My next idea for the Use it up! series is this recipe for Lemon Blueberry Muffins. Just like the Skillet Chicken Pot Pie post, these muffins are a perfect for using up what you have in the fridge. This is also a great way to practice improvising with your baking. Improvising and using what you’ve got on hand instead of running to pick up a specific ingredient is an important skill to have. Learning to use what you have will save you money and reduce food waste.
What I’m working with
I’m going to show you two different muffins here. One is made with ricotta since I had half a container of fresh ricotta sitting in my fridge. The other is made with yogurt which I make and always have several jars of. Here’s my recipe for making your own yogurt. A third option is to use sour cream. Any of these will make delicious muffins but they all have a different result.
The first photograph shows the Lemon Blueberry Muffins made with ricotta cheese and drizzled with a fresh lemon glaze. Ricotta gives the muffins a dense rich texture that goes perfectly with the tart glaze. In the second photo the muffins are made with plain unflavored yogurt. They have a fluffy cake-like texture with crunchy sugar sprinkled on top. Sour cream would give you a similar cake-like texture but they would be richer than the yogurt muffins. All are great, it’s just a matter of what you have that needs to be used up.
Change the fruit!
I used fresh blueberries for this recipe because that’s what in the fridge and I wanted to use them before they got squidgy. You could make these with any berries or pitted cherries. Fresh or frozen cranberries would be great too, just chop them up before adding. You could use orange zest instead of the lemon if you have an orange. Swap out the lemon zest for cinnamon and fold in some diced apple, pear, or peach. Make them however you like with whatever you have on hand!
Lemon Blueberry Muffin Recipe
- 1 large egg
- 3/4 cup whole milk
- 1/2 cup ricotta cheese, yogurt, or sour cream
- 1/4 cup light oil
- zest of one lemon
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4-1 cup fresh blueberries
- raw or turbinado sugar for sprinkling if you’re not making the glaze
Fresh Lemon Glaze (optional)
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
Start the muffin batter
In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg, milk, ricotta, yogurt, or sour cream, oil, and lemon zest. You could use an immersion blender here but I just use a whisk. All you’re needing is a well-beaten mixture.
You can also see above that I have my muffin tin set up with paper liners, the blueberries set out, along with the other utensils I’ll be using. Muffins are a quick bread and need to be mixed and in the oven quickly. You don’t want to be rummaging around looking for paper liners or your scoop at the last minute. By the way, I use an ice cream scoop for portioning out muffins and cupcakes. It’s super easy and helps get equal size muffins so they bake more evenly. Mine is vintage but here’s a link to a similar one if you’d like to get your own.
Finsihing the batter
Add the granulated sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt right to the bowl with the egg mixture. Traditionally recipes tell you to sift the dry ingredients into a separate bowl before adding the liquid ingredients but it’s not necessary here. I’ve found that it works just fine to add them to the liquid and move on. The more we can simplify cooking and baking, the more likely we are to make it part of our daily lives.
I just measure the baking powder and salt right on top of the flour. Before I stir everything together I give the flour, baking powder, and salt a little mix to combine them. Then I gently and quickly stir all of it together to make the batter.
With muffins you don’t want to overmix the batter. A few small lumps here and there are fine. Overmixing the batter will start to activate the gluten in the flour and you’ll end up with tough muffins. You can tell if you overmixed the batter because the baked muffins will have pointed cone-shaped tops instead of being gently rounded. Not the end of the world but it’s easy to avoid. It’s a case of not being perfect really working out best!
Blueberries for Lemon Muffins!
Now add the blueberries and fold them into the batter being careful not to crush the berries. Folding is slowly running the spoon or spatula across the bottom of the bowl and gently pulling it up through the center of the batter. Next, turn the bowl a quarter turn and repeat. After 3 or 4 folds, the berries should be evenly distributed.
Baking and finishing the Lemon Blueberry Muffins
Scoop the batter into well-buttered or paper lined muffin cups. This recipe makes 8 or 9 muffins depending on how full you fill each cup. If you’re using the raw or turbinado sugar topping, sprinkle a bit onto each muffin. Bake in a preheated 400° oven for 20 to 23 minutes or until the tops are lightly golden and the muffins are springy.
If you are making the fresh lemon glaze, whisk the lemon juice and powdered sugar together in a glass measuring cup or small bowl until it is very smooth. You want a thick pouring consistency so add a few extra drops of lemon juice if it’s too thick and a tablespoon of extra powdered sugar if it’s too thin.
When the muffins are done, remove them from the oven and immediately pour a tablespoon of glaze over the center of each muffin. Let them sit for 5 minutes in the pan before carefully moving them to a wire rack to cool completely. The blueberries will be very hot so be careful!
Serve these delicious muffins on their own with a cup of hot coffee or tea. They are great as part of a special breakfast or brunch or as an afternoon snack. Enjoy!
Lemon Blueberry Muffins
Equipment
- 1 12 cup muffin tin
Ingredients
- 1 large egg
- 3/4 cup whole milk
- 1/2 cup ricotta, plain yogurt, or sour cream
- 1/4 cup oil light olive oil
- zest of one lemon
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 3/4-1 cup fresh blueberries
- raw or turbinado sugar for sprinkling optional instead of lemon glaze
Optional Fresh Lemon Glaze
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice use the zested lemon from above
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
Instructions
- In a medium size mixing bowl, whisk together the egg, milk, ricotta, yogurt, or sour cream, oil, and lemon zest until smooth.
- Add granulated sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt to the egg mixture. Mix quickly and gently. Mix just until there's no big pockets of flour. Try not to overmix muffin batter or the muffins with be tough.
- Fold in blueberries, being careful not to crush them or overmix the batter.
- Scoop batter into buttered or paper-lined muffin tins. This recipe makes 8 or 9 muffins depending on how full each muffin cup is. Sprinkle with raw or turbinado sugar if you aren't making the lemon glaze.
- Bake in a preheated 350° oven for 20 to 23 minutes or until the muffins are lightly golden and springy to the touch.
- Cool for 5 minutes in the pan before removing to cool on a wire rack. The blueberries will be very hot so be careful.
Optional Fresh Lemon Glaze
- While muffins are baking, whisk together the fresh lemon juice and powdered sugar until smooth. Add more juice or sugar as needed to get a thick pouring consistency. Set aside.
- As soon as the muffins are out of the oven, drizzle each muffin with about a tablespoon of glaze. Cool on a wire rack.
