NEW VIDEO! Be sure to watch me how to make these honey lemon chia seed muffins in the video below!
The muffins are the ultimate springtime treat. They’re so full of lemon flavor that it seems like you’re smelling a lemon.
Lots of lemon juice and lemon zest is used in this recipe to give it the ultimate lemon bomb.
The muffin is so wonderfully scented when you take a bite. It’s also the lightest and fluffiest muffin I’ve ever made.
The secret ingredient to make it so light and fluffy? Ricotta cheese! Yes! I couldn’t believe it.
I’ve also recently become obsessed with chia seeds (pretty much like every other blogger) so I’ve been trying to incorporate them in my daily breakfast and some baked goods.
Instead of poppy seeds, substitute them for chia seeds!
Sure, you could make these into lemon poppy seed muffins but why not give into the latest superfood trend and give chia seeds a try? They’ve got a ton of health benefits!
Honey Lemon Chia Seed Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup part-skim ricotta cheese*
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- Zest of 2 lemons
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons chia seeds
- 2 tablespoons honey, melted
- Cooking spray
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with cupcake liners and lightly spray them with cooking spray. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
- In a medium bowl, mix together ricotta, water, olive oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, and egg.
- Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, pour the wet ingredients into the middle then mix together with a wooden spoon. Add the chia seeds then gently fold into batter.
- Evenly divide batter into prepared muffin pan using a large scoop.
- Bake for 16 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Let cool for 5 minutes then with a pastry brush, gently brush melted honey onto the tops of the muffins.
- Cool completely then enjoy!
- Store in an airtight container for up to 7 days.
Video
Notes
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I am assuming the honey goes in with the wet ingredients?
Never mind! Sorry, see where it fits in now :)
I love this recipe, but can’t have all purpose flour.
Have you ever tried it with almond flour? I am thinking of trying it, but just using a little less flour.
I don’t think using almond flour would work well this recipe at all. It’s so dense and I’d just be afraid that your muffins would rise very well or be light and airy.
Thank you for your response. Sadly I think you are correct.
You could use a cup-for-cup gluten free flour.
These look so light and fluffy! I love that you use chia seeds instead of poppy seeds. This recipe is on my Spring baking list!!
Honey and lemon! And chia seeds! What a creative muffin recipe (I want one!). Toasted with butter please!
Yum! This is a great recipe!
Oh. My. God. I just made these and my boyfriend and I can’t keep our hands off! SO GOOD!
I made a few adjustments: I used part oat flour, part all-purpose. I also used coconut oil instead of olive oil. I used a mini-muffin tin, which I coated also in coconut oil. I made a few regular sized muffins, but the minis came out absolutely perfect, whereas the larger ones got brown on the sides before cooking all the way through. That may or may not be my oven’ s fault… it doesn’t temp correctly so I have to play the guessing game. Anywho, A++++ recipe!!
This turned out yummy, only instead of honey I put a lemon glaze. Very good and fluffy
Just made these; yum!! They came out perfect and truly are amazingly fluffy! They have a nice light sweetness, so the honey on top is the perfect touch. Thanks for the delicious recipe!
Thank you so much, Judy!
Hello. Your recipe looks so yummy! I was curious if you could give me pointers for making as a loaf as I do not have cupcake pan currently (overseas). Thank you in advance for your help!
I don’t know whether this is enough batter or not for a loaf because I never tried making this as a loaf before. I would guess you could make it into a loaf but I really don’t know how it would bake because I never tested it for a loaf.
Oops! I was making these with my kids, and we got distracted. Ended up adding honey to the batter. They still turned out perfect. Added just a little honey on the top when they were done and it wasn’t too much. Will definitely make these again!
Oops! I’m glad they still turned out though!
Can you use coconut flour
No, absolutely not. Coconut flour is extremely dense and the liquid to flour ratio is completely different. If you were to substitute coconut flour, you would end up with a brick for the batter!
These are YUMMY!! A healthier version of poppyseed muffins.
I made a simple lemon juice+ confectioners sugar glaze instead of using honey
I freakin L O V E these muffins! I’ve made them many times over the past several years and they turn out so light and delightful! I admit before this recipe I’d never even heard of ricotta cheese and so I did substitute Greek yogurt in place of the ricotta cheese and they’ve been amazing. I just made them tonight for the first time with ricotta cheese so I’m curious to see if it made much of a difference or not. Thanks for sharing a good baking gem!
So happy to hear this! Thank you so much!
Hi. Just wondering what other options for the ricotta cheese as its not readily available where i am from and is usually very expensive. Would appreciate it much. Thanks
You could try cream cheese but it would completely alter the recipe and flavor. I don’t recommend it so unfortunately, I don’t think there is a substitute. Sorry!
I tried this recipe and used cream cheese instead of ricotta, since I had no ricotta . The muffins came out perfectly and was so delicious
I made these this morning for my daughter who enjoys anything with lemon. The muffins are moist and delicious! Excellent recipe!
Probably my fault on the Lemon Chia muffins, but I followed recipe exaclty, except that I used coconut flour and Stevia. When done, it was just crumbly and not liquid enough for muffins. Probably my fault with substitutions. Added coconut milk and hoping they turn out.
Yes, you’re correct. You didn’t follow recipe exactly. Coconut flour is DENSE and when you substitute it 1:1 in baking for flour, it will NOT turn out and be extremely dry and the mixture will not come together. The 2-star review is not warranted as it is not the recipe’s problem rather than your own substitution that caused the recipe to fail.
The muffins turned out delicious, this recipe is a keeper.
Very good. Will make again. My edits were, part white whole wheat flower, vanilla yogurt instead of ricotta and only 1/2 cup of sugar due to sweetened yogurt.