Wednesday, August 23, 2006

LEMON RICOTTA MUFFINS

I must confess here that I love Ricotta and always possess a few tubs of that fresh cheese in my refrigerator in case I decide to cook or bake something with it!

In fact, because of my squirrelly ways of stocking food, one of my numerous Ricotta pots in my fridge was very close to being out of date according to the inscriptions on the tub's lid, so I imperatively had to find a solution in order not to lose an ounce of this precious cheese that I venere for it's fabulous versatility... That's when I "fell" on this "Lemon Ricotta Muffins" recipe while frenetically googling around trying to find something that would meet my difficult criteriums. You see, generally, when I decide to cook or bake anything, it can take me hours and even days before I find what I'm looking for. I'm such a maniac when I have to choose a recipe that I often get a slight headache and feel desperate, because I still havent found what I'm looking for although I've already spent a considerable amount of time searching through my books, files and the internet!!! Sometimes, I can be a real nutcracker...

Well, those muffins had already been tested by Paula of the higly enjoyable "The Cookbook Junkie" from America. She had described them as the "best muffins ever" and she didn't lie! Paula herself had taken this recipe from her cookbook "Good Housekeeping Baking"...

So it is my turn to deliver this fabulous recipe! Those "Lemon Ricotta Muffins" are very delicate and fluffy; a real temptation. Their aroma is incredible as the lemon gives them a dreamlike citrusy perfume and the Ricotta offers a round taste that sends you up to the heavens above. They are just sweet enough, but not overpoweringly sugary. In fact, they are perfect!

Those muffins have revolutioned my palate, so what are YOU waiting for? Hop, hop, please go in you kitchen and bake! You'll see that your efforts will be rewarded...

Ingredients:
2 Cups (300g) All-purpose flour (plain white flour)
1/2 Cup (110g) Castor sugar + 2 Tbs
2 1/2 Tsp Baking powder
1/2 Tsp Salt
1 Cup (250g) Ricotta cheese
1/3 Cup (84ml) Milk
6 Tbs (90ml) Unsalted butter, melted
2 Eggs (~50g)
2 Tsp Freshly grated lemon peel

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F).
2. Grease twelve 2 ½” by 1 ¼” muffin-pan cups or line with paper baking liners.
3. In large bowl, stir together flour, ½ cup sugar, baking powder and salt.
4. In medium bowl, with wire whisk or fork, mix together ricotta, milk, melted butter, eggs and lemon peel.

5. Make well in center of flour mixture and pour in ricotta mixture; stir until just moistened.
6. Spoon batter into prepared muffin-pan cups.
7. Sprinkle remaining 2 tablespoons sugar over muffins.
8. Bake 20 to 22 minutes, until muffins are golden brown, tops spring back when lightly touched or a toothpick inserted in center of muffin comes out clean.
9. Immediately remove from pan; serve warm. Or cool on wire rack to serve later.

Remarks:
To mix the fllour with the liquid mixture I used a fork.
The secret of light and tender muffins lies within the blending of the wet ingredients with the dry ones. It's not a problem if you've left some lumps that look as if they want more stirring. Don't continue stirring no matter how hard it is, resist the impulse!

Serving Suggestions:
Those muffins are delicious when served for breakfast with butter and/or lemon curd (see recipe).

(Ricotta -Pic by www.cheese.com)

24 comments:

  1. Nous sommes déjà le 23, chez toi... si je me dépêche, je pourrais peut-être en avoir un?

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  2. MAMINA: Non pas vraiment, he, he... En fait, c'est un truc; je poste maintenant, mais cette recette sera seulement demain sur "Blog Appétit"! Par contre, les muffins ont déjà tous été mangés, dommage pour toi. Mais le prochaine fois, pas de problème!

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  3. Hallo Rosa, ich mag Ricotta auch. Ich habe vorletzte Woche auch Ricotta "Plätzchen" gebacken. Orginal Rezept war eigentlich mit LOR dem türksichen Ricotta. VOn der Konsistenz sind sie etwas unterschiedlich abgesehen davon hat es hingehauen. War nämlich ein Versuch nicht nicht bzw. hier schwer auffindbaren LOR durch den weit verbreiteten Verwandten zu ersetzen:)

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  4. Warm muffins with lemon curd.... simply sublime!

