I must have a dozen variations on the blueberry muffin theme here on CSPS, and here is yet another one. This one is unique in that I was mostly out of dairy and only had ricotta in the house, so I used that. Also, there is actually less sugar in these than some of the other sorts. They did come out lovely though, with that extra bit of lemony sugar crunch on the top.
Ingredients
3/4 cup whole milk ricotta, room temperature
2 large eggs, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup (1 stick0 unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 cup granulated sugar, half for the muffin batter, 1/2 for the lemon sugar topping
Finely grated zest of 2 lemons
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen (wild blueberries – the smaller kind – are preferred)
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with liners.
In a large bowl add the lemon zest to the sugar and rub together with your fingertips until well incorporated, remove 1/2 cup of the lemon sugar for the muffin topping.
Toss the blueberries with one tablespoon of the flour.
Place the ricotta, eggs and vanilla in a medium size bowl, whisk together and stir in the melted butter. Stir the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into the large bowl containing the lemon sugar. Gently stir the ricotta mixture into the sugar/flour mixture, the batter will be very thick. Do not overmix. Gently fold in the blueberries. Divide the batter between the muffin cups and evenly sprinkle the lemon sugar on muffin tops.
Place the muffins into the oven for 25-30 minutes or until the tops are golden and a toothpick inserted comes away clean.
