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Soffioni Abruzzesi are cute little Italian cupcakes or muffins filled with fluffy Ricotta cream. They are easy to make and are an excellent addition to any occasion.
Soffioni Abruzzesi
Adults love them; kids love them. And what's not to love?
In Italian translation, Soffioni Abruzzesi means "Dandelion from Abruzzo", where Abruzzo is a region in Southern Italy.
Homemade shortcrust pastries are nestled inside the muffin cavities and filled with a sweet and lemony Ricotta cream. Everything is baked till nice and set.
And then, you can set the timer and watch these disappear in no time.
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These delicious Italian pastries come out super fluffy and moist thanks to Ricotta cheese. After all, you won't expect anything else from classic Italian desserts.
Although traditionally these sweet Ricotta muffins are served for Easter, I don't see the reason why they can't be prepared for Christmas or at any other time of the year.
Despite their funky shape, these sweet Ricotta pastries are easy to make. You don't need special equipment except for the hand mixer, whisk, and a good muffin pan. (I like this non-stick muffin pan).
How do I make Ricotta muffins?
Make shortcrust pastry
In a medium bowl whisk 1 ⅓ c of flour and a pinch of salt. In another bigger bowl beat the egg with a fork or a whisk, just until the egg white and yolk are blended. Whisk in oil and 3 tablespoon of granulated sugar.
Add sifted flour and salt mixture and first mix the dough with a spoon and then knead the dough with your hands until all ingredients are incorporated and the dough is smooth.
Roll the dough into a ball, wrap it in cling wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Make Ricotta filling
Separate egg yolks from egg whites and keep both in different bowls.
In a bowl with yolks add the remaining granulated sugar and zest of 1 lemon. Using a hand whisk, mix until fluffy and light (about 5 minutes). Add 7 oz of Ricotta, 1 teaspoon of vanilla syrup and continue whisking until cream is smooth.
In a bowl with egg whites, add ¼ teaspoon of lemon juice, and using a hand mixer, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks.
Using a spatula, slowly fold the egg whites into the Ricotta cream.
Roll out the dough
Remove the dough from the fridge and divide it into six pieces.
Lightly dust a rolling pin and working surface with flour and roll out each piece of dough into a square. It doesn't have to be perfect.
Arrange shortcrust dough in amuffin pan
Arrange the squares among muffin pan cavities lightly dusted with flour and leave out the flaps. Fill the squares with Ricotta cream and close the flaps.
Bake
Bake in a preheated to 350 F oven for 30 minutes. Without opening the oven door, reduce the temperature to 325 F and continue baking for 15-20 minutes until the tops are brown. RemoveSoffioni from the oven, let them cool, and remove them from the muffin pan.
If desired, dust the pastries with some icing sugar.
Tips To Make These Perfect
Some ovens require a little more baking time, and some a little less.
That's why I recommend keeping an eye on the pastries at all times. If you notice that they start to burn or brown too fast, you can reduce the oven temperature by 10 degrees and cover the pastry with a sheet of aluminum foil. You can remove the foil for 5 minutes before taking the pastries out of the oven.
Try these crowd-pleasing desserts
- Russian Apple Cake
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Recipe
Soffioni Abruzzesi
Soffioni Abruzzesi are cute little Italian cupcakes or muffins filled with fluffy Ricotta cream. They are easy to make and so delicious.
4.28 from 86 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Italian
Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes minutes
1 hour hour
Total Time: 2 hours hours 10 minutes minutes
Servings: 6
Calories: 288kcal
Author: Iryna Bychkiv
Ingredients
When baking I always recommend to use digital scales for the best accurate results. Here is my favorite digital scale.
For shortcrust pastry
- 1 ⅓ c (150 grams) all-purpose flour
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 tablespoon granulated sugar
For Ricotta filling
- 2 eggs
- 5 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 lemon zested
- 7 oz Ricotta cheese
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon icing sugar optional
Instructions
Make shortcrust pastry
In a medium bowl whisk together 1 ⅓ c of flour and ⅛ teaspoon of salt.
In another bigger bowl beat the egg with a fork or a whisk, just until the egg white and yolk are blended. Whisk in oil and 3 tablespoon of granulated sugar.
Add sifted flour and salt mixture and first mix the dough with a spoon and then knead the dough with your hands until all ingredients are incorporated and the dough is smooth.
Roll the dough into a ball, wrap it in cling wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Make Ricotta filling
Separate the remaining 2 egg yolks from egg whites and keep both in different bowls.
