Lower Carb Blueberry Ricotta Lemon Zest Mini Muffins

I have a delicious recipe to share today from the lovely Joanne, a fabulous food blogger. Originally from America, she is now a very proud South Aussie who has called Australia home since 1997.  She says that no recipe is really an original, and this one was inspired  by Wild Blueberry and Ricotta Muffins #RecipeReDux via her good friend Cindy from Cindy’s Recipes and Writings.

This particular recipe uses the sugar alternative Xylitol, which makes it lower in available carbohydrates, with less calories. Xylitol is a naturally occurring alcohol found in most plant material, including many fruits and vegetables. It is extracted from birch wood to make medicine. Xylitol is widely used as a sugar substitute and in sugar-free chewing gums, mints, and other lollies.

What is the calorie content compared to sugar?
Xylitol has 40% fewer calories than table sugar.

What is the carbohydrate content compared to sugar?
Xylitol contains the same amount of carbohydrates as table sugar. On some nutrition panels however, Xylitol is shown to have 75% fewer carbohydrates as sugar, because its content can be classed as “unavailable carbohydrates”. This is because most of the Xylitol eaten passes through to the lower intestine and is not converted to glucose. Therefore only one quarter of the weight of Xylitol can be counted as carbohydrate. Some nutrition panels subtract sugar alcohols completely from the carbohydrate count.

What is the Xylitol to sugar exchange ratio?
The xylitol to sugar ratio is 1:1.

See more here 

Joanna’s Sugar Free Blueberry Ricotta Lemon Zest Mini Muffins

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup xylitol
½ cup butter, softened
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 ¾ cups self-rising flour, sifted
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup blueberries
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
zest from one lemon; adjust for personal taste
½ cup milk
Oil spray

METHOD:

• In a stand up mixer, cream together xylitol and butter.
• Add eggs, ricotta, lemon juice, lemon zest until well combined.
• Fold in blueberries.
• Pre-heat oven to 350C.
• Oil spray mini muffin pan.
• Baked for about 10 minutes, until golden brown and toothpick comes out clean.

NOTE:
Baking time will differ depending on what size muffin tray/pan you use.

HINT AND TIP:
Fresh lime zest can be used as a substitute for lemon zest