These Lemon Ricotta Cookies are one of my favorite cookies to make for the holidays or even in the summer. They’re soft, light, and have just the right amount of lemon to brighten up the cookie tray or on a lazy summer day just sitting on the back porch. The ricotta keeps them moist and cake-like, and the lemon glaze adds a little sparkle on top.
What Makes Ricotta Cheese Perfect for Cookies
I’ve always loved how ricotta walks the line between savory and sweet. It’s not sharp or salty, just soft, mild, and creamy. This makes it ideal in both cookies and savory dishes. Traditionally, ricotta is made by reheating whey, the liquid leftover from making cheeses like mozzarella or provolone, which helps coagulate remaining proteins into fine, delicate curds.
Its roots go deep—some evidence traces ricotta (Wikipedia) back to the Bronze Age on the Italian peninsula as a clever way to use leftover whey. The name itself means “re‑cooked” in Italian, referring to the process of heating and acidifying whey to extract those fluffy curds.
For more on its rich history and traditional production, check Britannica’s overview of ricotta: Britannica – Ricotta Cheese.
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Ingredients You'll Need
Cookie Dough
- Butter unsalted
- Sugar white
- Eggs
- Lemon juice
- Lemon zest packed
- Ricotta cheese whole milk
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Kosher Salt
Glaze
- Powdered sugar
- Lemon zest packed
- Lemon juice
Ingredients Tip!
- Ricotta I recommend using whole‑milk ricotta for richer flavor and a creamier textured cookie. If after opening your ricotta container and it seems extra wet, simply drain it in a fine-mesh strainer or cheesecloth for 30 minutes. This extra step helps your cookies bake up soft but not soggy.
- Lemons The lemons in the stores seem to be smaller than what they have been in the past. I would grab 4 or 5 for this recipe. I used 2 for the cookies and 2 for the lemon glaze. I always have an extra just in case.
Step-by-Step: Making Lemon Ricotta Cookies
I enjoy these as a slow, calming recipe. The dough needs to chill overnight, so it's perfect to mix up the dough after dinner one night to be baked off the following afternoon.
Prep the Dry Ingredients and Lemons
Weigh or measure the sugar into a bowl and set it aside. In a medium size bowl weigh or measure the flour. Add the baking powder and the salt to the flour. I run a whisk through to blend.
Grab a bowl, zester, and a juicer for the 2 lemons. I also cut off the ends to make it easier to zest.
Lemon Tip!
I only zest and juice the 2 lemons for the cookies dough. If you do all 4 of the lemons (cookie dough and glaze) I find the zest you save for the next day’s glaze dries out when sitting in the refrigerator overnight. I do the 2 for the glaze after the cookies have cooled.
I use fresh lemons but if you are in a pinch you can use bottled lemon juice you just will not have the zest for added flavor.
Cream and Mix the Cookie dough
1. I start by cubing the butter into the mixer bowl. It should be room temperature which will make it easier to cream the butter.
2. Cream the butter on a medium mixer speed for about a minute or two depending on coldness of your butter.
3. Add the sugar and turn the mixer to a medium mixer speed. There is a lot more sugar than butter so it will look lumpy and grainy even after 3-4 minutes mixing.
4. I break one egg into a small dish to make sure there are no egg shells before adding it to the butter-sugar mix. Incorporate the one egg before adding the second egg. Mix well.
5. The eggs will help to make the sugar-butter mixture creamier.
6. Time to add the ricotta and lemon juice and zest. Mix on a medium mixer speed.
7. Any time you add cheese and lemons the acid in the lemon will separate the cookie dough a little. Don’t worry—it’s totally normal.
8. Take the mixer off the stand and using a spatula add the flour into the wet cookie dough. I do about a third of the flour mixture at a time.
9. The cookie dough will be soft but not so soft that you could not scoop it with a cookie scooper.
10. Cover and leave in the refrigerator over night.
Bake Until Golden and Set
11. Preheat the oven to 375° F (190° C) and line 2 sheet cookie pans with parchment paper. I used a medium cookie scooper and added 12 scoops to one of the prepared pans. They do spread some, try and leave a couple of inches between the scoops.
