Tuscan Lemon Muffins

This recipe sounds delicious. But I was wondering if you could replace the water with 1/2 fresh lemon juice and 1/2 water to give it an even more lemon taste. Or do you think it would be too much?

Very good - several went home with friends.  I subbed 1 c. of the a/p flour for 1 c. white W/W.  They needed an additional 10 minutes to cook completely.

Have made these many times over the years.  Quick, easy, and delicious.  Always get compliments when I bring them to staff meetings.

My daughter and I made these yesterday.  They were extremely easy to whip up and the taste is just perfect.  This recipe is a keeper. 

I followed the recipe and these muffins were very easy to make.  Some reviewers suggested extra zest so I used 2 T instead of 1.  I sprayed the muffin pans twice and did not use liners; that worked well.  I think I'd like them with even more lemon flavor, either more zest or a little lemon extract.  They would look undone without the sugar on top and that crunch is nice too.  

Very easy to make. The tip to use muffin liners and spray them with cooking spray was a good idea.

This recipe is amazing. I used buttermilk instead of water and I had 1 small 6 cup muffin tin, but a 24 up mini muffin tin. Batter made 6 regular sized muffins, and 20 mini muffins (the 2 bite variety). Lots of lemon flavour, light and fluffy.

I was looking for a good lemon muffin recipe and this is it. I get raves on it and also have given it out to friends and they like it also.

These have great flavor. I really love lemon flavor so, on the recommendation of another review, next time I will add about a 1/2 tsp of lemon extract - just to kick it up a bit. The lemon peel adds a nice texture. I had forgot to sprinkle with sugar before baking so I brushed the tops with egg white and sprinkled the sugar on, then stuck them under the broiler for a couple minutes! I'm going to make a batch for the freezer for a quick grab and go! I will definitely make these again.

These were fine. Really dense. They had good lemon flavor and I liked them but I don't know if I would make them again. They were easy to whip up.

These were tasty and easy to make, I will probably make them again, but they were not special.

These were amazingly moist & delicious. I would never have thought ricotta cheese would be good in a muffin, but it is! I even used part-skim ricotta & they still tasted decadent. I added lemon extract, too. My three year old loved them; the true test. These are a keeper.

Great tasting and moist! I substituted Greek yogurt for ricotta and 1tsp vanilla; substituted 1/2 cup of flour with 1/4 Spelt and 1/4 whole wheat pastry; added 1Tbs flax seed and 1Tbs what germ to dry mix. Also folded1 cup blueberries/strawberries into mixture. After batter was in cups, I added sugar and a few chocolate chips on top of about half the muffins. I don't believe you can mess up this recipe no matter what you do to it!

Easy and great tasting. I agree with other reviews that the lemon flavor is very subtle. Next time I will add some lemon extract in addition to the fresh lemon rind and juice. Sugar is the key to a crunchy top. Great go to muffin recipe.

We thought these were okay, but won't make them again.

Before I made these, my husband said "Olive oil and ricotta? That's weird!" but we both loved them. I used regular sugar instead of turbinado - didn't add any crunch but liked the little extra sweetness. They're so moist and tasty! Tried adding blueberries to one batch since I like lemon and blueberries together but for some reason, it wasn't great. Just follow the recipe as is!

These are tasty. I substituted cottage cheese for ricotta and it still worked out nicely. Also, the tops got nice and crispy (presumably because of the sprinkled sugar.) I found that I had to bake them about 10 minutes longer than instructed, but that might be due to my oven.

I made these for a weekend getaway road trip. They were delicious, although like the others said, they are not quite lemony enough. Next time I would replace the water with lemon juice and double the amount of zest. The texture is excellent though, as is the olive oil, ricotta, lemon combination.

Excellent recipe! I couldn't find turbinado sugar so I used demerara Sugar which worked great.

These are delicious. I made into mini-muffins for a picnic. Everyone enjoyed. Next time I will add more lemon zest. They are also very easy to make.

Made these a couple weeks ago. I'm not a huge lemon fan, so these were the perfect amount of lemon flavor. Not sure if I did something wrong, but my ricotta didn't fully incorporate into the batter. It worked out anyways though, with little nuggets of cream scattered throughout. These also freeze and thaw wonderfully--In fact, I still have some in the freezer for those gotta-get-out-the-door mornings!