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  5. oh! nooon, je me lève et je suis devant mon écran avec mon café du matin et quoi ? pffffffff tous mangés
    La vie est injuste parfois :-)
    je te réitère ma proposition de livre, si tu es ok, réponds en mail privé

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  6. Oh my ! My coffee is feeling so lonely right now... I always have some fresh ricotta too so maybe I can figure out how to fix this up...

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  7. These muffins look delicious. I have also some Ricotta in the fridge waiting...

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  8. Je me garde un muffin pour le thé...

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  9. Dilek: Thanks for visiting my blog! Diese Plätzchen mussten sehr fein schmecken ;-)! Ich habe niemals LOR gegessen oder gesehen...

    PAMELA: You are right ;-))))!

    BRIGITTE: Et oui, généralement ce que je poste a déjà été mangé depuis quelques jours... Dommage pour toi ;-)!!!

    FRAMBOISE: Thanks for passing by! I really recommend you to bake those muffins with the ricotta that you stock in your fridge!!!

    ZORRA: Thanks! So, what are you waiting for, heh?!...

    COLETTE: Je te le garde bien au chaud ;-))...

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  10. J'ai bien copié collé pour accompagner mon lemon-curd.

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  11. Rooo ça ça me plait !!! Beaucoup !!!
    Super sympa comme recette, merci !

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  12. Hey Rosa! I just wanted to let you know I used this recipe to make muffins this AM with my leftover ricotta from the DB challenge!
    I googled ricotta muffins and yours came up on the first page - I was like I KNOW HER!!!! YAY!!!
    We added blueberries and they were delicious!

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  13. I have made bread with ricotta and it was heavenly...I have some leftover and can't wait to try this recipe! Sounds wonderful.

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  14. MEDIOCRE CHOCOLATE: Thanks for passing by and for the kind comment! Those muffins are delicious, believe me! I hope you'll like them as much as I do...

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  15. Im going to bake these for mothers day! Thanks!

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  16. i just made these for breakfast - they were very easy and delicious to boot!

    we had them warm from the oven, split open with blueberry jam on them. so good!

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  17. MR PAN: Thanks for passing by and for leaving a comment! I'm glad you enjoyed those muffins! With blueberry jam, that sounds so good....

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  18. I just had to drop by and say that Ive been using this muffin recipe for the past year (MANY times when ricotta goes on sale here in the states!) and its one of my faves. People RAVE about these muffins- I usually add a teeny bit more sugar and make mini muffins because I find the regular ones are a bit too big for my tummy (and the mini ones are perfect for sharing!) Ive brought these to countless brunches, offices and school events and every time they've been a huge hit among my very snobby foodie friends...so thanks!!

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  19. CRISTINA: Thanks for passing by and for the kind comment! I'm so happy to know that you enjoy this recipe very much and that the people around you also do! Cheers.

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  20. I made them and liked them but found them dry. Do you think it was because I used light ricotta cheese?

    http://tastespace.wordpress.com/2009/12/28/lemon-ricotta-muffins/

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  21. SAVEUR: Thanks for passing by and for the comment!

    It might be the reason why they were dry... Less fat makes muffins less moist.

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  22. Well like you I was Googling the universe hehe looking for ricotta recipes...ideally for breakfast...plus something with lemon, as I also had two amazing fresh lemons in the fridge, which are not enough for lemonade or a lemon-first recipe, but just enough for a spritz in some other dish...so I landed on your blog!

    I made the muffins as described, but with a titch more flour and 1/4 cup milk, 1/4 cup freshly-squeezed lemon juice, to up the lemon flavour. Yum yum! Thank you for the post.

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  23. OCTOVUS: Thanks for passing by and for the kind comment! I'm glad you liked my recipe. Your version sounds great! Cheers.

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  24. Thank you Rosa, these are fantastic! In case you were ever curious, it works pretty well to make 4 times the recipe all at once (just takes some slow stirring to not over-mix). I posted it on my blog and linked back to you.

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