Risotto is one of those notoriously intimidating meals that needs a little more babysitting than your average easy dinner recipe. Is the babysitting worth it? I certainly think so! But do I want to stand over a hot stove and constantly stir every time I make this fantastic dish? Not really.

Luckily, my Easy Baked Risotto recipe takes care of that. It has everything you love about risotto, except for the babysitting. Just add rice, broth, and veggies to a pot, pop it in the oven, and let it bake. It’s the ultimate low-effort, high-reward meal I like to quickly throw together after work or for date night with Miguel.

Risotto Ingredients

Arborio rice – This is the only rice I use when I make risotto (with the exception of my orzo risotto recipe). It’s a type of short-grain rice with a high starch content, giving risotto its signature creaminess (without needing any cream).

Stock – I’ll use chicken stock when I want my risotto to be super savory, or vegetable stock when I’d rather keep things vegetarian.

Lemon – I used freshly squeezed lemon juice to brighten the whole dish (bottled is fine, too). For an extra hit of lemony flavor, feel free to zest the lemon before juicing it, then sprinkle it on top at the end.

Frozen peas – Remember to thaw the peas in the fridge before stirring them into the risotto.

This list is to provide further clarification on a few of the ingredients. See recipe card below for the full ingredient list. 

Variations

• Swap the peas – Out of frozen peas? Use another frozen veggie you have, like green beans, broccoli, or zucchini.
• Use seasonal vegetables – I recommend substituting the peas for asparagus tips in the spring, sliced leeks in the summer, and roasted butternut squash in the fall.
• Extra-creamy baked risotto – Stir in a dollop of mascarpone at the very end to make it extra mouthwatering. 
• Vegan option – You can make vegan baked risotto with vegetable broth, non-dairy butter, and vegan parmesan cheese or nutritional yeast.

How to Bake Risotto

Step 1: Heat the broth. Heat the broth in a pot over medium heat until it’s warm, but not boiling. Remove the pot from the heat. 

Step 2: Make the base. Add the rice, warm broth, shallot, garlic, and some of the butter to a large, oven-safe pot (I used a shallow Dutch oven). Stir gently to combine.

Step 3: Bake the risotto. Cover the pot and move it to the oven to bake.  

Step 4: Add the rest. Take the pot out of the oven and stir in the lemon juice, cheese, peas, and salt, then finish with the butter. Add more lemon juice, salt, or pepper to taste, and enjoy! 

Erin’s Tips and Tricks

• Warming the broth ahead of time helps the rice start cooking the second it hits the oven. Cold broth might give you unevenly cooked or crunchy rice.
• Rest the risotto for a few minutes before serving to give the rice time to absorb any extra broth and become nice and fluffy.
• Every oven is a little different, so I would start checking for doneness around the 25-minute mark. You’re looking for rice that’s tender but still has a slight bite (al dente).

Baked Risotto FAQs

Serving Suggestions

Miguel and I serve risotto for any occasion, whether we’re having a casual dinner or a date night. We like to pair it with a simple spring salad like this radish salad or this baby kale salad with honey-mint vinaigrette, and a side of sautéed asparagus. 

Baked risotto is pretty filling on its own, or you can top it with a grilled chicken thigh, pan-seared shrimp, or a baked salmon filet.

Storage

Refrigerator: I find that risotto is best served fresh, but if you have leftovers, keep them covered in the fridge for 3 to 4 days.

Freezer: Pack the cooled risotto into a freezer-safe bag or container and freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw it in the fridge overnight before reheating. 

Reheating: Reheating risotto can be a little tricky, but I find that warming the leftovers in a skillet with a splash of broth and gently stirring works wonders.

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If you made this recipe, be sure to leave a comment and star rating below. Thanks!

Cake! I love cake. My sweet tooth practically calls out for a slice of lavender coffee cake or chocolate coconut cake when it’s time for dessert.