These are SO good! I will definitely be making these again and again! Super easy too. I followed the receipt exactly. They were especially amazing right out of the oven. I also froze half a batch to take in the mornings for a quick grab-and-go breakfast.

Making these for the fourth time! I add frozen cranberries which cuts down the sweetness.

Outstanding muffin. Thought the texture, moistness and flavor was amazing. I would agree that the muffin would be more flavorful with the addition of extra lemon juice. Next time I will try adding poppyseeds and almonds.

Very moist, somewhat dense texture. Based on comments from other reviewers, I added extra lemon zest and found the muffins had a nice strong lemon flavor. I inadvertantly used extra virgin olive oil, and some of those flavors came through. I would use plain olive oil next time. A quick and very tasty muffin.

I just made this recipe recently and I have to say that I loved it! Loved the texture, loved the lemon flavor (used the rind & juice from 1 whole lemon & it was just enough!) and loved how easily this all came together. I had extra batter (not sure why), so my batch was 12+5 muffins total (I probably could have evened them out an made the full batch & 1/2). The texture right out of the oven was the best! Nice and warm but super fluffy; more like cupcakes actually than muffins. Just for added aesthetics, I skipped the sugar on top an added some poppy seeds instead; divine! I will absolutely make this again, and would be tempted fully to use this recipe to make cupcakes with flavored icing (perhaps strawberry or raspberry for a "lemonade" flavor). Enjoy!

These muffins were not only delicious, they were easy to make too. For whatever reason, I do not have a lot of luck baking and I think these came out great. I skipped the turban sugar on top - just didn't want the extra calories.

Lemony, tender, moist and addicting. I made some healthy alterations in the recipe and still came out great! Check it out here: http://lemonchiffoncake.blogspot.com/2012/01/lemon-ricotta-muffins.html

Very moist and delicious. Best muffin, I have ever made. I did not have turbinado sugar, so I used pink cupcake sugar (left over from a decorating kit), it worked well, and they turned out really cute :)

These were amazing! I added 1/2 tablespoon more of lemon zest. I also added two tablespoons of yellow cornmeal - I saw this in another recipe and wanted to see how it would impact texture. Definitely will add these to my rotation.

I made them as is and they were perfect! Very tasty!

These were delicious! Great snack.

Made them as mini muffins for a luncheon...delicious side to quiche and chilled watermelon soup. recipe makes 36 mini muffins...bake about 11 minutes. I will definitely make these again!

Just made these muffins and my whole family loved them! I made them to the recipe and they were so easy and moist. I wouldn't change a thing!

I thought the texture of the muffin was wonderful - so moist - but I wish I would have added more zest and juice as some of the others have suggested. The sugar on top is necessary, in my opinion, otherwise they're a little boring. I'm also wondering if some dried blueberries or cherries would make them a little more special.

I made these this weekend to have as a snack during the work week. The only change to the recipe I made was to use low fat ricotta instead of part skim because it was what I had on hand. I like these, but I don't love them. I probably wouldn't serve them to company or at an event. They are very moist and the turbinado sugar on top really adds a lovely crunch but something just seems off about the flavor. I will make them again and I will try the part skim ricotta instead of the low fat to see if that makes a difference. Edited to add: They freeze really, really well. I left one out on the counter and froze the rest. I take it out in the morning while I get ready for work and have it as a snack when I get there. They go well with coffee (which makes them a great morning muffin) and vanilla yogurt. I've been crumbling them in some vanilla chobani and topping with blueberries and raspberries... it's a nice, light snack.

These are wonderfully moist, light and fluffy with just the right amount of sweetness and lemon flavor. I followed the recipe exactly except I used whole wheat pastry flour and omitted the granulated sugar on top. Next time, I will add some fresh basil or thyme to really put these over the top.

These were absolutely delicious. In fact, they were so tasty that I baked a second batch and took them to my Dad on Father's Day. He loved them too ;-)

These are very good. Not super sweet and not overly lemony but very dense and moist. I love to dip these in low-fat vanilla yogurt. Almost tastes like lemon cream pie. MMMmmmmm!!

