Gee: Lemon Ricotta Cookies

I first discovered the pure bliss of indulging in a lemon ricotta cookie at Cork Market in DC. The bites I speak of are lemon-y, airy, sweet, tart are did I mention lemon-y? At more than half a buck for one cookie, I decided it was time to attempt them at home. Not being able to find the recipe in any of my father's Italian cook books, I turned to the internet, and of course find tons of recipes. I browsed through about ten or so reading the variations of each person's recipe. I found the one I liked and voi-la! Thank you to these people at pickycook.com for the recipe. I tweaked the recipe just a bit and those changes can be seen in bold parentheses.

Ingredients

Cookies:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 (15-ounce) container whole milk ricotta cheese
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 large lemons, zested

Glaze:
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 large lemons, zested

Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. 

 

 

Cookies:
In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
In the large bowl combine the butter and the sugar. Using an electric mixer beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating until incorporated. Add the ricotta cheese, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Beat to combine. Stir in the dry ingredients.
Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. (instead of using parchment, I used silicone baking sheets) Spoon the dough about 2 tablespoons for each cookie (I used a tiny ice cream scoop!) onto the baking sheets. Bake for 15 minutes, until slightly golden at the edges. Remove from the oven and let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 20 minutes. 

Glaze:
Combine the powdered sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest in a small bowl and stir until smooth. Drizzle the glaze onto the cookies. Let the glaze harden for about 2 hours. (Instead of drizzling the glaze, I dipped each cookie individually into the glaze).