Today I have for you a favorite Italian holiday recipe of ours and one I make frequently for Christmas gatherings. Lemon ricotta cookies! These cookies are the perfect bite size and are so soft and tender that they’ll disappear before you know it. Easy to make and great to make ahead!
Hello, all!
I decided my ricotta cookies needed a makeover with new photos and more info, so I’ve done the hard work of making (and eating) Christmas cookies in November. 🙂 Though don’t just have these at Christmas! Change up the sprinkles and you have a dessert ready for any holiday or occasion.
When I made these previously it was in my first holiday season on the blog and I did a cookie week just to get things rolling. The other recipes I did back then were Chocolate Almond Stuffed Cookies and classic Pecan Snowball Cookies. No updates on those photos yet, so you can enjoy seeing how much I’ve grown in food photography.
Italian Holiday Cookies
Like my Pignoli Cookies and Taralli Dolci Cookies, these ricotta cookies connect to my Italian heritage and have a special place in my holiday planning.
If you grew up (as I did) in an Italian American family, you may have had these made by your Grandma (or Nonna or Noni as we use in our family). They may have been flavored with anise instead of lemon, but that soft and tender texture cannot be denied.
I do have a couple of tips to help your holiday baking go smoothly:
- Keep your butter cool. You want the butter to be soft enough to work with, but still pretty solid. If you use a grass-fed butter (like KerryGold and others), only leave out the butter for a few minutes before using it since that butter is softer in general.
- Natural ricotta. While I well know it is not always possible to find natural ricotta in the US, some store brands and some local brands are made with no thickeners and stabilizers. That is what I use, and I recommend it.
- Chilling the dough. This is not something I used to do, but with this recent round of baking I decided to test the idea and I found the dough to be much easier to work with (less sticky) and the cookies formed into nice, even mounds making for a prettier result.
What do you need?
- Dry Ingredients – Flour, Salt, Baking Soda
- Butter and sugar – The backbone of a fluffy cookie.
- Ricotta – It’s in the name! Try for a ricotta with no additives (like gum or stabilizers) if you can find it.
- Lemon Zest – For plenty of lemony flavor.
- Egg – Structure and tenderness.
- Lemon Glaze – Confectioners’ sugar, lemon juice, and a little cream cheese.
- Sprinkles! – Gotta have sprinkles. Choose your favorite.
How to make this
To make ricotta cookies, cream together butter and sugar then add ricotta, egg, and lemon zest. Mix in flour to make a soft dough. Scoop out teaspoon sized amounts of dough onto a baking sheet and bake until done. Top with lemon glaze and sprinkles.
Can you freeze these?
Yes. You can freeze the dough or the (unglazed) cookies for up to 2 months when well wrapped.
Using up the ricotta
There are so many ways to use up the ricotta! Stir it into your pasta, sweeten it and have it for breakfast like yogurt, dollop some on pizza.
For some specific recipes, you can go sweet and make Ricotta Cannoli Pancakes or Lemon Blueberry Ricotta Muffins. Or you can go savory with Ground Beef Skillet Pasta and Ricotta or or Summer Squash and Ricotta Crostata. Check out my ricotta tag for more ideas on using it up.
If you try my recipe for Italian ricotta cookies, I would love to hear from you in the comments with your experience and rating! And I’m happy to answer any questions you might have.
– Happy Eating, Annemarie
Italian Lemon Ricotta Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups (10 oz) all purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp table salt
- 8 tbsp (4 oz) unsalted butter, cool room temperature
- 1 cup (7 1/2 oz) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (4 oz) ricotta, whole or part skim
- 1 large egg
- lemon zest from one lemon
Lemon Glaze
- 1 tbsp cream cheese, room temperature
- 3 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 cups (8 oz) confectioners' sugar
- 3 tbsp colored sugar, optional
Instructions
Mix the Batter
- Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- In a standing mixer with the flat beater, cream the butter and sugar together on medium-high until light and fluffy, 3-4 minutes.
- With the mixer on medium, add the ricotta, egg, and lemon zest mix until throughly blended.
- Pour in the flour mixture and mix on low until just blended, but with some dry flour remaining. Use a large silicone spatula to give the dough a couple of quick turns.
- Transfer the dough to the refrigerator and chill for 20-30 minutes.
Bake the Cookies
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Spoon the chilled dough out onto baking sheet using a #100 cookie scoop (or a teaspoon if you don't have a scoop), spacing the cookies about 2 inches apart.
- Bake for 11-12 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for one minute and then use a spatula to transfer them to a cooling rack. Cool completely.
