A coffee break is key to maintaining sanity while working from home, and sometimes enjoying a sweet treat with your afternoon pick-me-up takes things to the next level. Italy is, of course, famous for its coffee, and Giada De Laurentiis' recipe for lemon almond ricotta muffins pairs perfectly with either coffee or tea.
When Giada recently shared her grandmother's recipe on social media, the chef wrote that they'll "make your home smell heavenly while they bake - and they're the perfect with-coffee treat." The flavors of both almond and lemon are sure to shine through, because in addition to thinly sliced almonds and lemon juice, you also add almond extract and lemon zest to the batter. In the end, you'll have a citrusy and light goodie that you'll want to enjoy for breakfast, as a snack, and maybe even after dinner, too.
But perhaps the real victory here is the amount of time that it takes to get one of these muffins from raw ingredients in a bowl into a delicacy in your mouth. These muffins require just 10 minutes to prep and only two bowls, meaning clean-up will be as minimal an effort as your hands-on cook time. Everything comes together in just 30 minutes, meaning your oven ends up doing the majority of the work for you.
To get started, pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees. Giada recommends lining a muffin tin with paper liners, but if you don't have any, buttering or spraying your tin would work just fine.
In a medium bowl, whisk together your dry ingredients: AP flour, a mixture of baking soda and powder and salt. In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to combine butter, lemon zest, and sugar until fluffy. You can find the full list of ingredients for mixing here.
Pop the muffin tin into the oven for about 20 minutes, or until they become just golden on the top. Allow your muffins to cool slightly, and then enjoy their airy texture and bright flavor morning, noon or night!
For more of our favorite recipes from Giada, check out:
- Giada De Laurentiis' one-pan chicken Marsala is a quick and delicious weeknight meal
- Giada De Laurentiis' Italian sheet pan chicken makes delicious seem absolutely effortless
- Giada De Laurentiis' baked fettuccine is proof that an elegant dinner doesn't have to be complicated
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