Welcome to #ChristmasSweetsWeek 2020! Co-hosted by Terri from Love and Confections and Christie from A Kitchen Hoorβs Adventures! What better way to celebrate the holidays than with food and fun? 21 bloggers from around the country have come together to share some of their favorite sweet Christmas recipes!! Deck the halls and get ready for very merry sweet treats, like fudge, cookies, Christmas morning breakfasts, layer cakes, cocoa, and more!
My first recipe offering for this delicious recipe-sharing event is for these soft lemon-ricotta cookies! I have also seen variations of this recipe called lemon-ricotta pillows.
These cookies are soft in texture and rich in flavor. I choose to use lemon-flavoring, but really I think they could work with a number of different flavor-accents. I think orange-ricotta cookies or vanilla-ricotta cookies would also be delicious combinations for this recipe.
When it comes to glazing these cookies, I chose to color the glaze in some festive holiday colors, specifically teal, red and white. Although it my seem redundant to do so at first, I love to use white gel color in my white icings, frosting and glazes (especially for royal icing decorated cookies). I’ve included a photo below so you can see for yourself just how much a small drop of white gel coloring really makes a white icing pop!
How to make lemon-ricotta cookies.
All you need to put together a batch of these delectable cookie are all-purpose flour, baking powder, room temperature butter, ricotta cheese, lemon juice, lemon, and vanilla extracts. You can make these in a stand-mixer, or you can simply use a mixing bowl and a wooden spoon.
These cookies are truly easy to make but pack some impressive cookie qualities. Each bite of a lemon-ricotta cookie has a fluffy texture and a richness of flavor from the ricotta cheese. Everyone will be asking you how to make these cookies!
I’ve tacked on the add below so you can order supplies to decorate these like I did! I used these products:
- AmeriColor Red Red gel color
- AmeriColor Teal gel color
- Wilton White Icing Color
- CK brand Gold and Silver Pearlized Sugar Crystals
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Please check out all of today’s recipe from our amazing #ChristmasSweetsWeek bloggers! Follow along on social media with our #ChristmasSweetsWeek hashtag. Happy Holidays!
Enjoy these #ChristmasSweetsWeek recipes from our bloggers:
Beverage Recipes
Homemade Dark Hot Chocolate Mix by Bear & Bug Eats
Breakfast and Baked Goods Recipes
Easy Cranberry Orange Monkey Bread by Love & Confections
Cherry Croissant Breakfast Bake by Making Miracles
Classic Cinnamon Rolls by The Nifty Foodie
Cranberry Eggnog French Toast Bake by The Redhead Baker
Spiced Pear Quick Bread by Simply Inspired Meals
Star Bread by House of Nash Eats
Candy and Fudge Recipes
3 Ingredient Old Fashioned Potato Candy by Blogghetti
Bourbon Caramels with Chocolate and Vanilla by Christmas Tree Lane
Chocolate Peppermint Graham Crackers by Kathryn’s Kitchen Blog
Pastry and Dessert Recipes
Banana Cake by Palatable Pastime
Cranberry Orange Sugar Cookie Bars by Sweet Beginnings
Egg Nog Ice Cream by A Day in the Life on the Farm
Eggless Blue Curaco Velvet Cake by Magical Ingredients
Hazelnut & Raspberry Balsamic Brownie Cookies by The Spiffy Cookie
Hot Chocolate Sweet Rolls by Kate’s Recipe Box
Peanut Butter Cut Outs by A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
Pecan Crusted Pecan Pie by The Mandatory Mooch
Peppermint Dipped Chocolate Chip Cookies by An Affair from the Heart
St Louis Gooey Butter Cake by For the Love of Food
Lemon-Ricotta Cookies
Course: DessertDifficulty: Easy1.5
dozen25
minutes15
minutesThese scrumptious Lemon-Ricotta Cookies are soft, pillowy and irresistible! We typically make these delightful lemon cookies during the fall and winter months (especially for Christmas!), but you can color the lemon glaze to coordinate with any occasion.
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 stick salted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
7.5 oz. whole milk ricotta cheese (half of a 15 oz. container)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon extract
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 large egg, beaten
- For the glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
1/4 tsp lemon extract
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/2 tablespoons milk or water
- For decorating:
red, turquoise, and white food coloring gel (my favorite brands are the AmeriColor food coloring gels, and Wilton White Icing Color, optional)
silver and gold pearlized sugar crystals (I use the CK brand, optional)
Directions
- Pre heat your oven to 350Β°. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or silicon mat and set aside.. In medium size bowl, mix together the flour, salt and baking powder and set bowl aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer or using a large mixing bowl and wooden spoon, mix together the softened butter, sugar and egg until light and fluffy. Stir in ricotta cheese, the extracts and juice. Mix until well combined.
- Mix the flour mixture in with the ricotta mixture just until a thick cookie dough forms.
- Place heaping teaspoon of the cookie dough onto the prepared cookie sheet leaving 1.5 inches between each cookie. Lightly pat the dough balls into the form of a disk shape.
- Bake the cookies for 15-20 minutes or until the bottoms are lightly browned. Cool cookies on a rack.
- Decorated the cookie with lemon glaze and sparkling sugar, if desired.
- For the lemon glaze
- In a small bowl, stir powdered sugar, extracts and milk or water together until smooth. If desired separate the glaze into 3 small bowls and color with gel color.
- Using a spoon to apply to the cookies in a drizzle pattern.
Notes
- Recipe from A Little Fish in the Kitchen blog at www.alittlefishinthekitchen.com. All content is owned by Marcelle G. Bolton. Please contact the author for permission to republish.Β
These are little pillows of perfection, arenβt they!? They remind me of something in my past (long ago) and are bringing a warm sense of family to my mind. But, honestly, I donβt think Iβve ever had one. Maybe this Christmas.
I’m a lemon freak, and love ricotta in baked things. Combine the two in cookies? Swoon! Really nice — so festive. Thanks.
Hey John! Thank you so much, these cookies are always looked forward to around the holidays!!
These cookies are so festive and I love the use of riccota in baked goods. Absolutely irresistible!
Hi Angie, yes baking with ricotta always results in something especially delicious! Thank you so much!! π₯°