Make the Lemon Glaze
- In a large bowl combine all the glaze ingredients and beat with a mixer until the glaze is smooth. The glaze should be thick but still flow from the beaters when you lift them.
Decorate
- Take each cookie and dip it top down into the glaze. Lift it out of the glaze while you twist it a little keeping it facing down to allow excess glaze to drip off. Then flip it up while trying to get the little bit of glaze that is still dripping down to fall onto the top of the cookie.
- While the glaze is still wet, sprinkle with a little colored sugar.
Notes
- Lemon Glaze: If the glaze does not stick, the problem is that it is too thick so add more lemon juice or a bit of milk by the teaspoon. If the glaze just runs right off, the problem is that it is too thin so add more confectioners' sugar a tablespoon at a time.
- Larger cookies: To make tablespoon sized cookies, increase the cooking time to 13 minutes and you'll have about 35-40 cookies.
- Cookie Scoop: I use a Zeroll teaspoon (#100) sized scoop for the recipe.
- Resting the Dough: Chilling the dough makes it much easier to work with when portioning it out. You will have more even and rounder cookies after the rest.
- Make-ahead: The dough can be wrapped up and kept overnight in the refrigerator or in the freezer for up to 2 months. Or the unglazed cookies can be frozen and kept for up to 2 months.
First published December 2015. Rewritten, expanded, and rephotographed.
Marlene says
I see I commented back in 2015! Well, today I made these because I had leftover ricotta. Yum! They were quick to make, and I started around 3 and took them to friends at 5:30! Excellent, everyone loved them!
justalittlebitofbacon says
Yay! I’m glad you’re still enjoying these cookies!
Gina M says
Made these cookies and they were amazing. I am making another batch tomorrow since the double batch is gone! Can’t stop eating them, Flavor and texture are spot on! This recipe is a keeper.
justalittlebitofbacon says
Thank you, Gina! These are one of our favorites too. 🙂
April says
How long will these last without freezing them?
justalittlebitofbacon says
April, they are at their best in the first 2 days; however, I’ve enjoyed them up to 4-5 days after baking.
Paula Keeler says
I just made these for a party tomorrow. What is the best way to store them until tomorrow?
thanks!
Paula
justalittlebitofbacon says
Once they are completely cool and the glaze has hardened, I put them in a large sealed container for storage and travel.
Paula Keeler says
thanks!
justalittlebitofbacon says
One further note: my husband just reminded me that it’s best to crack the lid of the container while they’re sitting on the counter overnight so that the cookies stay crisp.
Ramya says
Hi,
Thanks for the recipe. These came out really well for me. I don’t eat eggs, so I substituted it with 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce ( I do that for all other recipes that call for an egg). The cookies are not as rounded and puffy like your pictures though. the were still soft and cakey but the dome on them was not as round as your pictures, Can you let me know what I may have missed?
Thanks!
justalittlebitofbacon says
In this recipe the eggs contribute to the “puff” of the cookie. Perhaps more leavener would help?
Marge Currier a.k.a. MOM says
I am making the Soft and Lemony Ricotta Cookies from your web-site. These I will take with me on Christmas Day to my extended adopted family ‘from my house to their’s’.
Love as usual,
Marge a.k.a. MOM
justalittlebitofbacon says
Thanks, mom! I’m sure they’ll love them. 🙂
Marge Currier a.k.a. MOM says
These are a 5 Star Recipe. Can’t fail. Love them and you Annemarie for posting.
justalittlebitofbacon says
Thanks, mom! 🙂
Marlene says
Thanks for including cooking times for small and large cookies, Annemarie. I prefer to make smaller ones than the recipe directs and then have to guess at the baking time. And these photos: superb! Such depth of field!
justalittlebitofbacon says
Heh. I did that because I usually make the small version, as I too prefer smaller cookies that are easier to nibble on, and I pulled out the wrong scoop and made big cookies one time and then I had to test the cooking time for them too.
And thank you about the photography! Six months ago I barely knew how to use a camera so it has been quite the learning curve.
Marlene says
What were your best learning tools for the photography? What equipment and settings do you use? I’m very impressed.
justalittlebitofbacon says
Thank you. My husband knows the camera so he explained the buttons to me but he doesn’t know the tricks of food photos. For that my best tools were googling ‘food photography tips’, reading and trying the tips, and taking LOTS of pictures! 🙂 I basically read every single food photography resource I could find – Pinch of Yum and Food Bloggers Central are two of the big ones but I have a whole list of so many more. As for my equipment, I have his old Canon 20D, nice camera but not the latest and greatest, and a new 60mm macro lens (which I love and my husband got it for the two of us for our anniversary). And then lots, and lots, and lots of pictures of everything.