Blueberry Ricotta Muffins

Alright, I have this bad habit of taking pictures of the food-making process, but forgetting to take pictures of the finished product--which might just be the most important part. When I start the recipe I always say, "Okay, Rochelle...you need to take pictures before you eat this."...And then when I put whatever it may be in the oven, I repeat this again. Then, as I'm licking the final morsels of food off my plate, it's always, "Rochelle!! You forgot to take pictures before you ate it!" Apparently I'm hungry most of the time.

So in my iPhoto here, I have a batrillion (may not be a word?)pictures of different recipes, but no finished product...and the problem with me is that I rarely make the same thing twice, so the chances of me repeating just to get a finished product aren't looking up. Maybe I'll get around to a post some day of a bunch of recipes with unfinished pictures....We shall see..We shall see...

Okay, these here Blueberry Ricotta Muffins were my first ever attempt at muffins from home. I've made plenty of muffins at work, but there is definitely something different about making things in a teeny-tiny apartment kitchen compared to a big, fancy, industrial kitchen...I actually had to go out and buy a muffin pan because I didn't have one. I also bought a little dough-scooper (actually, an ice cream scooper--but who cares. It works.).

Let me just say that these muffins were delectable. The hubby and I aren't really big on sweets and baked goods...But we devoured these in a couple days. So moist and flavorful plus the pop of the fresh blueberries...yuummm. Introducing fabulous muffins, my new muffin tins, and my fancy little scooper.

Blueberry Ricotta Muffins (adapted from bakingbites.com)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup butter, melted

1 cup ricotta cheese

1/2 cup milk (lowfat is fine)

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon lemon zest

1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries (or raspberries, cranberries, mixed berries...any kind of berries, really.)

Preheat your oven to 350˚F. Line your muffin tin with paper liners.

In a medium bowl, mix melted butter, ricotta, milk, eggs, lemon zest and vanilla until smooth. In a separate bowl, mix together your dry ingredients (the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar.)

Mix your wet ingredients and dry ingredients until just combined...careful, you don't want to overmix this here. Then, fold in your delicious, washed blueberries (or other berries) :)

Scoop your batter...

Into your lined tins.

Bake them for 18-22 minutes, or until they pass the toothpick test. I brushed mine with a little egg to make them nice and shiny.

Let them cool a tad, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Refrigerate in an airtight container and they should stay moist for several days :)