Soft and chewy Lemon Ricotta Cookies with a two-ingredient lemon glaze.
Ingredients
Lemon ricotta cookies
- 115 grams (1/2 cup or 1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 200 grams (1 cup) caster sugar or granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 egg yolk
- 125 grams (1/2 cup) store-bought ricotta cheese
- 210 grams (1 and 1/2 cups) plain flour or all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- Zest of 1 large lemon, finely grated
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Lemon glaze
- 125 grams (1 cup) icing sugar or powdered sugar, sifted
- 2–3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- Lemon zest, finely grated, for decorating
Instructions
- Lemon ricotta cookies
Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F) standard / 160 C (320 F) fan-forced. Line two baking trays with baking or parchment paper. - In a large mixing bowl, add butter and sugar. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until combined – approximately 1 minute.
- Add vanilla, egg yolk and ricotta and mix on low speed until combined.
- Add flour, baking soda, powder powder, salt, lemon zest and lemon juice. Mix on low speed just until a soft cookie dough forms – try not to over-mix.
- Scoop out cookie dough using a small cookie scoop – approximately 1 tablespoon of dough – and place on prepared trays, leaving room for them to spread. (See below notes on cookie sizes).
- Bake cookies for approximately 12 minutes or until golden brown on the edges and the bottom. Cookies may appear slightly underbaked on top.
- Leave cookies to cool for 10 minutes before carefully transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Lemon glaze
In a medium-sized mixing bowl, add icing sugar. Add lemon juice, one tablespoon at a time, and mix together until creamy and smooth. Keep adding a tablespoon of lemon juice until you reach your desired consistency. - Spoon lemon icing over each cookie. Sprinkle over fresh lemon zest. Leave cookies for 10 minutes for the icing to set. Enjoy!
Notes
Ricotta: Ricotta cheese can vary widely from brand to brand. I recommend finding a full fat ricotta cheese that’s not overly wet. A tub-style Ricotta will work better than a wheel of ricotta cheese which is much more dry and crumbly. If you use fresh ricotta, you’ll need to drain it first. I tested this recipe using Italian Perfecto Original Ricotta.
Cookie size: You can make these cookies slightly larger using a medium cookie scoop (1.5 tablespoons of cookie dough). The cookies will take 1-2 minutes longer to bake. You will get 16 cookies out of this dough.
Flat cookies: Since the texture and water content of ricotta cheese can vary widely, I recommend baking one or two cookies first – while you are spooning out the rest of the dough. If they spread too much in the oven, consider chilling the dough for 30 minutes to 1 hour before trying again.
Storage: Lemon Ricotta Cookies keep well in an airtight container at room temperature.
Make ahead: You can make the cookie dough, scoop or roll it into balls and then freeze it to bake at a later date. Simply thaw the cookie dough or bring it back to room temperature before baking as per the recipe.
