I’ve been at it again. Baking, that is. It didn’t go too badly last time, so I thought I might try again. As with most things that I make, this was simply an effort to use up something in the fridge that wasn’t going to get eaten otherwise. The ingredient in question: ricotta. There was talk of pasta, but it was the evening, everybody had already eaten, and the cogs of my brain were already set in motion. After a dash around the internet, I came back with the idea of chocolate ricotta muffins. Here is the basic recipe I was working from:

240g ricotta / 2 large eggs / 320ml milk / 1 tbsp vanilla extract / 4tbsp butter / 260g flour / 250g white sugar / 2tsp baking powder / half a tsp salt / 60g cocoa powder / 180g chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 180C. Combine cheese and eggs, mix well. Add milk, vanilla, and butter. Set aside.

Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, cocoa powder and salt. Combine both mixtures, add chocolate chips. Bake for 20 minutes.

Except I didn’t follow this exact recipe because I seem to have a mental inability to do as I’m told. I used 260g of ricotta because that’s how much was in the tub, added more flour to compensate for that, less sugar because I ran out, cream of tartar instead of baking powder because I don’t know the difference, and missed out the chocolate chips because, well, because I forgot. If you want to make them, perhaps you should follow the recipe. I think mine turned out perfectly well, though. They’re not very sweet, but to be honest that feels like the perfect antidote to the festive season’s excesses. As they’re not too chocolatey, it feels acceptable to eat them for breakfast, which makes them a winner in my eyes.

Now for some pretentious pictures of the muffins. Don’t tell me you didn’t know this was coming.