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.
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 a muffin 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. Remove Soffioni 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.
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Recipe
Soffioni Abruzzesi
Equipment
- Hand whisk
- Muffin pan
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 a muffin 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. Remove Soffioni from the oven, let them cool and then remove from the muffin pan.
- If desired, dust the pastries with some icing sugar.
Chef Mary says
Horrible!!!!
Italian American says
I made your recipe because your photos are so beautiful!
Please listen to your readers who say the oven temperature is too high. It is way too high. Maybe you converted from Celsius to Fahrenheit incorrectly?
When I followed your recipe at 390ºF/350ºF, everything looked *perfect* until I checked the oven. They were incinerated! Came out extremely dark (even after just the first 30 minutes), tough, and dry (although the insides were kind of OK).
When I repeated it at 350/325, they came out *perfect*! Colored very much like yours! They were soft & delicious! Great recipe!
390ºF is not really a normal temperature for anything. Every other recipe for Soffioni says to bake at 350ºF for 30 minutes and then turn down to 325ºF. This is not just one person with a bad oven. You really need to change this. There's even someone who reviews online recipes, and they had the same experience.
I made this the day before Easter to bring to a family gathering. Putting 2 hours of work into a recipe only to have it burnt gave me a very bad feeling about trusting any other recipe here. Please accept constructive feedback from multiple readers.
Thank you.
Iryna says
Hello Italian American! Thank you so much for your comment! I understand your frustration and am sorry the pastries didn't come out as expected. The suggested temperature (390F) is what I indeed baked Soffioni at, and they never burned. I have tips above and below the recipe card about adjusting the baking temperature depending on the oven. I will make additional notes in the recipe, citing your comment, and hopefully, this will help avoid the problems in the future.
Lisa Ghita says
I have made these twice so far. My family loves them, however, the crust is way too dry and crumbly, making it hard to do a simple kneed. I have ended up putting 2 T of liquid to help (once water, once Olive oil). Also, I end up throwing out some of the filling each time. First time I cooked them at 390 and burned the tops. 2nd time at 350 and was much better. Will only make again if I change the liquid amount and change the oven temp.
Iryna says
Lisa, thank you so much for your comment! Yes, this recipe might be a little bit tricky especially if the oven runs a bit hot. The outcome of the crust also depends on the brand of flour. I love that you keep tweaking the recipe to make it just right so I think next time they'll turn out perfect:)
Rosemary says
Hi there...the dough was very hard to knead. It was very dry. Did anyone else have this problem. Also I ended up with extra filling. I'm just wondering if I did something wrong.
renata says
you're right. the dough is very hard, so l added extra 3 tablespoons of olive oil. yes, the amount of filling is a lot, perhaps only adding 150 g of ricotta is enough; the oven temperature, definitely not 390 but only 350 for about 40 minutes, perhaps less. l have them in the oven right now,
...l took them out, after 45 minutes, a little burnt the edges, but all the same, pretty good. l just hope, they taste good, not dry!! l need them tomorrow for a friends-gathering. otherwise, theese pastries narmaly are quit delicious.
Ashley says
I am going to make these for my aunts birthday party. However we have a big family can I multiply the recipe by 3?? In doing so do I have to adjust anything? Making them a day ahead hopefully won't make them funny and using my home made ricotta.
Iryna says
Hi Ashley. Sure, you can triple the recipe. I'm not sure how the pastry will taste if cooked ahead of time. Nevertheless, you can prepare the pastry dough a few days in advance, wrap it in plastic wrap and then refrigerate for 2-3 days. Then, all you'll have to do is roll out the dough, fill it with a ricotta mixture and bake. Also, I recommend keeping an eye on the pastries in the oven at all times, so that if you see a pastry brown too fast, you can reduce the oven temperature. Please see the tips in the post for more details.
Ashley says
I followed what you said if browning too fast to cover with foil. I did really quickly and reduced the temp by 10 degrees and started at 350 degrees. Turned out perfectly golden brown fluffy inside. I've never had them before so I'm not sure if they taste how they should. But they taste rather good.
