#MuffinMonday: Lemon Ricotta Muffins

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins to brighten their Mondays. And I’ve decided to join in the fun! I’ve been a part of this group for a couple of months now but today is the first day I am able to post with the gang. There isn’t a theme to #MuffinMonday posts so anything goes, as long as it’s a muffin!

We went through a spell with Firecracker where the only thing he’d eat was a waffle. I became creative in adding some extra nutrition to the breakfast item through apples, sweet potatoes, and Greek yogurt. The waffle obsession has slowed if not died and I’m happy to report the adventurous eater is slowly reemerging. I’m looking forward to continuing to post with this group once a month as it seems muffins offer another food medium to sneak in some good nutrition.

Today’s muffins are filled with ricotta cheese and lemon. The ricotta cheese provides extra protein and calcium and yields perfectly light and fluffy muffins.

I’ve had this recipe on my radar for 11 months and finally had some leftover ricotta (from Thanksgiving) to make it! (I’ve been using my leftover ricotta for pasta instead.) Tara’s muffins are much prettier than mine because she put coarse sugar over the top.

This recipe makes 1 dozen kid-approved muffins.

Lemon Ricotta Muffins

Ingredients:

• 1 C flour
• 3/4 C cake flour
• 3/4 C sugar
• 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 egg, beaten
• 3/4 C ricotta cheese
• 1/2 C water
• 1/4 C canola oil
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp lemon zest
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste (I used Nielsen-Massey)

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with liners.
2. In a large bowl whisk together the flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
3. In an other bowl fold together the egg, ricotta, water, oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, and vanilla.
4. Mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients. DO NOT OVER MIX.
5. Divide batter into prepared muffin tin. Bake 16 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out cleanly. Allow muffins to cool in the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

*This recipe is adapted from Tara at http://tarasmulticulturaltable.com/lemon-ricotta-muffins/*

And don’t forget to check out these other muffin recipes:

Bacon Cheddar Corn Muffins from Making Miracles

Banana Cranberry Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm

Banana Streusel Muffins from All Roads from Lead to the Kitchen

Healthy Morning Glory Muffins from Farm Fresh Feasts

Lemon Ricotta Muffins from Sew You Think You Can Cook

Savory Corn Bread Muffins from Karen’s Kitchen Stories

Sticky Toffee Bran Muffins from Food Lust People Love

You can see all our of lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday can be found on our home page.