Bake for 13 to 15 minutes until they start to lightly brown around the edges. The cookie should be set to the touch. Pull them from the oven and leave them on the pan for 2-3 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack to cool.
How to Make the Lemon Glaze
This glaze is really simple to make. I use a mixing bowl and a French whisk. The one I have linked to is on the William Sonoma site but you can pick one up fairly cheap at the grocery store or Amazon.
Zest and juice the 2 lemons.
12. Add the packed zest and 3 tablespoons of lemon juice to the powdered sugar in a mixer bowl.
13. Use a French whisk to mix. This does not take long, a minute or less.
14. I use a ½ teaspoon to add the glaze to the top of the cooled cookie and using the back side of the teaspoon spread it around.
It takes a couple of hours for the glaze to fully set before storing them.
Enjoy!
Lemon Ricotta Cookie FAQs
I do not, but if you are not going to be serving them for 3 or 4 days I would for longer freshness.
I use a Glad container but I do not seal them. The ricotta adds moisture and I find if I seal them in an air tight container they can get a little to soft. I rest the lid on top but don’t seal it.
More Lemon Cookies to Love
If you're anything like me, one lemon cookie is never enough. Here are a few more to try next.
Recipe
My Real Lemon Ricotta Cookies
Barbara HallWould you like to save this recipe?
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Ingredients
COOKIE DOUGH
- ½ cup (113.5 g) Butter unsalted room temperature
- 2 cups (400 g) Sugar white
- 2 Eggs room temperature
- 3 Tablespoon Lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon Lemon zest packed
- 15 ounces Ricotta cheese whole milk
- 2 ½ cups (312.5 g) All-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon Baking powder
- 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
GLAZE
- 1 ½ cup (180 g) Powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon Lemon zest packed
- 3 Tablespoon Lemon juice
Instructions
COOKIE DOUGH
- Weigh or measure the flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl, then whisk to blend and set aside. Take two medium lemons and cut off the ends. Zest both lemons, then cut them in half and juice them.
- Cube the butter into the mixer bowl and cream it on medium speed. If the butter is at room temperature, this should only take about a minute. Add the sugar and continue mixing on medium speed for 3 to 4 minutes. The mixture will look grainy due to the high ratio of sugar to butter.
- Add one egg at a time, mixing until each is fully incorporated. Then add the ricotta cheese, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Blend everything together for 2 to 3 minutes, until well combined.
- Remove the bowl from the mixer and grab a sturdy spatula (I use a one-piece spatula that I love). Gently fold in the flour, salt, and baking powder mixture until fully incorporated. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator. This dough needs to chill overnight—I like to make the dough after dinner and bake the cookies the following afternoon.
NEXT DAY
- Preheat oven to 375° F (190° C) Line 2 cookie pans with parchment paper.
- Using a medium cookie scooper, scoop 12 mounds onto a prepared baking sheet. Bake for 13 to 15 minutes. After removing them from the oven, leave the cookies on the pan for 2 to 3 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack. They’ll look pale but should feel set on the outside when gently touched.
GLAZE
- Weigh or measure the powdered sugar and add it to a mixing bowl. I used two medium lemons to get the 3 tablespoons of lemon juice I needed. I zested both lemons and packed the zest into a teaspoon—don’t be shy with it! Add the lemon juice and zest to the powdered sugar. Using a French whisk, blend everything together for about a minute until smooth.
- After the cookies have cooled, use a ½ teaspoon measuring spoon to add glaze to the top of each cookie. Gently spread it around using the back of the spoon. Let the glaze set for about 2 hours before storing the cookies in 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.
Barbara Mitchell says
What can I use instead of ricotta cheese
Barbara says
Hi Barbara, These substitutes will change the flavor some, but I have had people tell me they used cream cheese or mascarpone and liked how the cookies turned out. Either one would take good with lemon. Without testing it I am not sure about the amount to sub out, I don't think it would be equal to the amount that the recipe calls for concerning the ricotta. If Hope this helps. - Barbara