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meyer lemon ricotta cookie with a lemon glaze
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4.59 from 146 votes

Lemon Ricotta Cookies

These little bites of sunshine are a great addition to your holiday cookie tray.  My Lemon Ricotta Cookies with a lemon glaze are guaranteed to bring smiles to your table!
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Total Time35 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Italian
Servings: 60
Calories: 89kcal
Author: Chef Dennis Littley

Ingredients

Cookies

  • cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 4 ounces unsalted butter (1 stick) softened to room temperature
  • 1 ¾ cups sugar
  • 2 large eggs at room temperature
  • 15 ounces whole milk ricotta room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • tablespoons fresh lemon juice Meyer lemon or regular lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon lemon finely zested Meyer lemon or regular lemon zest

Lemon Glaze

  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 1 lemon finely zested *add lime or orange zest for color and a little extra flavor

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Cookies

  • Mix the flour, baking powder,baking soda and sea salt together in bowl and set aside
  • In the bowl of your stand mixer combine the butter and the sugar, beat until light and fluffy, 4-5 minutes
  • Add the eggs one at a time until well blended.
  • Add ricotta, lemon juice, vanilla and zest, mix until well blended.
    **If the ricotta has liquid with it, strain the ricotta to get rid of any extra liquid. The drier the ricotta the better.
  • Add in dry ingredients and mix just enough to incorporate
  • Chill the batter/dough in the refrigerator for at least 4 hour before baking. This essential to the success of the cookies.
    Chilling the batter overnight is even better.
  • Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper, and place cookies about an inch apart.
    Cookies should be no larger than 1 tablespoon in size, anything larger than 1 Tablespoon will yield flat (pancake-like) ricotta cookies. 
    **This is a must! Larger cookies will not bake properly, they will flatten out and look more like badly made sugar cookies.
  • Bake for 15-20 minutes, until the cookies begin to brown slightly on the edges.
  • Allow cookies to cool for 15 minutes on a wire rack or until cool to the touch

Lemon Glaze

  • In a small bowl mix the confectioners sugar, meyer lemon juice and zest together until well blended.
  • Using a tablespoon, spoon the glaze onto the cookie and spread it around using the bowl of the spoon.
  • Allow cookies to dry for about 30 minutes. (If the container is too air tight they will soften as they sit, and by the third day the texture will not be as good)

Nutrition

Calories: 89kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 14mg | Sodium: 58mg | Potassium: 31mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 88IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 23mg | Iron: 1mg