These glazed ricotta orange cookies are soft and lightly sweet, with a bright citrus flavor that feels fresh without being overpowering. The ricotta cheese gives the cookies their soft, creamy, cake-like texture, while orange zest and juice add balanced citrus flavor. A simple orange glaze finishes each cookie with just a little extra orange sweetness.
A Quick Look at the Recipe
Recipe Name: Glazed Ricotta Orange Cookies
Ready In: about 3 hours (including chill, cooling, and glazing)
Yield: 36 cookies
Texture: soft, cake-like, creamy
Flavor Profile: orange juice, orange zest, vanilla
Get to Know This Cookie
Use the buttons below to get a quick overview or ask questions before you bake.
These cookies are soft and pillowy thanks to the ricotta cheese, with a bright orange flavor from both the zest and juice. The light glaze adds just a little extra citrus, making them especially appealing to orange lovers.
Ricotta adds moisture and a soft, creamy texture to cookies. If you enjoy baking with ricotta, you may also like these lemon ricotta cookies and ricotta fig and honey cookies.
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Ingredients
Cookies
Ingredients you'll need:
- Butter unsalted
- Sugar white
- Orange zest
- Eggs
- Orange juice
- Orange extract
- Vanilla extract
- Ricotta cheese
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Kosher salt
- Ground cardamom
- Poppy seeds
Glaze
Ingredients you'll need:
- Powdered sugar
- Orange juice
- Vanilla bean paste
Ingredient Tips
Ricotta Cheese - I purchase the Maggio Whole Milk brand for my cookies. This ricotta tastes a little sweeter to me, so I really love it for cookies. But as long as it is whole milk, you can certainly use your favorite brand.
Orange and Vanilla Extracts - So many companies sell extracts, so it's hard to decide what to use. I have used McCormick extracts in the past, which is easily find at your local store. My theory is use what you like for extracts. I show you what I use but you have to decide based on taste and cost.
Spices in General - Every grocery store has an aisle that sells spices in a jar. It is really hard to figure out if you are getting the best quality for your money. I have started to switch over to The Spice House.
If you really want to ramp up the spices in your cabinet, consider purchasing online and different brands for different spices. I found a website called bonappetit.com Where to Buy Spices.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Prepping
The prep work is not hard at all. The first thing I do is zest and juice an orange. Now I weigh or measure the flour into a medium-size bowl. Add to the flour the baking powder, kosher salt, ground cardamom, and the poppy seeds. I whisk and blend the dry ingredients together.
Next, I weigh or measure the sugar. Add a packed tablespoon of the orange zest to the sugar and mash the orange zest into the sugar. You want the zest to make the sugar slightly moist. Set the bowl aside.
Mix and Chill
Cube the butter into a mixer bowl and depending on how cold your butter is, this will determine how long it take to cream the butter. Mix on a medium mixer speed for a minute or two.
You want the creamed butter to look fluffy and creamy.
Add the orange-sugar combo to the creamed butter and mix for 3 minutes on a medium mixer speed.
I break one egg into a small dish to make sure I do not have any egg shells in the dish. Then add it to the sugar-butter mixture. Incorporate the first egg before adding the second.
Add the ricotta cheese, orange juice, the vanilla extract, and the orange extract, to the bowl. Mix until the ricotta cheese has been blended into the mixture.
All the wet ingredients have been added and it will be very soft.
The final part is scraping down the bowl and turn the mixer to a low speed. Add about a third at a time of the flour mixture. Mix until just incorporated about a minute. The longer you mix in the flour, the cookies can turn out tough.
Cover and chill for an hour.
Scoop and Bake
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C or 180°C) and line two cookie sheet pans with parchment paper. I used a medium cookie scooper to get even-sized cookies.
Place twelve scoops of cookie dough on a prepared sheet pan and bake for 13-15 minutes or until the bottoms are lightly brown. Once out of the oven, move them to a cooling rack. Start the glaze after the cookies are cooled.
Glaze
This glaze is the perfect complement to the ricotta orange cookies. Zest and juice another orange for the glaze. I weighed or measure the powdered sugar into a mixing bowl and added the zest from the orange and the vanilla bean paste.
