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Sweet and simple Glazed Lemon Ricotta Poppy Seed Cakes. These go far beyond any coffee shop, these mini cakes melt in your mouth. Soft and fluffy lemon cake made with whole wheat flour, creamy rich ricotta cheese, and swirled with poppy seeds. Each little cake is made even more special with a brown butter glaze. This lemon load cake is the perfect winter treat to bake.
Happy Friday!! After many, many requests, I finally made lemon poppy seed muffin/mini cakes! I baked mini loaves and muffins and they turned out perfect! I love them so much! I’ve been working on this recipe all month long. They started out as a way more complicated muffin/cake that I just did not love. The texture was way too dense and the lemon flavor just was not there. I spent days working on the recipe only to decide I didn’t want to share it.
I ended up forgetting about those particular muffins and figured it just wasn’t the time. Maybe I’d revisit the idea another time. If I was going to share a lemon poppy seed muffin, I really wanted them to melt in your mouth, and be roll-your-eyes-back delicious.
A real winter treat, if you will!
I set the idea aside and moved on. Then, just this week, I made these muffins. It was a last-minute decision (which I’m becoming a real pro at) and one I do not regret. I love these cute little muffin cakes. I promise you, they’re so much better than any bakery sweets.
And healthier too! So we love that.
The details
What was wrong with my original attempt at these muffins was that I was making the recipe far too complicated. For this attempt, I simplified. I used basic everyday ingredients and the result was just what I wanted.
For the batter, paired the light lemon flavors with rich ricotta cheese. This is one of my favorite winter flavor combinations.
Like my favorite banana bread, this is completely no fuss and uses just one large bowl. Start with the dry ingredients. I use whole wheat flour for added flavor, you could also use all-purpose flour or gluten-free flour too. But I prefer using whole wheat flour. Then add baking powder and salt.
Next, the wet ingredients, stir fresh whole milk ricotta cheese, maple to sweeten, avocado oil (or try melted coconut oil, but I like avocado oil for this recipe), large eggs, vanilla, fresh lemon zest, and poppy seeds. I use double the lemon that most recipes call for, but it’s balanced with the ricotta.
Whisk everything to combine and then the batter is complete. You can bake the recipe into 12 muffins or 3 mini loaves. I have a couple of mini loaf pans that I’ve never used, so I thought it would be fun to finally put them to use.
Either muffins or mini loaves are wonderful.
For the glaze, I love a brown butter glaze. Keep it light and not too sweet.
When the muffins/mini cakes come out of the oven, enjoy them warm with the glaze spooned over each.
Delectable!
Hopefully, these homemade treats will make up for all the processed ones we enjoyed in our younger years. I can whole heartily say that these are so much better than anything packaged.
Looking for other yummy bakery items?? Here are my favorites:
Baked Chocolate Fudge Glazed Doughnuts
Better Than The Bakery Chocolate Chip Espresso Yogurt Cake
Blender Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Banana Muffins
Maple Banana Bread with Cinnamon Spice Butter
Easy Chocolate Cinnamon Crunch Knots
Lastly, if you make these Lemon Ricotta Poppy Seed Mini Cakes, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Glazed Lemon Ricotta Poppyseed Cakes
Servings: 12 muffins or 4 loaves
Calories Per Serving: 280 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Watch the How-To Reel
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup whole milk ricotta cheese
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1/2 cup avocado oil (or use melted coconut oil)
- 3 eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest + 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 3 tablespoons poppy seeds
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/4 cup honey
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line 10-12 muffin tins with paper liners.2. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the ricotta, eggs, maple syrup, coconut oil, vanilla, lemon zest, and poppy seeds. Mix until fully combined. 3. Divide the batter among the prepared muffin tins or use mini loaf pans. Bake for 20-22 minutes, until just set. Remove and use a toothpick to poke a few holes in each cake. 4. Meanwhile, make the glaze. Add the butter to a saucepan set over medium heat. Allow the butter to brown lightly until it smells toasted, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat. Whisk in the honey, and lemon juice. Pour the glazes over the warm cakes/muffins. Top with extra poppy seeds, if desired. Enjoy.
