Lemon Blueberry Ricotta Muffins

Happy Tuesday friends! Today I have quite the treat to share, my lemon blueberry ricotta muffins. But first, a little back story on the recipe. Over the Thanksgiving holiday I realized I had a big tub of ricotta cheese leftover from when I made lasagna. I hate throwing out food, especially with how expensive everything is right now, so I decided to re-purpose it. Ricotta is the type of ingredient that goes well with pretty much ANY baked recipe. I have made ricotta pancakes before and those are always fantastic. This time I wanted to make something else so I played around with my blueberry recipes.

On Thursday morning I woke up early and made these muffins and they were an absolute hit! I tried to keep the sugar down and let the juicy blueberries be the star of the dish. The lemon zest gives the muffins the perfect subtle taste of citrus. And of course, the ricotta adds the most ideal level of moisture and creaminess to the muffins. I hope you enjoy these muffins as much as my family did!

If you would like to see a step by step video click HERE to watch my latest reel on Instagram.

Ingredients

For the Muffins
¾ cup whole milk Ricotta, room temperature
2 large eggs, room temperature
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 stick butter, melted 
1/2 cup sugar 
Finely grated zest of a lemon
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup fresh blueberries

For the Streusel
2 Tbsp oats 
2 Tbsp flour 
4 Tbsp brown sugar 
4 tsp vegetable oil 

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. Spray cup muffin pan with baking spray or line with paper cups (I made ~15 muffins). 
3. Place the ricotta, eggs and vanilla in a medium size bowl, whisk together and stir in the melted butter.
4. Stir the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt into the large bowl. 
5. Gently stir the ricotta mixture into the sugar/flour mixture, the batter will be very thick. Add lemon zest. 
6. Gently fold in the blueberries.
7. Mix streusel ingredients in separate small bowl.
8. Divide the batter between the muffin cups and evenly sprinkle the streusel over muffin tops. Add more zest if desired. 
9. Place the muffins into the oven for 25-30 minutes or until the tops are golden and a toothpick inserted comes away clean.
10. Place on metal rack to cool.
11. Enjoy!!