Lemon ricotta cookies are light, bright and fluffy, sweet and tangy lemon cookies made with ricotta cheese. Enjoy these bite sized lemon cookies with ricotta plain or topped with a tart lemon glaze. Make these refreshing glazed lemon ricotta cookies for a taste of summer all year long.
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Why Should You Make This Recipe
Lemon cookies are one of my favorite cookie recipes to make and enjoy. My Lemon Drop Cookies, Lemon Blueberry Cookies, Lemon Cooler Cookies and Lemon Raspberry Cookies. These soft, cake like ricotta cheese lemon cookies are another delicious lemon cookie recipe I know you’ll because:
- Easy to make. All you need to do is bring the butter and ricotta cheese to room temperature, mix everything up ina mixer, chill, scoop, bake and glaze!
- Layers of flavor and texture. From the soft, cake like ricotta and lemon filled cookie, to the sweet and tart lemon glaze, these glazed lemon and ricotta cookies are full of light and refreshing flavors and textures I know you’ll love.
Ingredients
This lemon ricotta cookie recipe requires only a handful of pantry basics to make. Make sure you have these ingredients ready to go.
Lemon Ricotta Cookies
- Dry ingredients: Gather all purpose flour, baking powder and salt.
- Wet Ingredients: Gather unsalted butter, granulated sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice and ricotta cheese.
Lemon Glaze
Gather fresh lemon juice, powdered sugar and lemon zest.
Substitutions
Here are my recommended substitutions to make these wonderfully buttery lemon ball cookies:
- All purpose flour: This recipe hasn’t been tested with an alternative flour. However, if you want to make this recipe gluten free, use a good 1-1 flour and measure by weight (270 g) rather than cups.
- Baking Powder: This recipe has not been tested with baking soda.
- Granulated Sugar:This recipe hasn’t been tested using alternative sugars. However, I love using maple sugar as a refined sugar free option in my other cookie recipes. Maple sugar bakes very similarly to light brown sugar.
- Lemon Zest and Juice: Feel free to use meyer lemons or any other citrus in place of the lemons.
- Unsalted Butter: You can use the same amount of salted butter as written in the recipe, but omit the added salt.
- Egg: This recipe hasn’t been tested without eggs.
- Ricotta Cheese: There isn’t an exact match for the texture and rich flavor of ricotta cheese. However, in a pinch use an equal amount of sour cream or full fat greek yogurt.
Variations
Lemon Ricotta Cookies with Cake Mix: Use an 18.25 oz. box lemon cake mix in place of the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Cut the butter, eggs, ricotta and lemon juice by half. Follow the rest of the recipe as written.
How To Make
Learn how to make lemon ricotta cookies in a few easy steps.
- In a mixing bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together until well combined.
- Using a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment or electric hand mixer with beaters, mix the granulated sugar and lemon zest together until they are the consistency of wet sand. Cream the room temperature butter and lemon sugar until well combined. This takes about 3 - 4 minutes on medium speed. On low, mix in the eggs, ricotta and lemon juice until well combined. The mixture may look a bit curdled. Mix the dry ingredient into the wet ingredients until just combined. Cover the dough and chill in the fridge for 1 hour.
- While the cookies chill, preheat the oven to 375 F (190 C). Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop about 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheet. I like to use a small cookie scoop to get perfectly portioned cookies. Bake the glazed lemon and ricotta cookies for 11 - 14 minutes. The bottom of the cookies will be very lightly golden brown. Remove the cookies from the oven onto a cooling rack. Leave the cookies on the hot baking sheet on the cooling rack for 10 - 15 minutes. After 3 - 4 minutes, transfer the cookies off the hot baking sheet and onto the cooling rack to cool to room temperature.
- Make the lemon glaze for the ricotta lemon cookies by mixing 2 - 3 freshly squeezed tablespoons (30 ml) lemon juice with 1 ½ cups (180 g) of powdered sugar until well combined. Top each ricotta cookie with the lemon glaze.
How To Store, Make Ahead, Freeze and Thaw
- Store: These cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days. From there, the cookies should be stored in the fridge for up to another 5 days.
- Make Ahead: Simply prepare the cookies according to the recipe directions through to chilling and store covered the cookie dough in plastic wrap in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- Freeze Baked Cookies : Once the cookies are baked and have fully cooled to room temperature, place the baked cookies into an airtight, freezer safe container. Store the cookies without the glaze for up to 3 months.
- Thaw: Transfer your desired amount of frozen cookies onto a plate to thaw at room temperature for a few hours. Top the lemon cookies with the lemon glaze once the cookies are thawed.
