Ricotta Lemon Muffins

Today's recipe takes the standard lemon muffin up a notch with this made from scratch Ricotta Lemon Muffins recipe. Adding some Tuscany flavors with ricotta cheese and fruity olive oil makes these muffins rich and delicious.

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Let's get all lemony today and bake some gloriously rich muffins that are made with two unusual ingredients for muffins.  What makes these pastries so good is the addition of creamy whole milk ricotta cheese and olive oil that takes an ordinary muffin and adds a deep rich flavor and a fluffy tenderness that is a bit like a cake.

Everyone needs a good lemon muffin recipe and you will love the bright lemon flavor and the super simple recipe. And if you bake with lemons a lot, make sure to read this guide on The Juice of One Lemon - How Much Is That, so you will know the correct measurements.

Jump to:

• Why add ricotta cheese in baking
• Ingredients
• Let's bake muffins
• Baking Tips
• More baking inspiration
• Faq's
• Baking Essentials
• One Hot Oven recipes
• Recipe

Why add ricotta cheese in baking

• We need to get past the fact that ricotta is only for pasta dishes because it is really delicious in baked goods like cakes, bread, and cookies.
• The creaminess of the ricotta adds moisture to baked goods and this cheese has more of a milky texture to it, which is perfect for a lighter crumb.
• Ricotta has a very mild, sweet taste, so it does not impart a strong flavor to what you are baking.
• Use Ricotta instead of heavy cream cheese or mascarpone cheese for a lighter texture.
• Have you ever wondered what to do with leftover ricotta? Bake a batch of these delicious muffins.

Ingredients

Let's bake muffins

This recipe is so simple using the basic muffin mix technique which means adding the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mixing them together.

One thing you will find is these muffins stay a fairly light brown color.

Step 1.  Prepare the muffin tins with paper cup liners. This is optional, but you can add a small layer of rice to the bottom of the muffin tin before adding the paper liners to reduce the browning of the baked muffin. See the tips below.

Step 2. Add the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt to a large mixing bowl and mix well.

Step 3. In another bowl add the ricotta cheese, olive oil, water, fresh lemon juice, lemon zest, and the beaten egg and mix completely

Step 4.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix just until the flour is incorporated and moistened. Be easy on mixing so the batter doesn't get overworked and in return, your muffins will reward you with the perfect texture. You will have a nice thick batter.

Step 5.  Scoop the batter into the paper-lined muffin cups, fill ⅔ full and bake for 15 minutes.  Remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack.

Step 6.  Make the lemon glaze by mixing the powdered sugar with lemon juice and lemon zest and drizzle over the cooled muffins.

Drizzle on plenty of lemon glaze and a sprinkle of lemon zest on top of each muffin to add even more of that fresh lemon flavor everyone loves. Don't you just want to take a bite?

Baking Tips

• Whole milk ricotta works best for baked goods because of the added fat content.
• When using ricotta cheese, mix it into the butter to make sure it is whipped well before adding it to dry ingredients.
• To get that beautiful domed top on the muffins, start baking them at a high temperature for 5 minutes then reduce the temperature to finish baking.
• Add a small layer of white rice to the bottom of each muffin cup to keep the bottom of the muffins from turning brown and the rice absorbs the oils from the batter. Try it!

More baking inspiration

• Try this Lemon Baked Ricotta Cheese Dip that is ultimately creamy and baked with lemon and herbs. Perfect with a good loaf of bread.
• These tender Italian Ricotta Cookies are a perfect lemony cookie to make all year long.
• Instead of ricotta cheese, these two recipes use cottage cheese for the base. Cottage Cheese Crescent Rolls and Cinnamon Crescent Rolls.
• For scone lovers, bake these Lemon Scones that are filled with fresh blueberries.
• Let's add some more favorite muffins to this list. Maple Walnut Muffins are always a delicious fall flavor and the Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffins are a favorite all year long.

Faq's

Baking Essentials

This recipe requires a few items for baking and I have found a good set of glass bowls are necessary for mixing batters, and this set with ten different size bowls will cover your mixing needs.

Try to invest in good heavy standard muffin pans that heat evenly and do not warp. These muffin pans have never failed me.

Don't forget the paper liners for your muffin tins.

One Hot Oven recipes

Recipe

First Published: June 11, 2021… Last Updated: June 30, 2022, with updated content for better readability.

Thank you for stopping by the One Hot Oven blog.  Please leave a comment to say Hello, or just let me know what you are baking these days; I always love hearing from fellow bakers. Have any questions or want to chat about the recipe? My contact information is on my About page, and I’ll be happy to help.                                                                                                                                          

About Jere'              

From learning to cook on a farm in Indiana to culinary school in California, my passion for food is never-ending.  Turning on my oven to bake something for friends and family is my happy place, and I am glad to be here at One Hot Oven sharing sweet and savory family-friendly recipes for your cooking and baking inspiration.