I wanted to bake a pie, some cupcakes, and maybe even a cake for Mother’s Day but since we were all having Mother’s Day Lunch at 11:30, I just didn’t have the time to go all out. So after going through some recipes, I finally narrowed it down to this one. I specifically chose this recipe because I wanted to bake something different than your average blueberry muffin. Plus, I love lemons.

These biscuits were simple to make and tasted great. It’s made to look like muffins but they were more like a dense, fluffy cake with a lemony taste complemented by the perfect amount of almond flavor. The sliced almonds on top gave it a nice crunch to it too!

Lemon Ricotta Biscuits (adapted from Giada De Laurentiis):

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup plus 1 teaspoon sugar, or more as needed for sprinkling
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
  •  1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest (from 2-3 lemons)
  •  1 cup whole-milk ricotta cheese
  •  1 large egg
  •  1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
  •  1/2 teaspoon almond extract
  •  1/3 cup thinly sliced almonds

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl to blend.

Using an electric mixer, beat 1 cup sugar, butter, and lemon zest in a large bowl until light and fluffy.

Beat in the ricotta.

(The batter will start to get beautifully fluffy, which made me want to eat the entire bowl of batter!)

Beat in the egg, lemon juice, and almond extract.

Add the dry ingredients and stir just until blended.

(The batter will be very thick.)

Divide the batter among the prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle the almonds and then the remaining 1 teaspoon of sugar over the muffins.

Bake until the muffins just become pale golden on top, about 25 minutes.

Cool slightly. Serve warm or at room temperature.