We are always glad to be in the Keweenaw for strawberry season. There is something about the hard winters and late springs up here that make for really outstanding strawberries. I have fond memories of strawberry shortcake and margaritas made with the local ones. This year, I made 12 half pint jars of jam using my outdoor canning rig.
I still had lots of berries to use up, so I tried a variation of a recipe I once made for blueberry lemon ricotta pound cake. I updated it to use whole wheat flour and strawberries, and I baked it in a muffin tin. Fantastic! And good for you, too.
Strawberry Lemon Whole Wheat Muffins
makes 1 dozen
¾ cup granulated sugar
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 large eggs, at room temperature
¾ cup part-skim ricotta cheese
2 tablespoons lemon zest
4 tablespoons lemon juice, divided
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
2 cups fresh strawberries, hulled and cut into quarters
2 tablespoons packed confectioners’ sugar
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners. Beat sugar and butter in a large bowl until creamy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until fully incorporated. Beat in ricotta, lemon zest, 2 tablespoons lemon juice and vanilla until just combined. Sprinkle flour on top, then evenly sprinkle baking powder and salt over the flour. Beat until almost combined. Add berries and gently fold into the batter. Transfer to the prepared muffin pans, filling cups to the top. Bake the muffins until starting to brown around the edges and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Let cool in the pan on a wire rack for 20 minutes, remove from pan. Clean the bowl, add confectioners' sugar and whisk in the remaining lemon juice until smooth. Drizzle the the glaze on the muffins.