Friday, September 11, 2009

LEMON-RICOTTA CRANBERRY WALNUT MINI MUFFINS

A friend asked me to bake mini muffins for her son's rehearsal dinner. These were one of the muffins I made, and they were really delicious. Giada's "Nonna's Lemon Ricotta Biscuits" were the inspiration for this recipe. I added the walnuts, cranberries and a bit of orange zest to the batter and brushed a lemon glaze over the tops of the warm muffins. The glaze really set this muffin off, enhancing the lemonny flavor and bringing them to the next level. Yep, this one's a keeper for sure. The lemon flavor is mild, but just enough, and the cranberries and walnuts are perfect with the citrus flavor.

Lemon-Ricotta Cranberry Walnut Mini Muffins
Adapted from Nonna's Lemon Ricotta Biscuits
Rating: 9 out of 10
INGREDIENTS: 1-1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup low-protein flour (I used White Lily all-purpose, but cake flour will do)
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 cup dried sweetened cranberries
1/2 cup toasted, chopped walnuts or pecans
1 stick unsalted butter, melted and partially cooled
1 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. finely grated lemon zest
1 tsp. finely grated orange zest
1 large egg
1 cup whole-milk ricotta
2 Tbsp. lemon juice, divided use
1/4 cup confectioner's (10X) sugar
Heat oven to 425 F. Grease 3 (12-cup) mini-muffin tins or line with paper liners.
In medium bowl, whisk together flours, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cranberries and nuts.
In large bowl, whisk together butter, sugar, and zests tilll smooth. Whisk in the egg and beat till smooth again. Whisk in ricotta and 1 Tbsp. lemon juice and beat till smooth. With spatula or spoon, stir in the dry ingredients, just till barely combined, leaving lumps, if any. Spoon into muffin cups, using about 1 Tbsp. for each. Place pans in oven and immediately reduce heat to 350F. Bake about 14 minutes, or till a toothpick inserted in center returns with just a few crumbs. Turn out onto wire rack to cool.
In the meantime, in small bowl, whisk together confectioner's sugar and remaining 1 Tbsp. lemon juice. Brush over tops of warm muffins and allow to set (about 1 hour) before serving or freezing. Yield: 36 mini-muffins
NOTE: For a standard-sized muffin, you will use about 1/4 cup batter. So you can assume 9 standard-sized muffins from this recipe, if you choose to make those instead of minis.


16 comments:

chow and chatter said...

oh wow you have done it again cooked really well lol

Denise said...

Judy these look so yummy. I am printing it out right now !!!

Valerie Gamine said...

I can almost smell these muffins just by looking at your pictures. :) They look super moist!

Debbie said...

Oh Judy those look so tempting! I would love one of them. The flavors all sound so good together!

Katrina said...

Cute and tasty looking!

Janice said...

delicious looking muffins.

Coleens Recipes said...

That is one moist looking muffin!!

Donna-FFW said...

These sound so very lovely. And so pretty too. You are the queen of muffins!!

Reeni said...

I agree with Donna! You make the best muffins! I love everything about these - the ricotta, the cranberries - what treats these must be!

Oana said...

yamii, yamii, yamiii....delicious!

teresa said...

this sounds just wonderful, such great flavors!

Unknown said...

Judy these look fantastic. I can't wait to tr them. I hope to see you back at Crock Pot Wednesday soon. Thanks for sharing these great recipes.

nora@ffr said...

these muffins sound delicious :) thanx for sharing!! love ye blog.. keep it up!!
cheers!

Anonymous said...

I keep getting error messages when I comment, hopefully this goes through!

I am sorry about your BSI experience, you don't even have to have a blog to submit a recipe! I've updated my BSI rules on my blog so hopefully that won't happen again - sorry I didn't respond sooner! :D

Kerstin said...

I love that they have lemon and orange zest in them, they look delicious!

isa said...

So cute!
These sounds delicious!