With leftover fresh ricotta from my pasta recipe earlier this week, I decided to try baking these lemon-ricotta muffins. The turbinado sugar on top forms a nice crunch for contrast. The lemon zest and lemon juice make them perfectly lemony, while the ricotta keeps these muffins nice and moist. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup sugar
2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon sea salt
¾ cup whole milk ricotta cheese
½ cup water
¼ cup olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon zest
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons turbinado/raw sugar

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place 12 muffin-cup liners in muffin cups.
2. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and sea salt in a medium bowl.
3. In another medium bowl, combine the ricotta, water, olive oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, and egg.
4. Make a well in the flour mixture and add ricotta mixture, stirring just until moist.
5. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups and sprinkle each with turbinado sugar.
6. Bake for 16 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes in pan on a wire rack.

Adapted from Cooking Light‘s Tuscan Lemon Muffins recipe