Description
Italian Ricotta Cookies are soft buttery cookies and they aren’t overly sweet like some cookies. They’re finished with a sweet milk glaze and are so addicting. A great cookie tray addition!
Ingredients
Units
Scale
COOKIES
- 4 cups all-purpose flour, (spooned and leveled)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 (15 ounce) container ricotta cheese, room temperature
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
GLAZE
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 3 to 4 tablespoons milk
- Candy nonpareils, (optional)
Instructions
COOKIES
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large bowl, sift or whisk together the flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Set aside. Make sure to not use too much flour. When measuring the flour, lightly spoon it into the cup, then level it off with a knife. Flour becomes compacted when left in a bag or container. You can easily measure out too much.
- To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the butter and sugar. Beat on high for about 2 minutes until the mixture is light and airy looking. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition. Add the ricotta cheese and vanilla extract, and mix on medium speed until all ingredients are thoroughly mixed. Add the dry ingredients on low speed, mixing until the flour is just incorporated. Do not over mix.
- Using a cookie scoop drop balls of dough onto greased cookie sheets, making sure to leave room between them for spreading. See my picture above.
- Bake cookies for about 12 minutes or until the bottoms turn light brown. The tops will still be light. Leave the cookies on the cookie sheets for about 1 minute, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool. Make sure they are completely cool before dipping them in the glaze.
GLAZE
- Sift the powdered sugar into a medium bowl. Add the vanilla and enough milk to make a thin glaze. I use a whisk and whisk it until it’s smooth and thin.
- Turn each cookie upside down and dip the top part in the glaze, allowing any excess glaze to run off the cookie. Turn the cookie upright and transfer it to a piece of waxed or parchment paper. Sprinkle nonpareils on the cookies immediately before the glaze has time to set.
- Allow the cookies to set for at least an hour before stacking or layering them in a container.
Notes
- *The yield depends on the size of your cookie scoop. I don’t recommend using a very big cookie scoop. I used a smaller one, about 1 1/2 tablespoon. If you fill it with water, it holds about 1 1/2 tablespoons. That’s how I check mine to see exactly how much it will hold. These cookies rise up into soft cake-like cookies. They are plenty big enough when using a smaller scoop, and they are perfect to add to a Christmas cookie tray.
- You can add an additional 1/4 of granulated sugar to this recipe if you prefer a sweeter cookie. However, I feel they’re perfect with 1 1/2 cups, and the addition of the sweet glaze. My grandkids thought they were perfect, so that was all I needed to hear. No more sugar…ha! ha!