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These luscious Italian lemon ricotta cookies are light, fluffy and zesty. They’re delicious any time but especially popular when the warmer weather is on the way, as they’re a summery treat. The cookies are delicately flavored with vanilla and the ricotta cheese adds a distinctive tang as well as helping them stay moist. Fresh lemon juice in both the cookies and glaze gives these a beautifully fresh citrus flavor.
Boasting a bright lemon flavor and sweet glaze, these lemon cookies deserve a place on your spring or summer baking list. This lemon ricotta cookie recipe is so good!
You might also like to try lemon stuffed cupcakes, Italian Easter cookies, or lemon ricotta cake. And no-bake cannoli cones are just amazing!
Why You’ll Love These
A beautiful flavor: The combination of zesty lemon and creamy, tangy ricotta cheese is so special! If you’re a lemon dessert fan, prepare to fall in love with these scrumptious lemon-flavored cookies.
Easy to whip up: You don’t need to be an experienced home baker to make wonderful lemon ricotta cookies. As long as you can mix ingredients together and work the oven, you’re all set for baking success!
A seasonal favorite: One thing’s for sure if you make lemon ricotta cookies, and that’s you’re going to get begged to make them again around the same time next year. Can you think of a more delicious cookie recipe to welcome in the spring months?
Lemon Ricotta Cookies Key Ingredients
A complete list of ingredients and amounts can be found in the recipe card below
Ricotta cheese: A rich and tangy soft choose. Use full-fat ricotta cheese to make these cookies. It’s a main ingredient and affects the flavor of the cookies. A reduced fat kind would work but wouldn’t taste quite as good.
Unsalted butter: An important ingredient in the dough. If you only have salted butter you can use that but either halve or omit the additional butter from the dough ingredients.
Lemon: Use fresh lemon juice and lemon zest for the tastiest result. If you must use bottled, make sure it’s additive-free 100% pure lemon juice.
Vanilla extract: This adds a delicate hint of vanilla to the flavor to complement the lemon taste. Use 100% pure vanilla extract, not the synthetic kind.
Confectioner’s sugar: Also known as powdered sugar or icing sugar, this pairs with lemon juice to make a delicious and zesty glaze for the cookies. Don’t sub regular granulated sugar because you don’t want a grainy textured glaze.
How to Make Lemon Cookies With Ricotta Cheese
For more detailed instructions with weights and measurements, jump to the printable recipe card
Cream the butter and sugar: Beat the butter and sugar together using an electric mixer.
Add more ingredients: Mix in the vanilla and egg, followed by the ricotta cheese, lemon zest and lemon juice.
Combine the dry ingredients: Whisk the flour with the baking powder and salt, then mix these dry ingredients into the ricotta cheese mixture to achieve a sticky dough.
Make and chill dough balls: Form dough balls using a cookie scoop and refrigerate them for an hour.
Bake the cookies: Preheat the oven, arrange the chilled dough balls on parchment paper lined baking sheets and bake for about 12 minutes or until done.
Prepare the glaze: While the cookies cool on a wire rack, whisk the confectioner’s sugar and lemon juice to make a glaze.
The finishing touches: Drizzle the glaze over the cooled cookies, sprinkling on a little lemon zest too if liked, then let the glaze harden before serving.
Substitutions and Variations
Gluten-free option: If you want a gluten-free version, you can use your favorite gluten-free flour.
Change the citrus flavor: Sub orange or lime for the lemon for a different take on the recipe.
Make the glaze thinner: If you like a thinner glaze, use more lemon juice and dip the cookies into it rather than drizzling it over the top.
Serving Suggestions
Appetizers: Lovely spring-themed bites that would pair with these Italian lemon cookies include any of these shrimp recipes or perhaps a roasted beet salad or a corn and jalapeno dip.
Sweet treats: Nutter butter hatching chicks are another wonderful cookie option, or perhaps you’d prefer homemade nanaimo bars or limoncello Italian wedding cookies.
How to Store Lemon Ricotta Cookies
Store: Keep the cookies in an airtight container. They should keep for about a week if kept at room temperature.
