Off the Vintage Subject - Muffins!

Its a crappy rainy (VERY rainy) day here in New Hampshire, so the domestic goddess in me decided to bake and cook.  I cant help it, its in my blood. 

With the abundance of wild blackberry bushes in my backyard, I was trying to think of something neat to do with them, besides put them in cereal and oatmeal.  I came across this recipe on the Two Peas and Their Pod Blog. (be sure to check it out, so many amazing recipes!) - It seemed pretty easy - but when I bake from scratch, it often turns out bland and boring.  But I gave it a shot.  Here are the ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
Zest of 2 lemons
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup ricotta cheese (whole or low-fat is fine)
1 large egg
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup fresh blackberries
Turbinado sugar-for sprinkling on muffin tops

(NOTE! - make sure to leave some batter after you fill the cups - to cover the berries.  I forgot and had to improvise by pushing them down into the cups)

 I think my vintage ice cream scoop was too big, because I was only able to get 10 muffins out of the batch..

They POOF pretty big!

All done!  Golden brown and very light and airy!

Of course, I had to taste them - they are AMAZING!  The lemon really adds the perfect taste - and the ricotta makes them so light!