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Small Lemon Ricotta Cookies sit in a pile, each wrapped in a small cupcake wrapper.

Italian Lemon Ricotta Cookies


  • Author: Richard Stangarone
  • Yield: 4 dozen 1x

Description

A little sweet and a little sour makes for a bold flavor in these cookies.


Ingredients

Scale

For the Cookies:

  • 2 sticks salted butter, softened 
  • 1½ cups granulated sugar
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract 
  • Zest of 1 lemon 
  • 2 large eggs 
  • 2 cups whole milk ricotta cheese 
  • 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 
  • 2 tsp baking powder 

For the Icing:

  • 2 cups confectioners’ sugar 
  • Juice of 1 lemon 
  • Colored sprinkles if desired 

Instructions

For the Cookies:

  1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Cover a pair of baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone mat. 
  2. In a stand mixer, combine the butter with the sugar and cream well together over high speed, about 3 minutes. Add the vanilla and lemon zest and mix just to combine. Add the eggs and the ricotta and mix again to combine. Then add the flour and baking powder and continue mixing briefly until a cohesive dough forms.  
  3. Form cookies into a 1-inch balls and place about one inch apart on the baking sheet. Bake for 12 minutes or until golden brown. Allow the cookies to cool completely on the baking sheet before frosting. 

For the Icing:

  1. In a medium bowl, stir together the confectioners’ sugar and lemon juice. Dip a cookie in the icing, covering about 3/4 of the cookie, and return it to the baking sheet. Repeat with remaining cookies and icing. 
  2. While icing is still soft, scatter sprinkles, if you wish, over each cookie.