Make these lemon ricotta cookies when you want a cookie that's full of lemon flavor. Ricotta cheese makes this cookie's texture seem like something out of a dream.
Lemon Ricotta Cookies
These lemon ricotta cookies are delicious, with a rich, tender texture and a bright lemony burst of flavor. Lemon juice and zest in both the cookie and frosting let you bask in that lemony goodness with each bite. Ricotta may not sound like something you’d find in sweet baked goods, but the cheese functions a bit like cream cheese. It’s a savory ingredient that blends in with the rest of the recipe to produce a chewy cookie that has no hint of a cheesy taste.
This cookie is easy to mix together, and it’s a drop cookie to boot. There’s no rolling out anything and no cutting needed. Just drop tablespoons of dough onto baking sheets for relatively big cookies that you cover with lemon-flavored frosting.
Lemon Ricotta Cookies Ingredients
- Butter: This ingredient helps the cookie rise and be lighter.
- Sugar: Cream it with the butter to produce that light texture and sweetness.
- Large eggs: Eggs are the ingredient binders here; without the eggs, the mixture would not stick together very well.
- Ricotta cheese: Ricotta makes the dough very tender yet very rich.
- Lemon juice: Lemon juice is the best way to distribute lemon flavor throughout the dough.
- Lemon zest: Zesting a lemon lets you add lemon oil to the recipe, increasing the intensity of the lemon flavor.
- All-purpose flour: This is the best flour for these cookies, with the right amount of gluten.
- Baking powder: This makes the cookies rise while baking.
Frosting:
- Confectioner’s sugar: This sweetens the lemon juice and forms the frosting base.
- Lemon juice: This provides the main lemon flavor for the frosting.
- Lemon zest: This intensifies the lemon flavor thanks to the cells full of lemon oil.
Directions
Step 1: Mix the batter
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Cream the butter and sugar for about five minutes in a large bowl. Beat in the eggs, ricotta, lemon juice and lemon zest. Combine the flour, baking powder and some salt in another bowl. Gradually add the dry mixture to the ricotta mixture and combine everything well.
Step 2: Bake
Grease a couple of baking sheets. Scoop up heaping tablespoons of batter and drop them onto the baking sheets with about 3 inches between each drop of batter. (Yes, you do want 3 inches between each.) Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes, until the cookies have become lightly browned. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for two minutes, and then move the cookies to a wire rack to cool down completely.
Step 3: Frost
Combine the confectioners’ sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest in a small bowl, and spoon the mixture on top of the cooled cookies.
Lemon Ricotta Cookies Variations
- Leave the zest out of the icing: The lemon zest adds a lot of flavor, but not everyone likes the texture. The little granules of zest can stand out among the softer texture of the frosting, which can annoy some people. If you’re OK with having less lemon flavor in the frosting, you can leave the zest out of the frosting. Do keep using it in the cookie itself, however.
- Try other sprinkled toppings: If you leave off the zest but feel the cookie is missing something visually, try adding sprinkles, yellow-colored sanding sugar or another sweet garnish.
- Switch out the citrus: Instead of lemon juice and lemon zest, use orange or lime juice and zest. You can also try other citrus varieties, like grapefruit.
How to Store Lemon Ricotta Cookies
Store these cookies at room temperature in an airtight container. Just be sure to eat them within three to four days, due to the ricotta. Also, place layers of parchment or wax paper between the cookies if you have to store them in layers in the container. That will protect icing transferring on the cookies.
Can you freeze lemon ricotta cookies?
Yes. It helps to do an initial freezing stage with the cookies spread out in a single layer on a baking sheet. This step gets the cookie frozen but not moist enough to freeze in a clump with other cookies. Place the cookies in a freezer-safe, airtight container, using layers of parchment or wax paper as needed to separate cookies. Eat within three months.
Lemon Ricotta Cookies Tips
What do ricotta cookies taste like?
Ricotta cookies don’t actually taste like cheesy cookies. The ricotta blends in with the dough, especially as the dough heats up during baking, similar to how cream cheese dough doesn’t taste like cream cheese. The result is a tender yet chewy cookie, and the lemon flavor absolutely shines.
Does it matter what type of ricotta you buy?
Yes, it does. The more milk fat the ricotta has, the richer your cookie will be. Part-skim and low-fat ricotta won’t produce a very rich cookie (though it may still taste fine), while whole-milk ricotta will produce a cookie that’s much richer in taste and texture.
Are there other lemon ricotta desserts?
If these lemon ricotta cookies whet your appetite for lemon-ricotta combinations, you’re in luck. Try this lemon ricotta cake, this lemon ricotta cheesecake, these lemon ricotta fritters or these lemon ricotta pancakes. If you’d like to try a savory version of the combination, this lemon ricotta pasta is a good choice.
Lemon Ricotta Cookies
Prep Time
20 min
Cook Time
10 min
Yield
3 dozen
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten
- 1 carton (15 ounces) ricotta cheese
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
- 2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- FROSTING:
- 1-1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
Directions
- Preheat oven to 375°. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until well blended, about 5 minutes. Beat in eggs, ricotta, and lemon juice and zest. In a second bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt; gradually add to butter mixture and mix well.
- Drop by heaping tablespoonfuls 3 in. apart onto greased baking sheets. Bake until lightly browned, 10-12 minutes. Cool for 2 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.
- In a small bowl, combine frosting ingredients. Spread over cookies.
Nutrition Facts
1 cookie: 139 calories, 4g fat (2g saturated fat), 22mg cholesterol, 101mg sodium, 24g carbohydrate (17g sugars, 0 fiber), 3g protein.
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I work for a special education school and our students run their own catering business. Every time they make this recipe for a catering event, they get praised. The students chose these cookies to submit as their favorite cookie recipe. They say they are the yummiest and chewiest cookies ever! —Renee Phillips, Owosso, Michigan
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