Iryna says
Ashley, thank you for letting me know this! I'm glad the pastries turned out well. And yes, they're supposed to be golden brown on the outside and fluffy on the inside.
cinzia says
Just made these. Oven temperature is too high at 390, checked another site and it says 350 for 30 minutes reduce to 320 for 10-15.
Iryna says
Hi Cinzia! Oven temperatures may vary from oven to oven so yeah, you might need to reduce the temperature if the pastries burn too fast. Let me know how they turned out.
Grazia says
My oven at the temps suggest burns the outside pastry .. the inside comes out Perfect .. the second time I bakes these I’ve dropped the Oven temp 10 degrees still too dark in colour .. I’ve converted F to C it seems to hot
Iryna says
Hi Grazia! Oven temperatures can vary by 30 degrees up and down. Some ovens require a little more time, some a little less. I recommend dropping the oven temperature by 10 degrees as you already did and covering the pastry with a sheet of aluminum foil halfway through the baking process. This will hopefully prevent the top of the pastries from burning. If you give them one more try, let me know how they turn out.
Laura Cerretani says
Can these be made ahead of time and put in the freezer for a few weeks?
I made these before and they were very good!
Iryna says
Hi Laura! Thank you for your comment! I'm glad you enjoyed these pastries! As for your question, I've never tried to freeze them and I'm not sure it would work. As far as I know most bakers do not recommend freezing desserts with cream in them, because once the filling comes in contact with the dough it may become soggy especially when thawing it. Plus, cream tends to separate in a freezer. Instead, I would recommend freezing the dough. You can do this for up to 6 months. And then just roll it out, fill with a cream and bake. you
Vanessa says
Thanks for sharing! Do they keep long?
Iryna says
You're welcome Vanessa! If you make the dough ahead of time, you can store it for 3 days in the refrigerator. Baked Soffioni will keep for no more than 2 days in a fridge. It's best to store them in the airtight container lined with a paper towel.
Suzanne says
This looks so good! Can I use other mix ins?
Iryna says
Hi Suzanne! Instead of Ricotta you can use pastry cream, store-bought vanilla pudding or lemon curd. The most important point here the filling should not be too "runny".
Marilyn says
I tried to make these, the dough was soooo dry it crumbled. It was even worse when I tried to roll it out, it all cracked. Any suggestions?
Thanks
Iryna says
Hi Marilyn! Sorry you had problems with the dough. Since different refrigerators can have different temperatures, I would suggest to refrigerate the dough for less than 1 hour. Maybe 40 minutes? Sometimes the dough gets too crumbly if it gets overly "cold" so less refrigeration might help. Also, in the 1st step when you're just making a pastry, make sure the dough is smooth and comes together. If it's crumbly even during this step, you can add 1 tbsp of cold water. This should help to make the dough uniform and elastic.
Oksana says
Hello Iryna,
Thank you very much for this recipe! Very tasty dessert. Thd filling is so perfect. The only thing that I would change slightly is crust. I wish it was a bit softer, more tender. Do you know by any chance how this can be done? Or this recipe requires harder crust?
Iryna says
Hi Oksana! Thank you for your comment! I'm very glad you liked this dessert.
In terms of crust, it should be pretty soft. If you make these pastries again, make sure to not over-knead the dough, because it results in gluten development hence harder crust. Your aim here is to quickly combine the ingredients and not kneading for too long. I hope this helps!
Natalia says
Hello. I would advise to write your ingredients for crust and filling - separately. Or if you write your ingredients combined, than in description- write how many exactly you use for crust and for filling, avoid saying :” use the rest of sugar”. It is confusing, making it hard to follow your recipes. Thank you.
Iryna says
Hi Natalia! Thank you for your feedback! I understand that instructions may be confusing at times. I've already edited the recipe to make it more clear. Hope this helps!
teri c says
looking great! Love the small batch too!
Iryna says
Thank you Teri! I hope you will like this dessert!
Mashka says
Delicious!