Lemon Ricotta Cookies

These lemon ricotta cookies have a soft, fluffy, cake-like texture and a vibrant lemon flavor. You can make the dough up to three days in advance and the finished cookies freeze well.

This recipe makes five dozen cookies....plenty for sharing ;)

4.95 from 20 votes

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Prep Time: 15

Cook Time: 15

Total Time: 30

Servings: dozen cookies

Calories: 179kcal

Author: Dahn Boquist

Ingredients

4 cups all purpose flour
1-½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup butter softened
2 eggs
zest of 1 lemon
1-¾ cups ricotta cheese 15 ounces
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ teaspoon lemon oil

Lemon Icing

3 cups powdered sugar
5 to 8 tablespoons lemon juice

Instructions

Combine the dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl (the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt). Whisk or sift to remove any lumps.
In a separate bowl, beat the sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time until well blended.
Add the lemon zest, ricotta cheese, vanilla extract, and lemon oil. Beat until well combined.
Stir in the dry ingredients. Cover the mixing bowl and chill the dough for 2 to 3 hours.
Preheat the oven to 350°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Drop 1 tablespoon dollops of dough on a baking sheet. Space them about 2 inches apart to allow for spreading.
Bake 15 to 18 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet for about 1 to 2 minutes then use a spatula to transfer the cookies to a cooling rack.
Add the powdered sugar to a medium sized bowl. Stir in 5 tablespoons of the lemon juice. Gradually add more lemon juice until you get a consistency that lightly coats a spoon.
Dip the tops of the cookies in the lemon icing and place them on a cooling rack unit the icing dries.

Notes

Lemon oil will give the cookies a ‘cleaner’ more vibrant lemon flavor than lemon extract. Make sure you use culinary-grade lemon oil and not the kind of lemon oil that gets used for aromatherapy.
You can substitute the lemon oil for lemon extract but if you can get your hands on culinary lemon oil, the cookies will have a more vibrant lemon flavor.

Recommended Products

Boyajian Pure Lemon Oil, 3.4 Fluid Ounce

Baking Sheet with Rack Set (3 Pans + 3 Racks),

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