I make this Orange Cake when I want to channel my inner Martha Stewart. It’s a simple but sophisticated one-layer dessert with a fluffy, golden crumb and a glistening orange vanilla glaze. But it’s the vibrant orange flavors in every bite that make it a winning sweet treat.

Take it from me, the biggest cake lover I know: The melt-in-your-mouth texture and bright pops of citrus in each slice will bring a little more sunshine to anyone’s day. 

Orange Cake Ingredients

Navel oranges – It wouldn’t be an orange cake without the fresh citrus flavors and aromas, so I zested a large navel orange before squeezing out all of the juice. If you don’t have a navel orange, use mandarin oranges, blood oranges, or any other kind of orange you like.

Applesauce – The cake gets most of its moisture from plain, unsweetened applesauce. Melted coconut oil or vegetable oil will work as substitutes, but the crumb won’t be as light or delicate.

Flour – Classic all-purpose flour works perfectly.

Orange vanilla glaze – I decorated the cake with a very simple glaze made from powdered sugar, orange juice, and vanilla extract.

This list is to provide further clarification on a few of the ingredients. See recipe card below for the full ingredient list. 

Variations

• Orange almond cake – Add 1 teaspoon of almond extract to the wet ingredients for just a kiss of almond. You could sprinkle toasted almond slices over the glaze, too!
• Gluten-free option – I haven’t tested this recipe with anything other than all-purpose flour, but a 1:1 gluten-free flour blend might work as a substitute.
• Glaze substitute – If you’d rather keep it simple, sift powdered sugar over the cake instead.

How to Make Orange Cake

Step 1: Make the orange sugar. Add the sugar and orange zest to a bowl and rub them together with your fingers until fragrant. Add the butter to the same bowl and beat with a mixer until fluffy.

Step 2: Add the wet ingredients. Next, mix the eggs, milk, orange juice, applesauce, and vanilla with the butter-sugar mixture until combined.

Step 3: Whisk dry ingredients. Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a separate bowl.

Step 4: Combine. Gently stir the dry ingredients into the wet mixture until just combined.

Step 5: Bake. Pour the cake batter into a cake pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Set it aside to cool.

Step 6: Make the glaze. Meanwhile, whisk the orange juice and vanilla together in a bowl, then whisk in the powdered sugar until you have a smooth glaze.

Step 7: Decorate and serve. Pour the glaze over the cooled cake and use a spatula to spread it evenly over the top. Slice and enjoy!

Erin’s Tips and Tricks

• Only zest the orange peel, not the white pith underneath. The pith is very bitter, and you don’t want it messing with the cake!
• Zest the orange before juicing it. It’s way easier this way, trust me.
• Room temperature ingredients are easier to incorporate into cake batters. Remember to take the eggs, butter, milk, oranges, applesauce, and any other refrigerated ingredients out of the fridge at least 30 minutes ahead of time.
• Don’t overmix the batter when combining the wet and dry mixes. To keep the cake’s delicate crumb, very gently combine the two with a wooden spoon or spatula until the flour is absorbed.
• Garnish the cake with candied orange slices, fresh mint leaves, or extra orange zest to make it feel extra fancy.

Orange Cake FAQs

Storage

Make-ahead: I like to serve this cake fresh to enjoy each moist and fluffy bite to the fullest. That said, the unglazed cake will still be a bit moist after staying covered on the kitchen counter for 1 to 3 days.

Refrigerator: The whole cake or individual slices can be kept in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week. Keep in mind that it will dry out slightly as it sits.

Freezer: You can wrap the unglazed cake in plastic wrap and freeze it for up to 3 months. Thaw it on the kitchen counter before pouring the glaze over top.

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If you made this recipe, be sure to leave a comment and star rating below. Thanks!

There comes a time every year—usually when the sun starts sticking around longer, and the birds are chirping again—when I become absolutely obsessed with the lemon-blueberry combo. Finally, spring has arrived!

My favorite way to celebrate spring is by adding lemons and blueberries to almost everything, including my lemon blueberry cake, a stack of blueberry chia seed pancakes, and these Lemon Blueberry Muffins. They’re a bakery-style treat bursting with jammy berries and finished with a crackly lemon-sugar topping that I genuinely can’t stop eating.

