I feel like this summer, unlike most years before it, blueberries stole the produce show. And that’s why, after weeks of scoffing them fresh or at most, scattering them on top of porridge, I’ve dared to go for some classic blueberry muffins. To kinda atone for the sacrilege of drowning them in batter, I lightened the mix a little by using ricotta to provide more body, texture, moisture and, who am I kidding, get more dairy into my kiddo.

This is a basic, one bowl recipe that takes less than 1 hour to make and bake, provided you’re very organised and get that pesky butter to room temperature with plenty of advance time. With school mornings looming, these blueberry ricotta muffins will be a great alternative to cereal breakfasts.

For 10 muffins, you’ll need:
200g fresh blueberries, washed and drained
200g plain flour
250g ricotta
90g butter, softened to room temperature
130g granulated sugar
1/2 tsp lemon zest
1 large egg
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/4 tsp salt

For the (optional) topping, mix two tablespoons granulated sugar with the zest of a lime, or half of lemon.

Preheat oven to 190C.
Line your muffin tin with paper liners – mine were fairly large and yielded 10 chunky muffins. Have a few extras handy.
Beat butter and sugar together with an electric or a stand mixer, until fluffy and butter colour has turned light.
Add egg and carry on beating to incorporate well.
Add ricotta and lemon zest and incorporate.
Separately, mix flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt, then sift onto batter in 3 batches, combining well in between batches.
Be careful not to over mix – the batter is done when there’s no dry flour patches.
Add blueberries and mix gently to incorporate.
Scoop into muffin cases, filling to about 3/4 of the full cup.
Place in oven and bake for approx 30 mins, or until they’re golden on top and a tester comes out batter-free.
Sprinkle liberally with sugar topping.
Leave to cool and try not to eat all of them at once.

Enjoy,

Alexis xxx