself, just on top which I can use sparingly, or not 😉
Also, it’s a great way to use the leftover ricotta from other recipes.
Delicious!
P.S. I used vanilla extract instead of almond because I didn’t have any.
Maria
So happy to read this! Thanks for sharing Julia!
Maureen M.
Lemon sugar was added to recipe, as well as sprinkling on top, so it does have sugar in the recipe, making this today …yummm
Maria
Enjoy Maureen! Thanks for stopping by.
Ilsa
I make these muffins pretty regularly because I feel like they have a bit more protein than regular muffins with the ricotta and two eggs. Also, everyone in the family likes them, including one of my kids who is quite particular. Anyway, the reason I decided to add to the comments is because I normally sub butter for the oil but tonight I forgot to include either (no oil or butter) and they still turned out great. Thanks so much for sharing this delicious recipe!
Maria
Great comment Ilsa! Thanks so much for sharing. I must try it.
Alice
These are so lovely! Had left over ricotta to use up. These are Very light and not very sweet, which I love. I used almond milk and I added lemon juice to enhance the lemon flavor. I also added blueberries. I made them into mini muffins and they turned out great. Would recommend this recipe.
Maria
Thanks so much for sharing Alice! So happy to hear you enjoyed these muffins!
Liis_discovers_food
Hello. Made these last night and what a beautiful morning it was to wake up for these. Easy recipe and exactly for 12 muffins. I love the lemon touch and sugar on top of muffins. Also good that after 2 muffins cannot have more because very filling. 🙏Thank you
Maria
My pleasure! Thank you so much for sharing!
Jean
Had ricotta to use up and many fresh lemons. I did add a bit of lemon juice to the batter. I like the biscuit texture. Might be nice base for strawberry shortcake!
Maria
That sounds like an interesting idea. Thanks for sharing Jean.
Paula
I made these gluten free with Bob’s red mill 1;1 flour and they were very good. Also added a 1/4 tsp lemon extract for extra lemon flavour. Lovely muffin-will make again.
Maria
How wonderful Paula! Thanks so much for sharing!
Phylisse
Hi Maria. I made these adding fresh blueberries. They were very good. However, because I added the blueberries I had batter left over. Not a lot, but enough. So I crushed in pecans (which I wish I toasted first) and made dollops on a cookie sheet. They baked like fluffy cookies. They were so good. I dusted with powdered sugar. What a versatile recipe. Thanks for sharing.
Maria
This is such a fantastic idea! How creative Phylisse! Thank you so much for sharing! I must try this!
Lucille Lanza
Hi Maria Just wanted to say I love your recipes Wholesome and delicious I’ve made these muffins a number of times and they just keep getting better Even my hard-to-please son in law who was raised in Italy was impressed
Maria
How wonderful! Thanks so much for sharing Lucille, appreciate it!