These were wonderful muffins, made them for a picnic and they were a hit, next time I will add a little more zest

AMAZING!, light and moist. I was worried that the olive oil would cause an off taste, but they were just perfect.

Splendid muffin--moist, lemony, fluffly, light, sweet, crunchy top; and if you spray oil on the paper cups as suggested they come out of the cups perfectly. One of my favorites.

These truly turned out to be a perfect muffin! I cut the sugar to 1/2 a cup mainly because I like to eat them with breakfast and I don't want them too sweet, they still turned out great. They are so light and moist. Even frozen they thaw out great in the toaster oven. New favorite for sure!

These were fantastic. I think I will add a little more lemon zest and juice next time, the flavor is very slight, but they are lovely. I made a batch to freeze and grab in the mornings when I am running late. They reheat well.

These are heavenly. A mouthful of moist, light, fluffy, and lemony goodness!

Delicious. I made them with fat-free Greek yogurt instead of the ricotta because ricotta is so expensive and only comes in big tubs where I live. I'm not sure exactly how much lemon juice and zest I added--I just used a whole lemon. I loved the slight crunch the turbinado added to the top--I might use that on other muffins. We will be having these again (and again, and again, and again....).

I made these this weekend and they are fantastic! I have a very fussy 10 year old who is loving them! He pleaded to 'taste test' just minutes after they were out of the oven. The next morning he wanted them for breakfast. They aren't super lemony, so in my next batch I will add more zest. I wish there was a note telling how to store these best though. I put the few that were left at the end of the day in a zip and they were kind of wet the next morning. They still tasted great but there was no crunch left in the sugar on top. We like them best slightly warm - I put one in the microwave for 10-15 seconds with a fresh sprinkling of the course sugar. I already plan to use up the rest of the ricotta to make two more batches! I'm hoping they will freeze well.

I used nonfat ricotta but did not skip on the turbinado. The result was a very moist and perfectly sweet muffin. Delicious!

Made with homemade whole-milk ricotta (lemon method). These turned out purely decadent! We probably used a bit more lemon and more ricotta, until it looked right. Also can highly recommend Hartstone Pottery muffin pan baking stones, they worked wonderfully for this recipe, without needing paper liners.

Fantastic! These are so moist and delicately flavorful. A real keeper!

I made these with Greek Yogurt instead of ricotta cheese (only because I had no ricotta). They were absolutely delicious!

I lightened up this recipe by using nonfat ricotta cheese and I skipped the Turbinado sugar on top. They were perfectly moist and had a lovely lemon flavor. Delicious!

Easy to make, used half wheat flour. Could be more lemony. Not too sweet.

Absolutely delicious!

These were okay for a lower calorie recipe, but not as good as what I hoped they would be. Don't get me wrong, all of them were eaten, but probably not a recipe I would make again. I didn't substitute any ingredients, but still felt they had a mealy aftertaste. Just the right amount of lemon though.

I think these deserve FIVE stars! They're VERY good. They were even better the next day because they are very moist & substantial without being heavy. I'm trying them again with an orange for its rind & juice.

These muffins are delicious with a cup of coffee. The light texture and lemony flavor are perfect. I followed the ingredient list exactly, but found I did not have muffin cup liners. So, I used two mini loaf pans and divided the batter evenly between the two. I baked the mini loaves for about 30 minutes and then sliced each loaf into six servings. This recipe is a keeper!

I also made this within a few hours of getting my Cooking Light. Except I didn't have any ricotta, but had some vanilla yogurt I wanted to use up. I used 1C of the yogurt and 1/4C water. These came out picture perfect and were delicious! I'm sure they are great with ricotta, but don't be afraid to use yogurt.

Made these within 1 hour of receiving my latest Cooking Light issue. Happened to have leftover ricotta that needed to be used up. These had fantastic flavor with the olive oil, ricotta, and lemon. Definitely tastes "Tuscan." Fantastic delicate crumb contrasted great with the crunchy sugar on top. These are unique and worthy trying.