Blueberry Lemon Muffin Ingredients

Blueberries – You can use either fresh or frozen blueberries. Personally, I prefer frozen berries because they don’t burst or leave blue streaks in the muffins. However, fresh blueberries are incredible when they’re in season.

Sugar – I like using granulated cane sugar for baking, but white sugar is great, too. I don’t recommend swapping the granulated sugar for liquid sweeteners because your muffins won’t be as lemony or have the right structure.

Lemon zest & juice – Taking the time to massage lemon zest into the sugar granules is the secret to bright, lemony muffins! For the best results, zest your lemons before you juice them (it’s pretty tricky to do it the other way around).

Yogurt – It keeps the muffins moist and makes them extra fluffy. Regular yogurt and Greek yogurt both work well. If you need a substitute, use sour cream instead.

This list is to provide further clarification on a few of the ingredients. See recipe card below for the full ingredient list. 

Variations

• Gluten-free option – I haven’t tested this recipe with gluten-free flour, but it should work (make sure you use a brand that includes xanthan gum). I’d recommend adding an extra 1 to 2 tablespoons of oil per cup of flour and letting the batter rest for 5 to 10 minutes before portioning it into the muffin cups.
• Instead of blueberries – Make the muffins with raspberries, blackberries, cherries, diced strawberries, or a frozen berry medley.
• More add-in ideas – Make lemon poppy seed blueberry muffins by folding 2 to 3 tablespoons of poppy seeds into the batter. 1/4 cup of slivered almonds, chopped walnuts, or white chocolate chips would be nice here, too!
• Add a sweet topping – Decorate the cooled muffins with a drizzle of the cream cheese frosting from my gluten-free blueberry cake or the sweet lemon glaze from my almond flour blueberry scones.

How to Make Lemon Blueberry Muffins

Step 1: Make the lemon sugar. Add the sugar and lemon zest to a large bowl, and use your fingers to massage the zest into the sugar granules. It should smell very lemony and fresh! Set 1 tablespoon of the lemon sugar aside.

Step 2: Beat the wet ingredients. Add the butter to the same bowl and beat the butter and sugar together until fluffy. Next, stir in the eggs, lemon juice, yogurt, oil, and vanilla.

Step 3: Coat the blueberries. Add the blueberries to a small bowl and dust them with some flour.

Step 4: Mix dry ingredients. Whisk the remaining flour, baking powder, and salt together in a separate bowl.

Step 5: Finish the batter. Gently fold the dry ingredients into the wet mixture until just combined. Finish by folding in the blueberries.

Step 6: Bake. Pour the batter into a muffin tin, sprinkle the reserved lemon sugar on top of each muffin, and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Step 7: Cool, then serve. Let the muffins cool in the tin, then transfer them to a wire rack. Serve and enjoy!

Erin’s Tips and Tricks

• Do not thaw your frozen blueberries! They’ll definitely burst and turn the batter blue if you don’t leave them in the freezer right up until it’s time to use them.
• Always dust frozen blueberries with a sprinkle of flour. Without the flour coating, your blueberries will sink to the bottom of the muffins.
• Do not overmix the muffin batter, or else the muffins will be dry or dense. Gently stir the dry mixture into the wet batter until a few streaks of flour remain, then very gently fold in your berries. 
• The two-temp trick is the secret to tall, domed muffin tops. The initial blast of heat at 425°F activates the leavening agents and creates air bubbles inside the muffins. After, the temperature drops to 375°F to finish baking the muffins.

Muffin FAQs

Storage

Room temperature: It’s best to eat these muffins within a day or so of being baked. Store them in an airtight container lined with a paper towel to keep them moist and fresh.

Freezer: Once cool, wrap each muffin in plastic wrap and store them in a freezer-safe bag for up to 3 months. You can thaw them on the counter for about an hour or reheat them in the microwave or toaster oven.

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