Lemon Ricotta Cookies
These homemade Lemon Ricotta Cookies are the perfect little treat, where the tang of fresh lemons meets the richness of ricotta in a delightfully soft, sweet treat that’s as perfect for a cozy afternoon as it is for a festive gathering.
The Ingredients
This is an “old school” Italian recipe that was very popular in the Italian neighborhoods of Philadelphia.
These cookies come together so quickly and consist of 8 ingredients including butter, sugar, eggs, ricotta cheese, vanilla, flour, salt, and baking soda. You’ll probably have most of these on hand, with the exception of ricotta, which I don’t normally keep on hand (but you may?).
This recipe also uses a lemon icing that is a bit different than the glaze used in my Italian wedding cookies, which do not use ricotta and are flavored with anise or almond extract.
How to Make
Begin by making the dough. Cream the butter and sugar, add egg followed by the ricotta and vanilla.
Add flour and then mix. I like to refrigerate all my cookies doughs as it reduces spreading and improves results. Then portion and bake until very lightly golden.
Remove cookies from oven, and make the lemon icing by mixing the powdered sugar, lemon juice, butter, milk, vanilla, and salt.
Frost your cookies, and enjoy!
Baking Tips for Ricotta Cookies
The cookies bake up quick! They are done in 15 minutes and are a very pale yellow when finished. I think the most challenging part of baking this cookie is that the dough is quite sticky. I use a cookie scoop to address this challenge. The use of a cookie scoop works like a charm and helps to make all your cookies a consistent size.
Other ways to work with sticky cookie dough like this one include using a pastry bag to pipe small mounds for each cookie, using cooking spray on your hands to reduce stickiness, adding a bit of powdered sugar or flour to your hands, or even wetting hands helps!
Tips and Storage
Before Baking:
- Refrigerating dough before baking will help prevent spreading.
- Refrigerate from 30 minutes to 24 hours (in bulk or shape and place on a cookie sheet).
- For thin, crispy cookies, refrigerating the cookie dough is not recommended.
Storage:
- Freeze cookies (baked) for 3 to 4 weeks (or up to 8 to 12 months).
- Baked cookies keep at room temperature for 3 or 4 days.
- For more tips on storing cookies, see this article.
- Most cookie doughs freeze well for two months (see more here) and can be refrigerated for 2 to 4 days.
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📖 Recipe
Lemon Ricotta Cookies
Ingredients
For the cookie dough
- 3 large (3 large) eggs
- 1 cup (227 g) unsalted butter cubed
- 2 cups (400 g) sugar
- 1 pound (453.59 g) ricotta cheese
- 2 teaspoons (2 teaspoons) vanilla extract
- 4 cups (500 g) all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon (1 teaspoon ) salt
- 1 teaspoon (1 teaspoon ) baking soda
For the Icing
- 1 pound (453.59 g) powder sugar plus more if icing is too thin
- 1/4 teaspoon (1/4 teaspoon ) salt
- 1 tablespoon (56.75 g) unsalted butter melted
- 1 teaspoon (2 teaspoons) vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons (61 g) milk Up to 4 tablespoons
For decorating (optional)
- lemon zest
Instructions
For the Cookie Dough
- In the bowl of a standing mixer, cream sugar and butter together until combined. Add eggs and continue to mix until well combined
- Add ricotta and vanilla and mix for another minute
- Add flour, baking soda, and salt and mix until just combined
- OPTIONAL: Although you may bake right away, refrigerating the dough in an airtight container for one hour or up to a few days, will reduce spread, make the dough easier to handle, and improve flavor.
To Bake the Cookies
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and place rack in center of oven
- Drop cookie dough or roll into balls (my preference) onto an ungreased cookie sheet (use parchment paper if you have it) and bake for 15 minutes. (if you refrigerated the dough, allow the dough to warm up just enough so it is easy to shape/handle.
- Do not overbake! cookies will be very light in color
For the Icing
- Place powdered sugar in large bowl and whisk to break up any clumps.
- Add salt, melted butter, vanilla extract, lemon juice, and whisk until smooth.
- Add the milk, one tablespoon at a time, until the icing is smooth yet still quite thick.
- Adjust accordingly by adding more powdered sugar if it is too thin.
To Decorate
- Wait until cookies are completely cooled before icing or the icing will melt off.
- Before icing dries, feel free to decorate with additional lemon zest if you'd like.
Storage
- After icing, let stand for 30 minutes to firm up the icing before storing.
If you freeze the cookies do you do it with them unfrosted?
Yes that’s what I do..👍🏼