I grab a whisk and add about 3 tablespoons of the orange juice and start whisking. Add another tablespoon of orange juice and see what the consistency is at this point. You can always add more, but you cannot take it out once it is in the bowl. I did the whole 4-½ tablespoons of the orange juice.
Glazing cookies can get a little messy so I put parchment paper under the wire rack. You can use wax paper if that is what you have on hand. This makes for a much easier cleanup. I take a teaspoon of the glaze and pour it over the top of each cookie.
I let them sit for about 45 minutes or until the glaze has set before putting them into a container.
Enjoy!
Storage Tips
I store these in a plastic container right on my counter (Rubbermaid TakeAlongs 1 gallon at Walmart). I also put parchment paper between the layers so they do not stick to each other. You can refrigerate them, but if they are going to be eaten within 5 days I do not. If you put the lid on tight and your glaze becomes too soft just lay the lid slightly off to the side so the cookies can get some air.
FAQs
I do not drain my ricotta for these cookies. I have not had issues with excess moisture when using whole milk ricotta. If you do drain the ricotta, just know the cookies may turn out firmer in texture.
You do not need to add the glaze, but it adds moisture and boosts the orange flavor. You can also make a simple vanilla glaze by replacing the orange juice with milk and increasing the amount of vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract to at least 1 teaspoon, more if you really love vanilla.
Mixing the zest with the sugar helps release the natural oils in the zest so the flavor is absorbed into the sugar. This helps spread the orange flavor evenly throughout the dough, giving every cookie a bright citrus taste.
Can I Freeze This Cookie?
I do not typically freeze cookie dough when testing my recipes, so the instructions above reflect how this cookie was baked and stored. If you'd like to explore general freezing options for this cookie, the AI tool below can provide additional information.
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Glazed Ricotta Orange Cookies
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Ingredients
COOKIES
- ½ cup (113.5 g) Butter unsalted room temperature
- 1 ½ cups (300 g) Sugar white
- 1 Tablespoon Orange zest
- 2 Eggs
- 2 Tablespoon Orange juice
- ¼ teaspoon Orange Extract
- ¾ teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 15 oz (453.59 g) Ricotta cheese
- 3 cups (375 g) All-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon (4 g) Baking powder
- ½ teaspoon (3 g) Kosher Salt
- ½ teaspoon (1 g) Ground cardamom
- 1 Tablespoon (9 g) Poppy seeds
GLAZE
- 2 ¼ cups (270 g) Powdered sugar
- 4 ½ Tablespoon Orange juice
- ¾ teaspoon Vanilla bean paste
Instructions
Making Cookies
- Zest and juice one orange into small bowls, then set both aside. Weigh or measure the sugar and add the orange zest. Mix by hand until the sugar is moist from the zest, then set the bowl aside.
- Next, weigh or measure the flour, baking powder, salt, cardamom, and poppy seeds into a medium bowl. Whisk the dry ingredients together, making sure the poppy seeds are evenly distributed. Set the bowl aside.
- In a stand or hand-held mixer, cream the butter. This should take about one to two minutes. Add the orange zest sugar mixture and blend on medium speed for three minutes, making sure the sugar is blended into the butter as much as possible.
- Add the eggs one at a time, mixing until each is incorporated. Add the vanilla extract, orange extract, ricotta, and orange juice, and blend until combined. Turn the mixer to low speed and slowly add the flour mixture, about a third at a time. Mix just until the flour is incorporated. I mix mine for about one minute total. Overmixing can lead to tough cookies. Cover and chill for at least one hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C or 180°C) and line two sheet pans with parchment paper. Scoop out twelve mounds of dough using a medium cookie scoop. Bake for 13 to 15 minutes. After baking, move the cookies to a cooling rack and let them cool completely before starting the glaze.
Orange Glaze
- Add the powdered sugar, orange juice, and vanilla bean paste to a bowl and whisk until smooth. Spoon 1 teaspoon of glaze onto the top of each cooled cookie and gently spread it with the back of the spoon. Let the cookies sit until the glaze sets. I let mine sit for about one hour before moving them to a container.
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NUTRITION DISCLAIMER
I am not a certified Dietitian or Nutritionist. The nutrition amounts given below are provided through a program and are only a guideline.
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