In a bowl with yolks add the 5 tablespoon of sugar and ¼ teaspoon of lemon zest. Using a hand whisk, mix until the mixture is fluffy and light (about 5 minutes).
Add 7 oz of Ricotta cheese, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and continue whisking until cream is smooth.
In a bowl with egg whites, add ¼ teaspoon of lemon juice and using a hand mixer, beat egg whites until stiff peaks.
Using a spatula, slowly fold the egg whites into the Ricotta cream.
Roll out the dough
Preheat the oven to 350 F and lightly dust the muffin pan cavities with a bit of flour.
Remove the dough from the fridge and divide it into 6 pieces.
Lightly dust a rolling pin and working surface with a flour and roll out each piece of dough into a square. It doesn't have to be perfect.
Arrange shortcrust dough in amuffin pan
Arrange the squares among muffin pan cavities and leave out the flaps. Fill the squares with Ricotta cream and close the flaps.
Bake
Bake for 30 minutes. Without opening the oven door, reduce the temperature to 325 F and continue baking for 15-20 minutes until tops are brown.
RemoveSoffioni from the oven, let them cool and then remove from the muffin pan.
If desired, dust the pastries with some icing sugar.
Equipment
Hand whisk
Muffin pan
Notes
Some ovens require a little more baking time, some a little less. That's why I recommend keeping an eye on the pastries at all times. If you notice that they start to burn or brown too fast, you can reduce the oven temperature by 10 degrees and covering the pastry with a sheet of aluminum foil. You can remove the foil 5 minutes before taking the pastries out the oven.
Nutrition
Serving: 1muffin | Calories: 288kcal | Carbohydrates: 92g | Protein: 9.4g | Fat: 9.8g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 92mg | Sodium: 123mg | Potassium: 102mg | Fiber: 0.8g | Sugar: 18.4g | Calcium: 106mg | Iron: 2mg
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Iryna Bychkiv
|Website
Iryna Bychkiv is the founder and writer of the culinary website Lavender & Macarons, where she shares clean, European-inspired recipes that are delicious, easy to prepare, and made with wholesome ingredients. Iryna loves creating meals that are simple yet healthy and unique, including vegan and vegetarian recipes.
Iryna is also a freelance writer for MSN and Associated Press Wire.
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Reader Interactions
Comments
Janet says
I made these for the first time and followed your recipe exactly. Although instead of 6, I made 7, and they turned out delicious with just the right amount of filling. I made homemade ricotta for this recipe. I will definitely make it again.Reply
Iryna Bychkiv says
Janet, thank you for your comment and 5-star rating! I'm so glad you liked this recipe!
Reply
Donna K says
Excellent taste! I’ll be making these again. Next time I’ll double the dough-I overfilled the first time and still had extra. I did freeze one to see if it held its texture and taste and it did. So deliciousReply
Iryna Bychkiv says
Donna, thank you so much for your comment and 5-star rating! I'm happy you liked this recipe!
Reply
Joanne Santry says
I am an experienced home cook and baker. I was excited to try this recipe as this dessert is one of my favorites at the bakeries. The dough was very difficult to work with and was a dry crumbly mess. I did add water to it, but it still was too dry to roll out thinner than a quarter of an inch . The filling was equally difficult to achieve. It ended up being thin and runny. I will not make this recipe again I do ask that you relook at your recipe. It ended up being a waste of ingredients.Reply
K J says
I tried making this recipe twice. The dough recipe is just off somehow. I always get a crumbly sandy mixture for the dough- not anything that can be rolled out at all, and nothing resembling a dough. I see that someone else has reported the same issue. Sad but I’ll have to find a different recipe somewhere else.Reply
Craig says
I think you should proof read your recipes.1) I think you used tablespoons instead of teaspoons for the sugar. Europeans desserts are not cloyingly sweet.
2) I think you forgot to put any water in the dough. Three tablespoons works okay, but more later.
3) This dough should be rolled out almost paper thin, it get tough at even an 1/8 of an inch thickness.
4) An almond flour dough might work better than all purpose flour.
5) There really is way too much filling for the dough.
This will be the last of your recipes I try; there are people on the internet who actually work on their recipes and make them ready to be published, this is not one of them
Reply
Beverly Steiner says
I wouldn’t make these again. The crust is way too dry to properly roll out and cooks to a hard overly sweet crust. The filling is enough to make 12 muffins which is twice what the crust does. I used 3 tablespoons of sugar instead of 5 tablespoons in the filling and it was still very sweet.Reply
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4.28 from 86 votes (77 ratings without comment)