This post was originally published on January 27, 2023
Why are there instructions to fold in the chocolate when there’s no chocolate in the ingredients?
Hi there,
Happy Friday! The chocolate was a typo, but all is fixed now! Please let me know if I can help in any other way! xT
Two questions!
Would subbing whole milk yogurt work for ricotta?
Any reason these wouldn’t work as muffins?
Thank you!
Hey Morgan,
Sure, whole milk yogurt should also work well for you, the instructions are already for muffins:) Please let me know if you have any other questions! xT
If I want to bake the cake in a normal size bread tin, how long would I have to bake it and on what heat Celsius?🙂
Hey Judy,
You will want to bake for 35-40 minutes at 350F in a regular sized loaf pan. Please let me know if you have any other questions! xT
It says to add “chocolate” in the instructions but there is no chocolate in this recipe. What’s up?
Hey Pamela,
Sorry for any confusion, I fixed the recipe, there is no chocolate:) Please let me know if you have any other questions! xT
Would lemon ricotta work too? A little different texture than ricotta in the carton. Sounds ono (delicious) and I will try your recipe. Can’t wait.
Hey Diane,
Sure, I don’t see why not! Let me know if you give this recipe a try, I hope it’s delish! xx
This recipe looks AMAZING! Going to make them immediately. One question: in step 2 of the recipe instruction, it says to “fold in chocolate” but I don’t see that in the ingredient list. Is that just an optional addition?
Thank you for making our lives so delicious! I look forward to your posts everyday!
Hey Karen,
Thanks so much for your kind message! The chocolate was a typo so you can ignore that:) I hope you love this recipe, please let me know if you give it a try! xx
Fold in the chocolate? I don’t see chocolate in the ingredients.
Hey Sharla,
Happy Friday! I fixed the chocolate, you can ignore that:) Let me know if you give this recipe a try! xx
I just have a general question – why in baking do you often use coconut oil as opposed to butter? Is it a moisture thing? Or are you using it in place of something like shortening or liquid vegetable oil? Anyhow, just curious as I notice you call for coconut oil fairly often in your baking recipes. They are always good by the way! Just wanted to ask for my own knowledge base. 🙂
Tigan thinks coconut oil is “hEaLtHiEr” than butter (same with sugar vs honey/maple as she calls it). No other reason.
Pssst! Tieghan…this one too. (See above.) It’s gotta go. Start some community guidelines. Off topic, harassing, uncivil comments – deleted. We’re here for the content. Not this.
Hey Amy,
I just like to use the coconut oil as a “better for you” option:) Let me know if you have any other questions! xT
Tieghan, this sounds amazing! By any chance, would you know the substitution amount for Einkorn all purpose flour? Thanks!
Hi Sarah,
So sorry, I’m not familiar with that flour, I’m assuming you can use an equal amount:) Please let me know if I can help in any other way! xx
Hi! Could I sub Greek yogurt instead of ricotta? It’s hard to find in the grocery stores around here 😞
Hey Brittany,
Totally, that should work well for you! Let me know if you have any other questions, I hope you love this recipe! xx
I’d like to make this soon, but like those below, I need clarifications on the maple syrup and chocolate. Thanks.
Hey Janis,
The chocolate was a typo and that is all fixed! What is the clarification that you need for the maple syrup? Let me know how I can help! xx
Oops. My bad! The recipe uses both honey and maple syrup. Sorry! 😅
No worries:)
Hi Tieghan, this cake recipe looks beautiful! There’s a small error where the description and instructions say the cake is sweetened with maple, but the ingredients list says honey. I’m sure either will work, but maybe this needs clarification along with the chocolate. Thanks for this great inspiration. 😊
Hi Shari,
Thanks so much!! I actually used both maple and honey to sweeten this recipe:) I fixed the chocolate, thanks for pointing that out! I hope you love this recipe, let me know if you give it a try! xx
there’s no chocolate in list of ingredients
Hey there,
You can ignore the chocolate, that was a typo, all is fixed now! Let me know if you give the recipe a try:) xT
The method states fold in the chocolate but there isn’t any listed in the ingredients. Can you advise?
Hey Leah,
So sorry for any confusion, there is no chocolate in this recipe, you can ignore that! xT