Headed over to see my friend Harmony’s newly purchased town home on a recent Sunday morning, I thought I should bring a breakfast snack for us to share. Around the same time I happened across a recipe for strawberry ricotta muffins on about.com all while I had a bunch of berries in my fridge nearing their turning point sitting right next to a container of ricotta cheese. Perfect.
The key to these muffins is roasting the strawberries, you have to dry them out or you’ll get soggy muffins. But don’t worry if they look too dry when they are done, the muffin batter will keep them hydrated enough in the final product. They will also cook down significantly, but note that I’ve increased the amount of strawberries in the recipe below over the original, so it will be enough, I promise!
The muffins will come out fluffy with a crumbly top and the yummiest little pockets of tarty sweetness, I think they taste best warm right out of the oven so drop your leftovers in a muffin tin and pop them in a preheated oven for 5-10 minutes to get that crusty top back.
Strawberry Ricotta Muffins
Recipe adapted from About.com Local Foods
INGREDIENTS
3 cups medium strawberries
3/4 cup part skim ricotta cheese
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
10 tablespoons butter melted and cooled, divided
2/3 cup sugar
Juice of 1 lemon, approx 2 tablespoons
2 teaspoons fresh lemon zest
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Gently wash, hull and dice strawberries. Place berries on a cooling rack over a sheet pan. Bake until strawberries are partially dried, about 45 minutes. Let cool.
Increase oven to 400 degrees. Brush a 12-mold muffin tin with 2 tablespoons of the melted butter. Set aside.
In a bowl, whisk together ricotta, eggs, lemon juice and vanilla. Stir in remaining butter.
In a large bowl, use your fingertips to rub together sugar and lemon zest until sugar is moist. Mix in flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Use a spatula to gently but quickly fold ricotta mixture into dry ingredients. Don’t overwork it, the key is to mix as gently and as little as possible to avoid a tough, dense muffin. The batter will be thick and heavy. Stir in strawberries and spoon batter evenly into muffin tins. Bake until tops of muffins are golden and springy to the touch, about 20-25 minutes.
