Food E.

I have a confession to make: I am the ultimate ricotta-waster. I hate wasting food in any capacity but for some reason I more-often-than-not have a moldy container of ricotta cheese in my fridge. I use a cup for one recipe and then cut to three weeks later and I haven’t used it since. It’s becoming a reeeeeal problem in my life.

Anyway, on the brink of ricotta expiration, I made these muffins. I loooove love love ricotta in baked goods (it gives them this strangely spongy but not-too-fluffy texture, kind of like ricotta cheese itself) and have made a promise to myself that I will no longer waste ricotta – I’ll just bake it up.

On the menu:
Lemon ricotta muffins
Makes 12

2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup sugar, plus 2 Tbsp (for topping)
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
Zest of 2 lemons
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 egg
2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 12 muffin tin cups with muffin liners.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

In a medium bowl, using an electric mixer, blend the sugar, butter, and zest. Beat in ricotta cheese until smooth. Add egg, fresh lemon juice, and vanilla extract and blend until combined. Add dry ingredients and mix by hand until combined.

Fill each muffin liner with batter. Cups will be almost completely full (don’t worry, they don’t really overflow but just puff up nicely). Sprinkle remaining 2 Tbsp of sugar over the top of the muffins.

Bake for 25 – 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out almost completely clean.

Let cool on a wire rack for a few minutes before removing them from the tin and letting them cool completely.

PS: I apologize for all the lemon-themed baked goods lately. If you can believe it, I even made lemon lime cookies that I didn’t post because I forgot to take a picture before I gave them away. What can I say, it’s summer time and I’ve got lemon on the brain. So sue me.