Special Occasion Italian Lemon Ricotta Cookies Recipe
Italian Ricotta Cookies are soft and cakey holiday cookies, topped with a simple tinted icing and festive sprinkles. They’re sweet with a subtle lemon flavor from the zest and lemon juice in the glaze.
Prep Time30 minutes mins
Cook Time30 minutes mins
Let cookie set.30 minutes mins
Total Time1 hour hr 30 minutes mins
Course: Italian cookies
Cuisine: Italian
Servings: 36 cookies
Calories: 175kcal
Cookies:
- 1 lemon
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1¾ cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened (2 sticks)
- 15 ounce ricotta cheese
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
For glaze:
- 1¼ cups confectioners' sugar
- 3 Tablespoons lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon water
- blue food coloring or the coloring of your choice.
- edible food decorations
Ricotta Cookies:
Preheat oven to 350℉. From the lemon grate 1 teaspoon zest and squeeze 3 Tablespoons juice (reserve the juice for the glaze).
In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and kosher salt. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat granulated sugar, butter, and lemon zest until creamy.
Add ricotta cheese, eggs, and vanilla, beating until combined, stopping and scraping down the side of bowl occasionally. Beat in flour mixture until just smooth.
Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper. With a small cookie scoop (about 2 teaspoons), scoop dough into balls; place on cookie sheet, spacing 1½ inches apart. With fingers, pat each down into a flat disk.
Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until bottoms are golden brown. Let cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
TIPS
- ou don’t have a piping bag to drizzle the icing over the cookies, use a plastic bag and cut off the corners.
- Serve these cookies at cookie exchange parties or gift them to friends, family, and neighbors during the holidays.
- Using a cookie scoop is a good way to ensure uniform-sized cookies that will cook evenly in the oven.
- Make sure enough space is allowed between each cookie to allow for normal spreading while baking.
- The cookie dough can be made ahead of time and stored in the fridge or freezer (wrapped in plastic wrap) to reduce prep time.
- To prevent cookies from spreading too much while baking, line the cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat instead of applying cooking spray.
- Allow the cookies to cool before adding the icing. The fresh icing will also need about 30 minutes to harden.
Calories: 175kcal | Carbohydrates: 25g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 29mg | Sodium: 79mg | Potassium: 61mg | Fiber: 0.5g | Sugar: 14g | Vitamin A: 224IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 40mg | Iron: 1mg