Lemon Ricotta Poppyseed Muffins

Happy Fourth! The best way to start a day filled with lots of quality family time and kitchen prep is to eat a solid breakfast. These lemon ricotta poppyseed muffins give you a little sweetness and tangy, zesty freshness on the go; just one muffin is substantial enough to get you going in the morning or to stave off your pangs of hunger before the grill’s ready in the afternoon. The ricotta is essential to its crumbly, scone-like texture and the light lemon flavor of each bite is bright and refreshing.

Start by mixing all your dry ingredients together in a bowl. That’s flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and poppyseeds.

Cream together butter and sugar in a mixing bowl.

Get your lemon zest ready. I love lemon zest. So happy and yummy!

Add eggs to the butter-sugar mixture, one at a time.

Then add the lemon zest.

Vanilla and a cup of ricotta cheese go in next.

Incorporate the dry ingredients gradually. The muffin batter will have a nice fluffy texture and be slightly moist, but not wet.

Divvy up the batter into muffin cups. I made 17 recipes with this recipe, though two were a little undersized, so perhaps 15  standard size muffins is what you can expect if you were more egalitarian.

After baking, you will see that they rise quite nicely and have a little toastiness to them too.

Let them cool. Try not to annihilate three muffins right away. Baking lemon-centric recipes makes the house smell subtle and floral, not like when you make brownies, so you really savor the wafting aromas in the kitchen.

When it’s time, relish each springy, citrusy bite. So good.

I adapted the recipe from Annie’s Eats.

Lemon Ricotta Poppyseed Muffins

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons of poppy seeds
1 1/4 teaspoon of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt
8 tablespoons of unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
Zest of 1 2 lemons
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 cup yogurt (plain or vanilla) of ricotta cheese

Bake for about 25 minutes (not 18-20 minutes as in the original recipe) at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

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