Blood Orange Ricotta Mini Loaves

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.