Lemon Ricotta Cookies are the perfect thing to serve during the spring. These cake like cookies are dipped in a bright lemon glaze with lemon zest.
Make-ahead
Beginner-friendly
You’ll Learn: How ricotta adds moisture and richness, making these almost cake-like
Worth It: A crowd-pleaser that’s easy to prep ahead and freeze
Bonus: A great way to sneak a little protein into dessert
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Sweet and tart – This lemon ricotta cookies recipe combines the richness of full fat ricotta with the tartness of lemon juice in a perfect marriage. The cookies bake up soft and fluffy, almost like a cake mix.
- Ricotta for dessert – I am obsessed with ricotta. There are so many amazing ways to enjoy it like this sweet whipped ricotta dip, but it is always delicious when paired with lemon.
- Refreshing treat – The delicious glaze on top makes these the perfect refreshing dessert for lemon lovers. They are my favorite cookie for Easter Sunday, a special occasion, or any spring gathering!
serving Suggestions
These Italian lemon ricotta cookies are the best, soft cookies to add to your Easter Sunday spread. You could make a double batch of this Italian recipe and serve them at brunch alongside this simple spinach, feta and sun dried tomato quiche. Or serve your delicious cookies after a traditional Easter dinner alongside coffee and tea.
For other Easter desserts to serve with your cookies, you could make Easter Bunny Cake, or for a different recipe with lemons, make lemon blueberry scones.
If you don’t celebrate Easter this lemony cookie is a great recipe for any spring party. They are the best cookies for a baby shower, mothers day or just a spring birthday.
Ingredients
- All purpose flour – the flour is the base of your cookie recipe
- Baking powder, baking soda and salt – baking powder and soda give the cookies the perfect rise for fluffy cookies with cake-like texture and airy texture
- Unsalted butter – use unsalted butter to control the amount of salt added to your cookies. Allow it to come to room temperature before using
- Granulated sugar – the white sugar is the perfect sweetener
- Eggs – the eggs bind your batter together
- Whole milk ricotta cheese – the addition of ricotta cheese is the star in these cookies. It gives the perfect creamy, tangy taste and a perfectly moist cookie
- Fresh lemon juice and lemon zest – the lemon pairs perfectly with the ricotta for a Spring treat with bright lemon flavor
- Vanilla extract and almond extract – you need both vanilla and almond for the best flavor
- Powdered sugar – the confectioners’ sugar is the base of the sweet lemon glaze for your cookies
Ingredient Substitutions
For a less tart lemon glaze, you could use meyer lemons instead of regular lemons. They are a bit sweeter and would make for a delicious cookie recipe.
Substitute all purpose flour with a 1:1 gluten free all purpose flour blend to make these cookies gluten-free.
You can make these cookies with part skim ricotta, but it won’t be quite as rich and creamy.
How to make
Step 1: prepare dough and chill
The first step is to prepare the cookie dough. Mix the flour, baking powder and baking soda together in a large bowl and set aside.
Then, using an electric mixer with a paddle attachment, beat the softened butter and sugar together on medium speed until light and fluffy. Next, on low speed, beat the eggs into the sugar mixture followed by the ricotta (Image 1). Lastly, on high speed, add in the extracts in the bowl of a stand mixer (Image 2).
Then, mix in half the dry ingredients with a spatula until it comes together. Add in the lemon juice and zest.
Add the remaining flour mixture from the separate bowl and beat until it comes together.
Cover the mixing bowl in plastic wrap and place in the fridge. Chill dough for at least 1 hour (Image 3).
Step 2: scoop out cookies and bake
After one hour, preheat the oven to 350F. Scoop dough balls out using a 1 1/2 tbsp cookie scoop directly onto a lined baking sheet, about 2 inches apart (Image 4).
Bake cookies on a large cookie sheets at 350F for 14-15 minutes, until bottoms of the lemon cookies are slightly golden, but not golden brown for best results. Top of cookie will still be quite pale. You can also make smaller cookies with a smaller scoop and bake for 12-15 minutes. Baking time can also vary depending on your oven.
Step 3: Cool cookies and dip in lemon glaze
Allow the cakey cookies to cool completely on a cooling rack (Image 5). Whisk together the glaze ingredients in a medium bowl.
Finally, dip the tops of the cooled cookie in the small bowl of lemon icing and let excess liquid drip off (Image 6). Enjoy!
Storage and Freezing
I like to store these Italian ricotta cookies in the refrigerator to keep the icing firm. Store in the fridge for up to 1 week.
You can freeze this lemon ricotta cookie recipe for up to 3 months in an airtight container. It is best to freeze without the icing.
Check out These Other Delicious recipes for Springtime Desserts
You can find the full recipe below. If you make this recipe, please rate and review it in the comments, or share it with me on Instagram!
You can find the full recipe below. If you make this recipe, please rate and review it in the comments, or share it with me on Instagram!
Email Recipe for Later
Recipe
Lemon Ricotta Cookie Recipe with Lemon Glaze
Ingredients
Cookie Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 stick butter 4 tbsp, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 cup whole milk ricotta
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp almond extract
- 1 1/2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- Zest of 1 lemon
Glaze Ingredients
- 1 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- zest from 1 lemon
Instructions
- Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together and set aside.
- Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs. Beat in the ricotta. Add in the extracts.
- Mix in half the dry ingredients until it comes together. Add in the lemon juice and zest. Add the remaining dry ingredients and beat until it comes together.
- Chill dough for at least 1 hour. Then, preheat the oven to 350F
- Scoop dough out using a 1 1/2 tbsp scoop directly onto a lined baking sheet, about 2 inches apart. Bake at 350F for 14-15 minutes, until bottoms are slightly golden. Top of cookie will still be quite pale.
- Allow to cool completely. Whisk together the glaze ingredients. Dip the tops of the cookie in the glaze and let excess drip off. Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
- You must chill the dough- it’ll be pretty wet and sticky, almost like thick cake batter prior to chilling
- Cookies will spread on baking sheet so leave space between each
- Cool completely before dipping into glaze
Nutrition Information
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
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