Miniature food is just cuter, it’s a fact. Top some these adorable little mini blood orange ricotta loaves with a bright pink icing? I’m sold! I absolutely love my mini loaf pan for breads like this. I picked it up at Home Goods a few years ago and it’s definitely been used frequently.
If you don’t have one of these pans, I highly recommend adding one to your cabinets. But even if you don’t have one and aren’t constantly looking for the next thing to add to your kitchen (like me), you can certainly make this recipe in a regular sized loaf pan.
The orange zest and juice in the bread keep it fragrant and fruity, and the blood orange juice in the glaze make sure that you’re enjoying a pink treat. Using ricotta cheese in this bread replaces butter, and since ricotta is so light in texture, it makes sure that this bread stays moist without being too dense.
Blood oranges are such a treat this time of year. I know that once the weather gets warmer I’ll be counting down the days until I get my hands on some juicy summer tomatoes, berries, and peaches, but for now I’m going to keep diving headfirst into winter citrus.
The pink in these really makes them a perfect Valentine’s Day breakfast, dessert, or snack, but I had to give you these brownies as soon as possible. But let’s be honest, enjoying these any day of the week sounds good to me. Even though these are mini loaves and could easily be bitten into as is, I like to cut mine into little slices too. I can’t eat anything in our house without two little boys asking for a bite, and giving them each a small slice is a treat for them.
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp. salt
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 1 cup ricotta cheese
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup sugar
- zest and juice of two blood oranges
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- ½ cup vegetable or canola oil
- ½ cup milk
- 1½ cup powdered sugar
- 3 tbsp. blood orange juice
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray a 6-loaf mini loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a small bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and baking powder.
- In a large bowl, whisk together ricotta cheese and eggs. Add sugar, blood orange zest and juice, vanilla, oil, and milk. Whisk until combined.
- Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and whisk to combine.
- Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- While the bread is baking, whisk together the powdered sugar and blood orange juice until smooth.
- After the loaves have cooled, drizzle with glaze. Bread is best eaten within 1-2 days of glazing
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