Just Desserts: Lemon Ricotta Cookies With Lemon Glaze

We had some leftover lemons from our lemon squares and decided to venture into the other citrusy desserts. A search on the Food Network yielded a great lemon ricotta cookie recipe from Giada De Laurentiis

The cookies are cake-like, with a moist center and crispy edges. The lemon glaze gives it a nice zesty finish and an extra savory flavor. The original recipe calls for big drop cookies, about two tablespoons, but we opted for a healthy tablespoon instead because we love bite sized cookies.  

We didn't change too much from the original recipe; what we did below was make it a bit easier for beginner bakers or just those with small spaces. We baked two cookie sheets simultaneously in the oven; be careful with the sheet on the bottom rack. This may bake faster than the top rack and you should take it out about 3 minutes before the top rack. 

Prep time: 20 minutes

Bake time: 30 minutes
Cooling time: 20 minutes 

Ingredients:

Cookies:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• dash of salt
• 8 tablespoons butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 15 oz. container whole milk ricotta cheese
• Juice of 1 lemon, about 3 tablespoons 
• 1 lemon, zested (if you don't have a microfine grater, try using the smallest grade grater you have)

Glaze:

• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 lemon, zested

In a bowl combine the flour, baking powder, salt and set aside. 

Combine the softened butter and sugar in a fairly large bowl. We recommend using an electric mixer (but if you don't have one, softening the butter is key). With the mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, until it looks like freshly fallen snow. Mix in the eggs one at a time and beat until incorporated.

Add the ricotta cheese, lemon juice, and lemon zest; hand mix to combine. Gradually stir in the dry ingredients, about 1/3 at a time. Mix until fully combined. 

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Line 2 baking sheets with either a silicon mat or parchment paper. Spoon a healthy tablespoon for each cookie, keeping about 1.5 inches between cookies. Bake for 15 minutes, until slightly golden at the edges. Remove from the oven and cool the cookies on the baking sheet for 20 minutes.

While the cookies are resting, create your glaze. Mix all the ingredients together and stir until you work out all the powdered sugar lumps. Drop 1/2 teaspoon of glaze in the middle of the cookie and use the back of a spoon to spread the glaze. Let cool for about 10 minutes, then if desired, add another layer of glaze.

Let the cookies cool and the glaze harden for at least 90 minutes before removing from the cookie sheets.