Lemon Ricotta Cookies Recipe

Soft but chewy cookies, like chocolate chip cookies, hold a place in most people’s hearts. But there’s a whole world of fluffy cookies that border between cookie and cake. We love these soft cakey sugar cookies, madeleines, and apricot cream cheese cookies for that very reason: their unbeatable cakelike texture.

Tell Me About these Lemon Ricotta Cookies

Texture: Thanks to 15 ounces of ricotta cheese, these lemon ricotta cookies have a unique melt-in-your-mouth texture that dances between creamy, moist, soft, and airy. Flavor: You’ll enjoy the perfect blend of a little tang, a little sweet, and a little tart. We usually make these with lemon, but readers often enjoy the cookies with orange zest and juice instead. Ease: Using ricotta plus a handful of basic baking ingredients, it’s fairly simple to make a big batch. Time: Prep time is over 1 hour, which includes chilling the cookie dough before shaping and baking. That’s an imperative step—this dough needs time in the refrigerator to thicken properly before shaping and baking.

Recipe Testing: What Works & What Doesn’t

Lemon ricotta cookies are easy to make, but here are a few tips we learned when testing the recipe:

Some Key Ingredients in Lemon Ricotta Cookies

Ricotta cheese, lemons, and almond extract are really the only special ingredients here – the rest are pretty basic like flour, butter, sugar, and eggs.

Ricotta Cheese: When baked in a cookie, ricotta is less about flavor and more about texture. Think: creamy, moist, soft, and airy. Some people have tried their hand at making fresh homemade ricotta cheese for this recipe, but we haven’t tested it yet. Store-bought ricotta works wonderfully here. Keep in mind that the higher the fat percentage, the creamier the ricotta will be. We often use ricotta made with 2% milk in this recipe. Ricotta is sold in many different container sizes, but 15 ounce is pretty common. We use an entire 15 ounce container in the dough, which helps yield a big batch of cookies. A 16-ounce container will work too if that’s all you have—the extra ounce won’t make a difference in the cookie. Lemon Zest & Juice: We love the light lemon flavor of these creamy cookies, especially paired with the almond extract. If you’re out of lemons, swap it for an orange or lime instead. Almond Extract: We add a touch of almond extract for extra flavor, but it’s completely optional. For a little crunch and textural difference, we top each with a sliced almond. (Also optional.)