Description
Ina Garten’s lemon ricotta cookies blend zesty citrus with creamy cheese for a delightful dessert. Sweet, tangy treats welcome home bakers to savor each delicate, lemony bite you’ll adore.
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 (15-oz / 425 g) whole milk ricotta cheese
- 2 eggs
- 1 stick (113 g / 4 oz) unsalted butter, soft
- 2 cups (400 g) sugar
- 2 ½ cups (300 g) plain flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 3 tbsps (45 ml) lemon juice
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 1 ½ cups (180 g) powdered sugar
- 3 tbsps (45 ml) lemon juice
- Zest of 1 lemon
Instructions
- Dry Ingredient Preparation: Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl, creating a uniform dry mixture for seamless integration.
- Butter Creaming: Utilize an electric mixer to whip butter and sugar until achieving a light, voluminous texture, approximately 3 minutes.
- Egg Incorporation: Introduce eggs one at a time into the creamed mixture, ensuring thorough blending and maintaining a smooth consistency.
- Wet Ingredient Fusion: Gently fold ricotta cheese, lemon juice, and lemon zest into the butter mixture, creating a fragrant and cohesive base.
- Dough Formation: Gradually merge dry ingredients with wet ingredients, stirring until a soft, malleable cookie dough develops.
- Baking Preparation: Cover two baking sheets with parchment paper and carefully drop rounded tablespoon-sized dough portions, spacing them evenly.
- Baking Process: Position sheets in a preheated oven at 375°F, baking for 15 minutes until cookies display delicate golden edges.
- Cooling Phase: Allow cookies to rest on baking sheets for 20 minutes, enabling structural stabilization and even cooling.
- Glaze Creation: Whisk powdered sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest in a small bowl until achieving a smooth, glossy lemon glaze.
- Finishing Touch: Delicately spread glaze over cooled cookies using a spoon, ensuring even coverage.
- Setting Period: Let glazed cookies rest for 2 hours, allowing the glaze to completely harden and set.
- Storage: Transfer cookies to an airtight container to preserve their delicate texture and vibrant lemon flavor.
Notes
- Soften Butter Perfectly: Let butter sit at room temperature for 30-45 minutes before mixing to ensure smooth, even creaming with sugar.
- Zest with Care: Use a microplane or fine grater to extract only the bright yellow part of lemon skin, avoiding bitter white pith underneath.
- Measure Ricotta Precisely: Drain excess moisture from ricotta cheese using a cheesecloth or paper towel to prevent overly wet cookie dough.
- Glaze Consistency Matters: Add powdered sugar or lemon juice gradually when making glaze to achieve the ideal thick yet spreadable texture.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Desserts, Snacks
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Italian
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 24
- Calories: 202
- Sugar: 14 g
- Sodium: 95 mg
- Fat: 6 g
- Saturated Fat: 4 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 2 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 32 g
- Fiber: 0.5 g
- Protein: 3 g
- Cholesterol: 33 mg