With all of the heavy foods offered during the Christmas season, it’s so nice to nibble on something that is oh so light, sweet and delicious! Plus these cookies are so festive with the colors of the season sprinkled all over. With just a slight hint of lemon in both the cookie and the delicate icing of these Italian Ricotta Cookies, you just might have visions of lemon groves bursting with fresh citrus fruit along the Amalfi coast!
Italian Ricotta Cookies are very popular throughout the year because they can be sprinkled with any color for decoration. The flavor is also seasonless because there is no ginger, molasses, or typical Christmas flavors included in these delicious little cookies.
For a more hefty cookie to dip into your hot chocolate, coffee, latte’, or wine, bake some Biscotti with Dried Cranberries, White Chocolate and Pistachios. Drizzled with more white chocolate, you’ll fall in love with these biscotti! Here’s the recipe: Biscotti with Dried Cranberries, White Chocolate and Pistachios
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Italian Ricotta Cookies
A very soft and tender cookie with hints of lemon. Decorate with your favorite cookie sprinkles. A favorite at Christmastime!
Ingredients
For the Cookies
- 3 1/2 cups (495g) all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup (8 oz) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 3/4 cups (370g) granulated sugar
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- 15 oz. ricotta, whole milk or fresh (1 3/4 cups)
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- ¼ cup butter, melted
- 3-½ cups powdered sugar
- 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice (or 1-1/4 tsp almond extract)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup whole milk, adding more if necessary to your desired consistency -- we like the icing more 'light' than thick and heavy, but it is entirely up to you and what you prefer.
- Red and Green colored sugar sprinkles, but it would also be festive with Silver and Gold sprinkles too
- ¼ cup butter, melted
- 3-½ cups powdered sugar
- 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice (or 1-1/4 tsp almond extract)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup whole milk, adding more if necessary to your desired consistency -- we like the icing more 'light' than thick and heavy, but it is entirely up to you and what you prefer.
Instructions
For the cookies
- In a mixing bowl whisk together flour, baking soda and salt for 20 seconds, set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment whip together butter, granulated sugar and lemon zest until pale and fluffy (scrape down sides and bottom of bowl occasionally throughout entire mixing process).
- Mix in ricotta and vanilla extract then blend in eggs one at a time.
- Set mixer on low speed and slowly add in flour mixture and mix until combined.
- Cover bowl with plastic wrap and chill 2 hours or up to 2 days.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees during last 20 minutes of dough chilling.
- Scoop chilled dough out 1 Tbsp at a time (and no larger!) and shape into balls (if it's too sticky just drop onto sheet using two spoons), drop onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Bake in preheated oven 12 - 14 minutes until underside of cookies are golden.
- Cool on baking sheet several minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Once cool dip tops of cookies in glaze and return to wire rack, immediately add sprinkles if using. Allow glaze to set at room temperature.
- Store in an airtight container in a single layer.
For the glaze
- In a mixing bowl whisk together powdered sugar, melted butter, lemon juice or almond extract, vanilla.
- Add ½ cup of milk until smooth, adding in more milk 1 a little bit at a time to thin as you desire.
Notes
- If you enjoyed this recipe, please pin it on Pinterest and/or share it on Instagram! Thank you for your kindness!
Enjoy!!
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Those sprinkles make those cookies really beautiful and festive!
Have a wonderful holiday season!
It’s a festive time of year, Angie and it was a lot of fun decorating these cookies!
Merry Christmas to you and your family,
Roz
I don’t see any signs of slacking in the holiday department here, Roz 🙂 These cookies look wonderful! I’ve never baked a cookie with ricotta before but they look and sound wonderful – especially with that lemon zest. Delish! Merry Christmas to you and your family, Roz! ♥
Thanks Susan, these are super light and spongey which is nice when everything is so heavy this time of year! Merry Christmas and Happy 2017 Susan!
Roz
these look really nice must try. Merry Christmas
Bravissima! I really love these and what a presentation! I would love to make them they make my mouth water.
Buon Natale e buon anno!
Roz – Your photos always have me wishing I could eat the screen – or live next door to you! Buon Natale.
You are so sweet Linda! It would be so awesome to live closer to each other and to AT LEAST meet someday!
Hope your Christmas was full of love and joy!
Roz
HI ROZ! These are our favorite cookies, and we haven’t made them in few months, gosh we need to finish our baking before Saturday!
We want to wish you a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!! all the best to you and your beautiful family….
xo anna and liz
Hi Liz and Anna,
I can understand why these cookies are some of your favorites . . . they disappear instantly in our family! I hope that you had a most wonderful Christmas and wish you a blessed 2017!
Roz
What beautiful festive cookies! I have never used ricotta in cookies. This is definitely a recipe I should try! Happy new year!
I just found these cookies, and decided to try them to see if they were worthy of making for my cookie trays. OMG, they were great! My coworkers went crazy over them. I usually try not to eat many cookies, but found myself eating 2 or 3 at a time! Thank you, thank you!! They will be on my cookie tray next Christmas!
Hi Ann,
I am so thrilled to read your comment about these cookies! I have to tie myself to a post to resist eating these one after another too! They are so soft and tender. Just the right amount of sweetness! You can decorate them any way or without any sprinkles too!
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts!
Ciao,
Roz