Freeze: Freeze the cooked cookies without the glaze for up to 2 months.
Thaw: Thaw overnight in the fridge and glaze when thawed.
Top Tips
Don’t skip the chilling: It’s important to chill the Italian lemon cookie dough. It’s extremely sticky when warm and, if you try to bake it without chilling, the cookies will spread too much.
Prep the glaze ahead: You can make the glaze in advance and keep it in the fridge until needed. When you’re ready to use it, give it time to warm up to room temperature and give it another whisk before drizzling over your lemon ricotta cookies.
Not a glaze fan? Feel free to omit the glaze if you don’t want to use one.
Ricotta and Lemon Cookies FAQs
You need to refrigerate the cookie dough balls for an hour to make them workable. After that, roll them between your palms to make them cookie shaped and smooth all around the edges. Use a 1-tablespoon cookie scoop to make them (here).
Sift the confectioner’s sugar using a sieve before mixing in the lemon juice. This prevents lumps.
Trust me, once you taste these you’ll wish you’d made more! Just use a large bowl for mixing or make separate batches.
They take about 12 minutes to bake. Once the bottoms are lightly browned they’re done. Don’t let the tops brown.
Lemon Ricotta Cookies Recipe
Lemon Ricotta Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
For the Cookies:
- 1/2 Cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 Cup granulated sugar
- 1 Teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 egg
- 1 Cup ricotta cheese, full-fat
- Zest from 1 lemon
- 2 Tablespoons lemon juice, fresh
- 1½ Cups all purpose flour
- 1 Teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ Teaspoon salt
For the Glaze:
- 1 Cup confectioner's sugar
- 1 Tablespoon lemon juice, fresh
Instructions
- Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, use an electric mixer on medium speed to beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add the vanilla and egg and mix until well incorporated.
- Add the ricotta cheese, lemon zest and lemon juice. Reduce speed to low and continue mixing until fully combined.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
- Add the flour to the wet ingredients and mix until evenly distributed.
- Use a 1 Tablespoon cookie scoop to form small dough balls. Do not attempt to roll, the dough will be too sticky to handle. Place in the refrigerator for at least one hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and transfer the chilled cookie dough balls onto the prepared cookie sheet.
- Bake for 12 minutes or until the bottoms are lightly browned and the top of the cookies are opaque.
- Transfer to a cookie rack to chill completely.
- When the cookies are cooled, prepare the glaze by whisking together the confectioners sugar and lemon juice. Drizzle over cooked cookies and top with additional lemon zest, if desired.
- Allow the glaze to set before serving.
Nutrition
Looking for a gorgeous and delicious cookie recipe for the spring or for Easter? You aren’t going to be disappointed with these beautiful lemon ricotta cookies. They’re a wonderful combo of vanilla, lemon and ricotta cheese, resulting in a tangy, sweet flavor with zesty lemon and soft vanilla in every bite. Delicate, crumbly cookies are topped with a sweet lemon glaze and sprinkling of lemon zest to ensure this is a recipe you’ll want to make again and again.
Other Recipes to Try
Bella Bucchiotti
Bella Bucchiotti is a Canadian-based syndicated food, travel, and lifestyle writer, photographer, and creator at xoxoBella. She founded xoxoBella in 2015, where she shares her love for food, dogs, sustainability, fitness, crafts, outdoor adventures, travel, and philanthropy to encourage others to run the extra mile, try new recipes, visit unfamiliar places, and stand for a cause. Bella creates stress-free and family-friendly recipes for weeknight dinners and festive feasts.
2C confectioners’ sugar and 2T lemon juice for the glaze. I will be making this for New Years Day.
Is the 2C sugar and 2T lemon juice enough to make a glaze?? Thank you
Those measurements worked for my glaze. But you might want to add extra confectioner’s sugar if it’s too thin or extra lemon juice if it’s too thick.
I enjoyed cooking this recipe so much. I’ll definitely be making it again.
Thanks for sharing this amazing recipe. My family loved it. I will be sharing this recipe with my friends too!
Perfect
Love it!😋
The most amazing cookies I’ve tried. Deliciousness!!