Blueberry Lemon Ricotta Muffins

Tales of a chronic multi-tasker: I kid you not. As I write this, I am simultaneously watching the utterly delightful movie Julie & Julia (uh, finally!), baking cookies (in the toaster oven - don't ask), and rubbing my dog's belly with my foot (spoiled brat). Lately I feel as if my life just keeps trucking along while my body just really, really wants to morph into a sedentary couch potato. Instead, I ran five miles this morning...while listening to my iPod, reading a magazine and watching the morning news. Blast. Try again.

Well thankfully when life gets me down, I bake! After performing an end of the week inventory of the refrigerator, I found that I needed to play a little Iron Chef and figure out what to do with leftover ricotta cheese, blueberries, already zested lemons and celery. Even after channeling my inner Chef Morimoto, I couldn't think of a practical application for the celery, but I did create these lovely Blueberry Lemon Ricotta Muffins.

Combining a variety of internet sources, I came up with a recipe that used the lemon juice from my already-zested lemons and the zest of an un-juiced, but nearly-end-of-life-lime. While clearing the pantry, I randomly found exactly 1 cup left of whole wheat pastry flour and used this instead of 2 cups of all-purpose flour. And finally, I made cutie mini muffins from the scraps of batter left in the mixing bowl. Don't let a crumb of these go to waste!

Hopefully eating one of these will put a smile on your face. It worked for me! Off to go rescue those cookies then finally concentrate on the movie!

Blueberry Lemon Ricotta Muffins
Adapted from Baking with Dorie and Recipe Girl
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 cup granulated sugar
½ stick (1/4 cup) butter, softened
½ cup unsweetened applesauce
zest from 1 lime (medium to large size)
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 large egg
1½ Tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
½ tsp vanilla extract
1 heaping cup of fresh blueberries
coarse sugar for sprinkling

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 12 cupcake tins with paper liners.

2. Whisk the flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.

3. Add sugar and zest to a large mixing bowl. Using a wooden spoon, rub zest with sugar until sugar is moist and fragrant.

4. Using an electric mixer, add butter to sugar and beat until creamy. Beat in applesauce, ricotta, then egg, lemon juice and vanilla extract. Add dry ingredients and stir just until blended. Carefully fold in blueberries.

5. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups. Sprinkle with coarse sugar.

6. Bake 18 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean

7. Place on wire rack to cool.