Glazed Lemon Ricotta Poppy Seed Cakes.

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

Vanilla Chai Hot Chocolate

Blender Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Banana Muffins

Healthier Buckeye Brownies

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!