Lemon ricotta cookies are always a crowd favorite!! These soft, pillowy cookies are a classic Italian cookie that even your toughest critics will love. These are so easy to whip up and the recipes will give you enough cookies to feed a small village. Perfect for parties or holiday get togethers.
Ricotta cookies come in different variations. You may find them topped with sprinkles or loaded with chocolate chips, but, to me, nothing quite compares to the lemon glaze you make for these cookies. If you’ve tried and loved the lemon loaf from Starbucks, you are sure to love these!!
Ricotta is an excellent source of protein and is what makes these cookies so soft. I also use olive oil in replace of butter. It may sound like a strange substitution, but you really do not taste the olive oil at all. Olive oil is one of my favorite sources of unsaturated fats. We often think of it as something to drizzle over salad or toss with some pasta, but it can also be used when baking too.
If you’re not able to eat these cookies within a week of making them, you can store them in the freezer for up to 3 months. They actually taste delicious when frozen too!!
Lemon Ricotta Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1 3/4 cup coconut sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 15 ounces whole milk ricotta
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- For Lemon glaze: 2 cups powdered sugar, 4 tablespoons lemon juice, zest from 1 lemon
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a medium-sized bowl, mix flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine olive oil, sugar, eggs, ricotta, lemon juice, vanilla, and lemon zest. Mix until well incorporated.
- Add dry ingredients and mix just enough to incorporate. Avoid over mixing.
- Chill in the refrigerator for 4 hours or overnight.
- Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and scoop 1 tablespoon of dough into a ball. Line cookies up so they are 1-inch apart.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the cookies begin to brown slightly around the edges. Allow the cookies to cool for 15 minutes on a wire rack.
- While the cookies are cooling, prepare the lemon glaze: In a small bowl, mix powdered sugar, lemon juice, and zest together. Mix until well blended.
- Use a tablespoon and drip the glaze onto each cookie. Spread the glaze around on each cookie using the bottom of the spoon.
- Allow the cookies to set for 30 minutes.