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
Servings 30 cookiesIngredients
- 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!
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!
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!
Made it for the first time today. I’m not even going to make the glaze because they are great as is, and sweet enough for me. They’re like cookie shaped lemon cakes. Delicious! Mine didn’t rise like in the picture though. I wonder if my baking powder is stale.
Delicious! Easy. Only got about 22. Guess I’ll have to be less heavy handed next time! Great way to use up extra ricotta
I have now made these twice, for both my coworkers and for family friends! Let’s just say they each asked for the recipe immediately.
SO delicious and refreshing. The perfect sweet with a cup of coffee. Thanks, Beth!
My daughter is obsessed with lemon flavored things, so I’m definitely going to make these! They look like a fantastic texture!!
These cookies are magnificent – amazing mix of soft, sweet, tart and rich. YES – these are gonna be on repeat for me!!
I substituted orange for the lemon. They were absolutely delicious and I got to use up my leftover ricotta. Thanks!!!
These are delicious! Easy to make. Crisp on the outside and soft/cakey on the inside, although I ended up baking mine for about 25 minutes before they started to brown on the top. The cookie flavor reminds me of animal cookies for some reason, but of course more lemon-y. Such a great way to use up leftover ricotta.
I made these 1 time over a year ago after my hubby had some dental work done and needed to stick to soft foods for a few day. Fast forward to last week when my graduating bonus daughter invited us to her party held at her mom’s house It’s being catered but…, “Ruthie, remember those lemon cookies with the glaze you made for dad that one time? Can you PLEASE bake some of those and bring them?”
My heart just about burst from happiness. :) Thank you for this recipe and for indirectly making me a part of this memory for her.
Aww, that makes me so happy!! Thank you for sharing that with me. :)
Do these need to be kept in the ‘fridge because the ricotta is so moist?
Yes. :)
I used this as inspiration and made some alterations but they turned out so good! Like little cakes. Everyone loved them. I’m sure the recipe is great as it too. Thanks!
Does the fat content in the ricotta matter? Should I use whole milk ricotta, part skim, etc?
I wouldn’t suggest using fat-free, that’s for sure, but the cookies will still work fine with either whole milk ricotta or part-skim. Of course the whole milk ricotta will definitely taste better. ;)
I’m making these delicious cookies for the second time. First time they were a big hit. My son said these have to be my new thing to bring to family gatherings. So I’ll be sharing today. I’m sure everyone will enjoy them. This recipe is great for using up leftover ricotta. Your recipes are great, Beth. Your website is my go to place for new, delicious meals. You never disappoint!
do these cookies save well. want to add to my christmas cookies which I am starting now. please advise
I’ve never kept them more than a couple days because I always eat them too fast! They are a bit more moist than most cookies, so they might not stay good quite as long as some others.