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.
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!
Recipe
Lemon Ricotta Muffin
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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.
Nutrition
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Linda Baker
Lemon/poppy seed/ricotta muffins are a favorite, so I constantly tweak and update my original recipe. This caught my eye as it has the highest proportion of ricotta and eggs to flour without increasing the sugar. Got interrupted in the mixing and – too late – discovered I hadn’t added the oil to the wet ingredients until I’d filled the muffin cups. Baked them anyway thinking they would likely turn out like “hockey pucks”. Amazingly they didn’t, likely thanks to using XL eggs. Now my new recipe – although next time I’ll remember the oil!
Maria
Thanks so much for sharing Linda!
Jane
Wow, these are tasty. I can see making these over and over again.
Chris Walker
Amazing! I added fresh blueberries, and inrcreased the amount of lemon sugar in order to have a little more for the tops. Absolutely delicious!!
Maria
SO thrilled to read this! Thanks for sharing Chris!
Jessica
I love this recipe! So flavorful! I didn’t have enough ricotta, but I really wanted to use it up, so I used about a 1/4 of cream cheese. It still turned out delicious. These muffins also pair really well with a lemon glaze.
Linda
from one Dietitian to another, can I replace 1/3 or more of white flour with whole wheat?
Maria
Hello, my colleague! Although I have never tried, it should work. I think the ricotta provides more than enough moisture. Would love to hear about your results if you decide to try it! Thanks for your interest, Linda!
Cait L
I didn’t have lemon so I duplicated recipe using orange and they are really fantastic! Shared with friends and they were all gone in one day. Thank you for your great recipes this one is another winner.
Maria
How wonderful! Thanks for sharing Cait!
Linda
I appreciate that this recipe doesn’t overdo the sugar like many muffin recipes. Subbed olive oil. I used more lemon zest than the recipe called for and some lemon juice, but I thought the lemon flavor could have been even stronger. The lemon sugar on the top was a nice touch.
Isaac
They turned out nicely but mine didn’t brown like the photo. They remained very pale.
Maria
Thanks for your comment Isaac. The only thing I can think of is that all ovens heat a little differently. You can always try to put them under the broiler for 30 seconds, but keep an eye on them as they might quickly burn.
Patricia Mapley
Excellent muffins. Easy to make and eat. I made exactly as written except for extract. I used vanilla.
Maria
How wonderful Patricia! Thanks for sharing ♥
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!