I saw these Ricotta Cookies yesterday morning on Tastespotting.com and they looked so scrumptious that I bumped one of my planned recipes in favor of this one. The cookies are great because they are not too sweet, not too rich, they come together very quickly and they are a blank canvas as far as flavor is concerned. You can add lemon, almond, cinnamon… whatever flavor you want. I went with lemon and I haven’t been able to stop eating them. They are light, fluffy and perfect with a hot cup of coffee or tea.
Lemon Ricotta Cookies
Lemon Ricotta Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup 1 stick butter, softened ($0.40)
- 1 cup granulated sugar ($0.18)
- 1 large egg ($0.15)
- 1 tsp vanilla ($0.30)
- 1 cup ricotta cheese ($0.92)
- 2 cups all purpose flour ($1.08)
- 1 Tbsp baking powder ($0.07)
- 1/2 tsp salt ($0.05)
- 1 cup powdered sugar ($0.18)
- 1 medium lemon ($0.20)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Whip together the softened butter and granulated sugar until you get a light fluffy paste. A mixer is best for this but if you don’t have one (like me… I know, I should), you can just use a fork and a lot of elbow grease. It won’t be easy unless your butter is really soft.
- Once the butter and sugar are mixed together, add the egg, vanilla extract and ricotta. Zest the lemon and add in half of the zest, reserving the rest for garnish. Mix until all of those “wet” ingredients are well combined.
- In a separate bowl, combine the flour, salt and baking powder. Make sure they are well combined – chunks of baking powder are not delicious.
- Mix together the bowl of wet ingredients with the dry ingredients until you have a thick paste like batter. Using a spoon, drop balls of the batter onto an ungreased baking sheet two inches apart. Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.
- In a small bowl prepare the glaze by combining 1 cup of powdered sugar and the juice of the lemon that you previously zested (be careful not to let the seeds drop in). Using a spoon, smear a small amount over top of the baked cookies. ENJOY!
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Nutrition
Step By Step Photos
Cream together the butter and sugar until it is a light, slightly fluffy paste.
Add in the egg, vanilla and ricotta and mix until it looks like…
…until they look like this.
In a separate bowl, mix together the dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking powder) until they are well combined.
Now mix the wet and dry together until you have this thick batter. Drop the batter onto a cookie sheet and bake at 350 for about 15 minutes.
They will be nice and golden brown on top when done. Slather some glaze on top and eat ’em up! One at a time please…
NOTE: I used an old coffee scoop to measure my batter when dropping them onto the cookie sheet. I think it was a 2 Tbsp scoop and I got 30 cookies out of it. The batter was so thick that the handle broke off the scoop… The cookies are worth it though. RIP scoop!
Best cookies ever! This is the second time I make them and everyone always eats them up really fast!
We have made these twice now and can’t stop eating them! I loved the straightforward directions and I had most of the items on hand already. Will be saving this recipe for future potluck events.
This is my first time ever making cookies on my own (I know, what have I been waiting for), and they turned out beautifully. Super soft and just the right amount of lemon; that glaze is addictive.
These look delicious, and I’m planning on making lasagna soon, so I may have to use up my left over ricotta on these. I do have a question though. If I wanted to use cinnamon instead of lemon, how much would you suggest I add?
Hmmm, maybe 1 to 1.5 tsp? That’s really just a stab in the dark, though. :P
Are these cookies cake like? My husband really doesn’t like cookies that are.
Yes, they’re definitely cake-like in texture.
This may be a silly question but I was wondering if you think these would work with cookie cutters? I’ve made them before (ah-freakingmazing) and wanted to do Easter cookies with my son. These are so much better than a sugar cookie. Any ideas?
I feel like the batter is too soft to use with a cookie cutter and the way they puff up would prevent them from holding their shape. :(
These cookies were so easy to make! I made them twice so far, and everyone who tried them loved them! I cannot stop eating them … I wonder if I can add shredded coconut to add a little bit of chewiness to it. I also want to try it with key lime flavor.
I made these yesterday to take to a friend’s BBQ birthday party and people were wanting more of the cookies than the birthday cake! I got so many requests for the recipe too! Seriously, amazing! Thank you! All of your dishes (that I’ve made) turn out perfect! You write it out so well and wow, you’re just so talented!
What a wonderful way to use up leftover ricotta cheese! I have a half container in my fridge right now from a lasagna soup made last week. I think I’m gonna have to make these this weekend.
Just made these, and all I can say is “wow”. They are light, fluffy, tangy, and velvety sweet. Perfect little cookie.
These are so tasty, and the ricotta makes them really soft. Great writing for the directions, as well.
Delicious cookies, they are going great with my morning cappuccino. I can already see myself making them with pumpkin spice for fall and maybe fresh cranberry in winter. Ginger peach for summer?
I made these last night and they are absolutely wonderful! And I love your site. :)
My wife made these today. Very yummy.
These cookies look delicious! I’ve got a lemon cookie recipe that is super popular with my co-workers but I bet this would be a hit as well. I’ll give these a try this weekend.