- Freeze Cookie Dough : Scoop the cookie dough into tablespoon sized cookie balls. Place the cookie dough balls onto a parchment lined baking sheet, place the baking sheet into the freezer and freeze until the cookie dough is frozen. Remove the baking sheet from the freezer and place the frozen cookie balls into a ziplock bag. The ricotta lemon cookie dough can the stored in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- Thaw: Transfer your desired amount of frozen cookie balls onto a plate to thaw in the fridge overnight. Bake according to the recipe directions.
M’s Expert Tips
- Bring cold ingredients to room temperature. This results in a soft, tender and delicious cookie.
- Use whole milk ricotta. Whole milk ricotta results in a softer, fluffier and lighter cookie.
- Chill the cookie dough. This helps prevent the cookies from spreading too much while baking.
- Fully preheat the oven. Use an oven thermometer to double check the temperature.
- Use a cookie scoop. To get perfectly round cookies, use a cookie scoop to drop the ricotta lemon cookies onto a cookie sheet.
- Cool the cookies. Cool the lemon ricotta cookies to room temperature before glazing them.
FAQs
How do you know when these Italian ricotta lemon cookies are done?
The cookies are done when the edges of the cookies are set and lightly golden brown.
Why did my lemon ricotta cookies bake flat?
This can happen for a few reasons. One is that the cookie dough didn’t chill long enough. The recommended minimum chilling time is 1 hour, although 2 hours may be needed. The second reason could be that the cookies were bigger than 1 tablespoon.
Do lemon ricotta cookies need to be refrigerated?
Baked lemon ricotta cookies can be stored at room temperature for up to 2 days. For longer storage, transfer the cookies to the fridge.
Other Ricotta Recipes To Try
If you try this Lemon Ricotta Cookies recipe please rate the recipe and leave a comment below. Doing so helps other readers decide if this is a great recipe to bake. Don’t forget to tag me on Instagram using @olivesnthyme so I can see what you’re baking! Happy Baking! - M
Lemon Ricotta Cookies Recipe
Lemon ricotta cookies are light, bright and fluffy, sweet and tangy lemon cookies made with ricotta cheese. Enjoy these bite sized lemon cookies with ricotta plain or topped with a tart lemon glaze.
Equipment
- 1 stand mixer with paddle attachment or electric hand mixer with beaters
- 1 mixing bowl
- 1 citrus zester
- 2 baking sheets
- 2 sheets parchment paper
- 1 small cookie scoop (1 tbsp, 15 ml) optional
Ingredients
Lemon Ricotta Cookies
- 2¼ cups (270 g) all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1½ cups (300 g) granulated sugar
- 2 lemons, zested
- ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 15 oz. whole milk ricotta, drained
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) lemon juice
Lemon Glaze
- 1½ cups (180 g) powdered sugar
- 2 - 3 tablespoons (30 - 45 ml) lemon juice
- 1 lemon, zested for topping optional
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together until well combined.2¼ cups (270 g) all purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon salt
- Using a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment or electric hand mixer with beaters, mix the granulated sugar and lemon zest together until they are the consistency of wet sand. Cream the room temperature butter and lemon sugar until well combined. This takes about 3 - 4 minutes on medium speed.1½ cups (300 g) granulated sugar, 2 lemons, zested, ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- On low, mix in the eggs, ricotta and lemon juice until well combined. The mixture may look a bit curdled. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined. Cover the dough and chill in the fridge for 1 hour.2 large eggs, room temperature, 15 oz. whole milk ricotta, drained , 2 tablespoons (30 ml) lemon juice
- While the cookies chill, preheat the oven to 375 F (190 C). Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop about 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of cookie doughonto the prepared baking sheet. I like to use a small cookie scoop to get perfectly portioned cookies.
- Bake the glazed lemon and ricotta cookies for 11 - 14 minutes. The bottom of the cookies will be very lightly golden brown. Remove the cookies from the oven onto a cooling rack. Leave the cookies on the hot baking sheet on the cooling rack for 10 - 15 minutes. After 3 - 4 minutes, transfer the cookies off the hot baking sheet and onto the cooling rack to cool to room temperature.
- Make the lemon glaze for the ricotta lemon cookies by mixing 2 - 3 freshly squeezed tablespoons (30 ml) lemon juice with 1 ½ cups (180 g) of powdered sugar until well combined. Top each ricotta cookie with the lemon glaze. Top with lemon zest while the glaze is still wet.1½ cups (180 g) powdered sugar, 2 - 3 tablespoons (30 - 45 ml) lemon juice , 1 lemon, zested for topping
Notes
Store: These cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days. From there, the cookies should be stored in the fridge for up to another 5 days.
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