Lemon Ricotta Cookies with Lemon Glaze (Soft and Cakey)
Soft, cakey, and bright with fresh lemon, these lemon ricotta cookies are the kind you’ll want on every cookie tray. Whole milk ricotta keeps them tender, lemon zest rubbed into the sugar makes the flavor pop, and a tart glaze sets glossy on top. Make the dough a day ahead if you like, then bake, glaze, and watch them disappear.
Servings: 45 cookies
Calories: 90kcal
Equipment
- 3 bowls
Ingredients
Cookies
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 lemons zested
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1 cup whole milk ricotta room temperature
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice preferably fresh squeezed
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Lemon Glaze
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar sifted
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice preferably fresh squeezed
- 1 lemon zested, for topping
Instructions
Cookies
- Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and line two sheet pans with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, then set aside.2 ½ cups all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ¼ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- In a large bowl, add the lemon zest to the sugar and rub them together with your fingertips until the mixture looks damp and smells strongly of lemon. This step releases the oils and makes a real difference in flavor.1 cup granulated sugar, 2 lemons
- Beat the butter into the lemon-flavored sugar on medium speed for 2 to 3 minutes, until light and fluffy.½ cup unsalted butter
- Then beat the egg, ricotta, lemon juice, and vanilla with the butter mixture. The mixture may look slightly curdled at this point, and that's completely normal; the flour will bring it back together.1 large egg, 1 cup whole milk ricotta, 3 tablespoons lemon juice, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Add the dry ingredients that you set aside to the wet mixture, and mix on low just until combined. The dough will be soft and sticky, closer to a thick batter than a traditional cookie dough.
- Chill the dough for 30 minutes. This makes it much easier to scoop and helps the cookies hold their shape in the oven.
- Scoop rounded tablespoons onto the prepared pans, spacing them about 2 inches apart. Leave them mounded and don't flatten them; they'll spread and puff on their own.
- Bake one pan at a time for 13-15 minutes, until the edges are just set and the bottoms are barely golden. The tops should stay pale. Ricotta cookies dry out quickly when overbaked, so pull them early if you're unsure.
- Let the cookies cool on the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. They need to be fully cool before glazing, otherwise the glaze will slide right off.
Lemon Glaze
- Whisk the powdered sugar and lemon juice together in a small bowl until smooth and thick enough to coat a spoon. If it's too stiff, add lemon juice half a teaspoon at a time until you get the right consistency.1 ½ cups powdered sugar, 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- Spoon about a teaspoon of glaze over each cookie and spread it gently with the back of the spoon. Top with fresh lemon zest while the glaze is still wet, then let them sit for at least 30 minutes to set before serving.1 lemon
Notes
Bring the ricotta to room temperature. Cold ricotta doesn't incorporate smoothly and can make the dough look lumpy and split. Room temperature ricotta blends in evenly and gives you a smoother, more uniform dough. Drain the ricotta for a few minutes if there is liquid on top.
A slightly curdled look before the flour goes in is expected.
Don't flatten the dough balls. Leave them mounded. These cookies puff and spread on their own, and pressing them down gives you flat, dense cookies instead of the soft, domed result you're going for.
Pull them early. The tops should stay pale, and the edges should look just set. Ricotta cookies dry out very quickly when overbaked, and there's no way to fix that once it happens. When in doubt, take them out.
Cool completely before glazing. Warm cookies melt the glaze, and it runs straight off the sides. Fully cool is the only way to get that glossy, set top that makes these look as good as they taste.
Store in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days or in the fridge up to 5 days with parchment between layers.
Freeze unglazed cookies up to 2 months then thaw and glaze before serving.
Nutrition
Calories: 90kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 12mg | Sodium: 48mg | Potassium: 28mg | Fiber: 0.4g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 95IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 21mg | Iron: 0.4mg
