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Saturday, May 23, 2009

Strawberry Ricotta Muffins

I actually made these muffins for Easter--sorry it's taken me so long to post. Man, I am seriously slacking off. Thanks to Courtney for giving me a kick in the you-know-what and getting me going again. I have been in a serious rut--so much so, that I had to post on Facebook and ask for dinner ideas. Sad. Anyway, I made these muffins back at Easter. They were delish. They taste more like a scone---they are quite dense. After "dehydrating" my strawberries, I realized I could have skipped this very lengthy step and just used some of my food storage dehydrated strawberries! Next time...because there will be a next time!



Strawberry Ricotta Muffins
found the recipe online: http://localfoods.about.com/od/spring/r/StrawberryMuff.htm

2 cups medium strawberries
3/4 cup ricotta
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
10 Tbsp. butter melted and cooled, divided
2/3 cup sugar
1 tsp. lime zest
2 cups flour
2 tsp.baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Gently wash,
hull, and cut strawberries into quarters. 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 Tbsp. melted butter. Set aside.
In a bowl, whisk together ricotta, eggs, and vanilla. Stir in remaining butter.
In a large bowl, use your fingertips to rub together sugar and lime 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 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.