Giada's New & Improved Lemon Ricotta Cookies
Giada's New & Improved Lemon Ricotta Cookies
Category
Dessert
Prep Time
15 minutes
Cook Time
30 minutes
Calories
99
Author:
Giada De Laurentiis
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 stick unsalted butter (softened)
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 eggs (at room temperature)
- 1 15-ounce container whole milk ricotta cheese, such as Galbani
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 lemon (zested)
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 lemon (zested)
For the cookies:
For the glaze:
Instructions
- In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. In the bowl of an electric mixer combine the butter and the sugar. Beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, mixing between additions until well incorporated. Add the ricotta cheese, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Beat to combine. Fold in the dry ingredients. Tightly cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop the dough (about 1 1/2 tablespoons for each cookie) onto the baking sheets. Bake for 15 minutes, until cooked through but still pale. Remove from the oven and let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 15 minutes. Continue with the remaining dough.
- For the glaze, combine the powdered sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest in a small bowl and stir until smooth. Spoon about 1/2-teaspoon onto each cooled cookie and use the back of the spoon to gently spread. Let the glaze harden for about 2 hours.
Nutrition
Nutrition
- per serving
- Calories
- 99
Amount/Serving
% Daily Value
- Carbs
- 19 grams
- Protein
- 2 grams
- Fat
- 4 grams
- Saturated Fat
- 2 grams
- Cholesterol
- 17 milligrams
- Sodium
- 72 milligrams
- Fiber
- 1 grams
- Sugar
- 9 grams
24 reviews & comments
I’ve made these cookies for several years in pursuit of my father’s Cousin Kitty’s Lemon Cookies (from outside of Messina in Sicily). The New and Improved recipe really is better. For me, the dough was much easier to work with. Chilling gave the cookies a rounder prettier look and bite. I chilled the dough overnight and thinned the frosting to a glaze (also didn’t notice much of a difference chilling the cookie sheet too, but a good practice nonetheless) One of my cousins ended up having Cousin Kitty’s recipe and sent it to me. The recipes are reminiscent of one another, but they are totally different cookies.* Last night I made them side by side, making the traditional (for our family) ball cookie for Cousin Kitty, slightly thicker icing with nonpareils sprinkled on top. Both are delicious. I guess the point is, if you have personal tastes on sweetness and cake-ness, you can fix them to your tastes.
*(OK, haha so in Giada’s cookie, almost a pound of ricotta, butter instead of shortening and an extra cup and a half of sugar are kind of a big differences, but cut me some slack on that) :)
I have made these lemon ricotta cookies every year but this year tried the new and improved recipe. They came out very flat. Anyone else have this problem? They’re usually more cake like. They still taste delicious.
a stick of butter is 8 tablespoones, or 4 oz, or 1/2 cup
really yummy. made recipe as written except used blood oranges instead of lemons. for the question about butter- a stick of butter is 8 tablespoons or 1/2 cup, or 4 oz. hope that helps
Hello! I'm an ethical vegan, and plan to convert this enticing recipe into a full vegan one, after hearing raves from a friend who'd made them and also posted your photo on Facebook. HOWEVER… I have a highly important question that needs an answer before I can make this attractive dessert (one for which I have all the ingredients ready and lined up to go, except for one): Can you please give me/us a number — say, in Tablespoons — for what a STICK OF BUTTER is??? I purchase my delicious vegan butter in tubs, so haven't the foggiest idea what a stick of butter would equal in a common measurement. I'm certainly not about to run to a store and buy a package of butter sticks just to get a standard measurement (which would go against my veganism), so am completely at your mercy to give me a true measurement. I do recall, many decades ago, that tablespoons were printed along one side of each stick of margarine (good idea!), but again, my vegan "butter" comes solely in tubs. I thought I'd be ready to make this dessert today/tomorrow, but now I'm going to be on hold 'til you can respond to my most urgent question. Thank you in advance.
what weight is a stick of butter?
ok recipe ,lil doughy not enough lemon
Wonderful cake like clouds!! Chilling the dough sufficiently makes all the difference. Thank you Giada! This is a winner!
These were easy to make and absolutely delicious. It w as hard to keep my family from eating them. I made them to give to friends. Next time I will make a double batch
Very good cookies but I suggest to cut a little on sugar. I love you recipes, thank you.
Love, love, love them! My (Italian) Mom used to make these. I haven't had them since she passed. I talked about how much I miss them now so often that a friend made them for me as a Christmas gift! They bring back so many fond memories…. best gift this year!
Cookies ha, should be labled mini cakes. Delicious
la masa es muy aguada?
Can anisette be added to these cookies? Or is that a different recipe altogether? Thanks!
is not 375ºC, is 375º Fahrenheit (190ºC approximately)
Right? I did the cookie sheet both ways and didn’t notice a difference.
Ooh, I think that would be just the kick they need.
The sugar to fat ratio is correct when you account for the ricotta. I did adjust my oven temperature to 350. The cookies were good, if a little bland.
First of all, I love Giada & watching her cook. With this recipe however, I have had several issues. They are incredibly sweet-in my opinion, the granulated sugar could have been cut in half easily as it’s FAR too much sugar (2 CUPS!) to 1 stick of butter. The oven temperature of 375°C is way too high and my cookies were burnt from the bottom (yes my rack was in the centre). Lastly, 3 tablespoons of lemon juice to 1 1/2 cups of icing sugar? Really? I added some alcohol as it wouldn’t mix beyond a tiny ball of paste. I’m disappointed because this recipe was time consuming to create and these are in-edible unfortunately. Cut the sugar or add more butter and most definitely, DECREASE the temperature. Sorry. But I’m not thrilled And I really don’t understand the positive comments below raving about these cookies if the recipe was followed exactly
So is one of the secrets a chilled cookie sheet? Or chilled dough?